Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice! I only own my OC's! All rights go to their respective owners!

Gotham City

August 27th, 4:34 pm.

Chapter 5: Day 3

"Mom, I don't know what to do," Jackie complained as she sat by her mother's hospital bed. "I have to make a decision today."

Jennifer took a sip of water before looking at her daughter. "Well, decide then."

The teen groaned. "I can't decide!"

Her mom shook her head. "Well, I can't decide for you."

"I know that," she muttered, crossing her arms.

"Then make a decision."

"I can't!"

"Why not?" her mother asked in frustration as she set her cup down. "Because you can't move on from the past? Well I can't either but that doesn't mean you shouldn't!"

She sighed. "It's half that."

"Then what's the other half?" her mom asked, frustrated. "What's stopping you from accepting a new life where you can start over? What's keeping you from being happy? What's keeping you from making friends and doing good in the world? Whats-"

"Because I'm scared!" Jackie exclaimed as tears fell down her cheeks, and she looked down. "What if I can't do it, Mom? What if I let my fear of my past being repeated get in the way of the missions? What if I can't learn to trust my teammates? What if I fail someone? What if I can't be a hero, like you?" She slammed her fists down on the bed and cried into the mattress.

Jennifer was taken aback by her daughters outburst and would have scolded her for it if she didn't realize how much pressure Jackie was feeling about this whole thing. Her daughter was terrified of joining; she was afraid of letting, not only herself, but everyone else down, including her. It was all because of the past, too; it was tearing apart Jackie's confidence in herself and her abilities.

But Jackie's last comment about Jennifer being a hero really got to her. She didn't realize that her daughter thought that she was one. Sure, she was the one who rescued herself and Jackie from her husband by getting help from the police. Sure, she also always stood between him and Jackie when he threatened to hurt her, but she never thought she was being a hero; she was just protecting her daughter, like any good mother would do.

Her mother softened her expression and placed her hand on her daughter's fist. "Sweetie, look at me," she whispered.

Jackie sniffled and looked at her mother, who could see how puffy and red her eyes became as tears kept falling. "Oh, my sweetheart," her mother continued and grabbed a tissue box. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

The teen took a few tissues and wiped her eyes. "My past; it'll get in the way," she whispered.

"No, it won't," her mother assured and unwrapped her daughter's fist to hold her hand.

"Yes, it will."

"If you keep telling yourself that, it will."

Jackie sniffled again. "What if I can't do it?" she asked and looked down. "What if I can't be a hero?"

"Sh, baby girl," her mother whispered and pulled Jackie into her arms, forcing her to lay on the bed with her. "There will be people that won't consider you a hero, but it doesn't matter what they think. All that matters is what you think you are."

"A failure?"

"No," her mother sternly spoke. "A hero."

"I'm not a hero, though; I've never done anything heroic."

"Of course you have," her mom insisted. "You rescued me."

"From what?" Jackie asked, trying to figure out what her mother meant.

Jennifer smiled. "Before you were born, I was depressed; I felt like I couldn't get away from your father no matter what I tried, so I stopped trying; I couldn't think of any reasons to save myself from harm; I lost hope," she explained. "But when I had you, I regained my hope because I finally thought of a reason to look for a way to escape; I needed to protect you from that awful man, and I knew that by doing that I would need to get us away from him."

The teen rested her head on her mother's shoulder as she listened to her. "It took many years," Jennifer continued. "But I finally found our escape route, and it was all because of you. If it wasn't for you, your father wouldn't be in jail, I would still be experiencing his abuse, and I would have never gotten out of my depression."

Jackie looked up at her. "But that doesn't mean that I can be a hero now."

Her mother sighed and squeezed her daughter gently. "You are a hero," she whispered. "You'll always be my hero, Jackie."

The blonde-haired teen smiled and hugged her mother back. "You'll always be mine, too, Mom."

"I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you more."

"I love you most." Her mom kissed Jackie's forehead and held her until she insisted for her to go home since Batman would want to know her answer tonight.

As much as the teen didn't want to leave, she reluctantly agreed and was now sitting on her bed and going over her many lists that represented reasons to join and not to join the Team. She wanted to do it, she truly did, but with the memories of her past lingering in the back of her mind, there was no way she could learn to trust anyone again!

