I don't own Young Justice.

A/N: Where do the days go? Here's another update. We'll see how soon the next comes, but no promises.

Read. Review. Enjoy.

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Birds crowed and shouted in the distance. The moonlight was the only thing lighting my path. I was gasping for breath as I ran through what appeared to be a jungle or forrest. I heard his laugh behind me, and knew if I stopped I was finished.

My strides were long as I tried to cover as much ground as possible. I was older by some odd happening. No longer the nine year old girl that couldn't control herself. Yet as I found myself running, I was backtracking, losing the control I had gained of my emotions, reverting to the nine year old girl once again as fear was beginning to tighten its grip.

As I looked back, I saw B'rnazz gaining on me.

"Help!" someone screamed from the side.

"Stay on the path. It's not your concern," I told myself repeatedly, contemplating whether to help or not.

The scream continued until I couldn't ignore it anymore. I ran to the source, hurrying to help the woman in need. As I neared the scream's origin, I saw her holding on for dear life to the edge of this cliff. I rushed over to her and instructed her to take my hand.

When she turned to face me, the face almost caused me to lose my grip. It was like staring into a mirror. The lady had a face I had once known deep in my past, but I couldn't recall who she was.

I lifted her off the edge.

"Thank you dearest. You just made this easier for me."

Before me the lady shifted into my chaser. I backed away slowly, trying to comprehend what had just transpired. As I did, I ran into what I thought was a tree, but as I turned around, there B'rnazz was again.

Taking no time to understand, I took off running again, asecond wind making up for the breath I had longed for earlier.

As I continued running, I came to an opening. Another figure stood there as if waiting for someone. Getting closer, I recognized him as Alex, although, he had not aged with me. "Follow me," he beckoned as I arrived. Not asking any questions, I did as I was told. As I looked back, B'rnazz was no longer in sight.

Alex slowed as we reached a bridge. Before I had a chance to catch my breath, I was falling over the side. He had pushed me to my death, and in the background, I could hear his laughter and the chant, "All hail the Light."

I landed in a small box, barely big enough for me to crouch in. While trying to assess the situation, the top shut, sealing me in. I panicked as I started shaking. I have an irrational fear of small spaces. To make mattersworse, the faint sound of rattles was heard all around me. As I looked down, I was surrounded by snakes, my second and most paralyzing fear.

With each bite, I lost more control, before I had none left. With my throat closing, I let out a scream, even though I knew no one could hear me.

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I woke up in a cold sweat. I quickly assessed my surroundings. No small confinement, no snakes. My face wasn't swollen, and I could breathe fine. But I was utterly alone once again.

Ever since the slaughter of the two kids, I had been on edge, and with no one to talk to, my dreams had beengetting worse. I had no problem with conversing with Sierra or Derek, but since she had given me the stone a few days ago, I had seen no sign of them.

I sat back on the wall and the stone that Sierra had given me fell out of my pocket. Examining it, I could see it was special. It was smooth on the outside and had some precious stone in the middle. It had help me get to sleep. Through experience, I had tested to see if if really worked and I found that it did. It gave me what I needed most, even though I had to face the nightmares, I would rather have that as opposed to exhaustion-induced anxiety.

As I sat lost in my thoughts, the door slammed opened. I quickly stood up and placed the stone back in my pocket.

"Humpty Dumpty sat on wall, high and mighty. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, and rejoined the lowly. All the king's horses and all the king's men, even the king's flesh and blood, couldn't put Humpty's mind together again."

B'rnazz entered, grin reaching from one end of his face to the other. Behind him was my brother, being dragged in by the collar of his shirt.

"He was a hard nut to crack, but all nuts are meant to be opened. Here's your brother back, well, most of him. Good luck piecing his mind back together again."

B'rnazz shut the door and Alex went nuts. He began pounding on the door like a caged animal.

"No!" He repeatedly screamed.

To make matters worse, B'rnazz decided to mess with him by flicking the lights on and off, causing Alex to go ballistic. I had never seen Alex lose control like this and frankly, it scared me. He had lost it being in ISO so long. I had to calm him down in order to get my brother back.

"Alex," I called out timidly.

He quickly turned his head towards me.

"Mom? No, no, you're not real. Just like all the other times."

"What do you mean I'm not real? I'm standing right here."

"That's what they all say. If I try to save you, I get hurt. I refuse to fall prey to your game again."

"How can they talk if they're not real Alex?"

"They can all talk. They try to confuse me, and you're no different. Shhhh shhh, listen. Can't you hear them?"

"Alex, come on. It's me your-" I tried to take a step closer, but he quickly reacted as if he were going to shoot me.

"Stay back," he said.

"Alex, you got have an inhibitor collar on. You can't get me."

I stepped closer.

"I said stay back," he yelled again.

Again I stepped closer, pushing the boundaries of his limits. Without warning, he grabbed my shirt collar, and raised me off the ground. I guess they had unblocked his strength. He looked at me intently, as if he were deciding what to do with me. I had to let him know that this was real life though.

I slapped him on the cheek, confusing him enough to let me go.

"Did that feel real?"

He stepped at me again, ready to strike, but I wouldn't budge. I looked at him just as intense as he looked at me. I wasn't going to back down.

His look softened as he lowered his fist. Anger was replaced by exhaustion. He fell to his knees and sat there.

"Alex, it's me, Vanessa, your sister."

He didn't respond. I started to speak again, but he interrupted me.

"I've been ISO longer than that, but this time I come back ..." he let the sentence trail. He wasn't really talking to me just more to anyone willing to listen.

"How long?"

"About a week," I responded.

He struck the ground causing me to jump.

"Seven days!" he yelled, clutching his hurt shoulder. At least they had set it back in place with a sling.