She looked back and forth from paper to paper, anxious to make a decision. Why did she have to overthink so much? Why couldn't she let her mother's words sink in and just join the Team?

She sighed in frustration and crumpled up one of the lists that she read over a hundred times. As soon as she tossed it into a nearby trashcan, she absentmindedly looked over at her window and yelped when she saw a boy wearing the Robin uniform outside of it. He grinned at her and opened the window.

"Sorry," he spoke as he climbed through the window and closed it. "I just wanted to meet you."

"You wanted to meet me?" she asked timidly as she looked towards her bedroom door in case she needed to bolt.

He nodded. "Yeah, I did," he replied and jumped onto the end of her bed, making her crawl towards her headboard to keep distance between them. He smirked. "Don't tell me you're scared."

She gulped. "No," she managed to say. "I'm just confused as to why you're here."

"Well," he spoke and sat down cross-legged. "I followed Batman here."

"He's here?"

He shook his head. "No, I followed him here last night when he came to visit you. Why did he come to see you?"

Jackie rubbed her arms nervously and brought her legs up to her chest. "He just wanted to make sure I knew about my mom," she lied. "He told me she was in a wreck, so I could go and make sure she was okay."

"Really?" he asked and tilted his head as he smirked at her. "You sure?"

She gulped again and looked away. "Yes," she squeaked out and mentally berated herself for giving herself away.

He grinned mischievously. "Since I was wondering why he came to see you last night, I asked him. He wouldn't tell me, so I did a little researching on my own and found a few papers in your trashcan with the title 'Team' at the top."

She quickly gathered up her papers and set them on her nightstand as she avoided his gaze. "So?"

"So," he continued. "I figured out Batman offered you a position, and I'm guessing you're having trouble deciding on what to do."

She sighed. "Nice detective work, Sherlock," she muttered as she glared at him, making him grin again. "Now what? You gonna convince me not to?"

He shook his head. "Nope. I think you'd make a great addition to the Team."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "You don't even know me; why would you say that?"

He shrugged. "You're right; I don't know you," he replied. "I don't know your skills, knowledge, personality, or anything about you. But I do know that if Batman asked you to join us, you must be pretty special."

She smiled and blushed as she looked away. "Thanks."

He nodded and got off of the bed. "I'd love to stay, but I'm guessing Batman is going to be here soon, and he has no idea that I'm here, so I have to go."

"I understand," she replied. "I won't tell him you were here."

He grinned. "I like you already, Jackie."

"You know my name?" she asked, confused.

"You really think I wouldn't look up your name before coming here?" he asked. "It's like you don't know me at all."

"That's the thing; I don't know you at all."

He shrugged again and nodded. "True," he admitted and walked towards the window. "Hopefully, we'll get to know each other better in the future."

"Yeah," she responded and looked at the papers on her nightstand. "Maybe we will."

He smiled. "See you, Jackie."

"Goodbye, Robin."

About an hour after the Boy Wonder left, Batman finally arrived and found Jackie tearing up all of the lists she created to help her decide what to do.

"Miss Holloway?" he asked, making her stop what she was doing and look up at him with a smile on her face.

"Hey, Bats," she greeted and ripped another piece of paper in half. "You're later than I expected."

"I thought you might need more time," he explained and walked over to her. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to get rid of my fears," she replied and threw a torn up list in the trash. "I want to move on."

He nodded. "Black Canary can help with that, but only if you want to join the Team. What's your decision?"

She fell silent for a few minutes before tearing up the last list and throwing it away. "I want in."

He nodded again. "Welcome to the Team, Miss Holloway."

"Don't call me that; if I'm going to move on, then I want 'Morris' to be my permanent last name."

"Alright, Miss Morris. Let's find the right mask for you."

She smiled, not because she was excited to become a hero, but because she had faith that everything was going to be okay.

Please feel free to leave a review! Constructive criticism is welcome!

Hey, Everyone! I put this story on temporary hiatus because I was changing the timeline, so it would match the one in the TV show 'Young Justice'. I hope you enjoyed this story. :)

Also, I am making a sequel to this story! I know this is really short, but I want more of Jackie's past to be revealed later on when she's apart of the Team. Have an awesome day! :)

Sequel to this story is out! :)