He was just staring at the wall. To be honest, I didn't know what to say. I heard his stomach growl and I saw him grab at it. I approached him, and as if he had some kind of spider sense, he whipped his head around.

"Don't ask me if I'm okay."

"I wasn't going to. I just thought after seven days you would be hungry."

I brought the leftovers of goulash I had saved him. He snatched it from me and indulged instantly. I watched him glad I could help after all he had helped mewith, but the same question kept pressing me.

"Why do you keep calling me 'Mom'?"

He looked up from his meal, but remained silent. He then sat, debating the answer, before he got up and walked to the opposite end of the room.

"Alex, did you here me?"

He ignored me as he tentatively placed his hand on the wall, probably still scared from something that happened the last week.

"Alex, snap-"

"Shhh, shhh."

He knocked on the wall, and waited. He had lost it.

"They didn't change too much," he said out loud to himself. He pushed on the tile on the wall revealing a small hole with some paper product in it. Pulling me out, he motioned for me to join him.

"I'm not crazy Vanessa. After you gave me a taste reality, I think I'm fine."

He put what had turned out to be a photo in front of me. And to my surprise and dismay, it was the people from my nightmares.

"Who ... who are these people?" I asked shakily as the memory of my nightmares had come back.

"No one to be afraid of. You don't recognize anyone in that picture?"

I didn't want to tell him about my nightmares, he had enough going on already. But as I looked again, I saw a small boy. Though snaggle-toothed and chubbier, it was definitely the kid sitting next to me.

"Is that you?"

"Yeah," he chuckled.

"You look like you're about to cry."

"I was," he sighed with a hint of nostalgia. "We were at the Grand Canyon. This is the last family photo we took before they passed away. Dad was busy taking pictures or listening to the audio tour or something. Mom was busy with you, so I was left unattended. I was six so I went up to the edge curious to what was on the other side, but when I looked over, I got dizzy 'cause it was so high. I almost fell over the rail ..."

He paused staring into the distance. Before now I hadn't realized how close Alex had been with our parents. He had never talked about them. At night, I used to hear him cry himself to sleep, but now I knew why.

"How I figured out I was afraid of heights," he continued. "With you in one hand, she grabbed me right out of the air. I was scared out of my mind. Then right after, we took the picture."

"You remind me of her. You look just like her, down to the nose. And you act like her. Your stubborn, like she was. I used to hear them argue and get scared they'd divorce. But then the next day when I asked Dad about it, he would say that his water guns stood no chance against Mom's Wall of China or her tanks."

His smile was quickly replaced with a sad look.

"They're not coming are they?"

"Who?" I asked.

"The Team. They would've been here by now. You were right, they didn't care about us."

"Alex, there's something I need to-"

"If I would've listened to you in the first place, I wouldn't have wasted SEVEN DAYS in ISO," he yelled. "I was stupid to believe they wanted to come back for us. All we did was mess stuff up. I wouldn't back for us either."

He went back to eating. I didn't know what to say. 'Hey Alex, I was wrong before. You spent the last 7 days in ISO for nothing.' He was clearly at a low I couldn't fix. He had lost all hope, and my measly words wouldn't restore him.

Alex continued eating in silence as the door crashed opened, causing him to jump.

"Well kids, looks like it is your lucky-" B'rnazz began. He quickly spotted the food Alex was trying to hide. As if he teleported, B'rnazz was on top of Alex in an instance. He grabbed him off the floor by his bad shoulder, causing Alex to whimper in pain.

"Put it away now," B'rnazz growled. Alex nodded excessively as he put what was left in his pocket. B'rnazz continued to glare at him striking fear into the still mentally unstable brother of mine.

"Martian unhand him."

As Dr. Wellsworth walked in, B'rnazz backed away.

"Thank you beast," Wellsworth mocked as he passed the Martian.

"Do I smell food?"

"No," B'rnazz answered quickly, glaring at Alex all the while.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my two favorite subjects. Alex, it seems you survived your stay in ISO."

Alex continued to look away, still frightened by B'rnazz's sudden anger. Dr. Wellsworth proceeded to mock Alex, jumping at him, giving him the satisfaction of a terrified response from Alex.

"Finally a little respect. Too bad we had to crack you open to do it, but respect is respect. And you my little flower, " he stroked my face, "continue to do as we ask, and you won't end up like him. But I digress. You two are going to take a little ausflug, a field trip. It should be loads of fun. Now follow me please, unless Alex, you want more of what you got earlier, or better yet, your sister."

Alex hurried out the door. They were using their grip on him to their advantage. I had never seen my brother act so cowardly. I followed behind him, followed by B'rnazz. Had he protected us? I shrugged the thought away as we followed blindly to a transition from recovery to pain.

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They threw us into a chamber in some secluded room, one even I hadn't seen before. I knew Alex was freaking out because the door had locked him in. Though I was trying to hold it in, I was freaking out too. The chamber was big enough for us to stand in, but thatwas it. I was scared of small spaces, and this wasn't helping.

"We'll just be doing a few 'test' to see how well you guys respond," Wellsworth yelled over the large noise of some machine gearing up. B'rnazz stood in the corner looking from me to Alex, expression unreadable. The thought again popped into my head that he had saved us from Wellsworth, but why?

I was unable to think it through as a jolt of electricity flew throughout my body. I looked over in Alex's direction, and could tell from his erratic movement the same was happening to him.

I could tell the wattage was increasing as time passed because so did my pain. I'm sure our screams could be heard throughout the facility. Alex had been banging in the walls of his chamber begging to get out, but with each second, his hits were weaker and weaker, until he was no longer standing.

I wasn't far behind him. The intensity of shock would have been enough to kill a normal person. I did my best to stay strong, but it was too much for even me to handle. I crashed to the sound of the whirring machine and the unexpectedly concerned look of the Martian.