A/N: Hello again. I just wanted to take the time to say thank you to each and every person reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting this story. I was absolutely astounded by how much support the story received in just the first 2 chapters. As promised, I am trying to update at least once weekly between Thursday and Friday. This next chapter further explores the plot begun last chapter with Megan. The next chapter will resume following Artemis and look in on several other characters from and related to the League. I'm planning to keep chapter lengths right around the length of this chapter and the last (between 8-10 pages single spaced). Thank you all again for your support. I hope you enjoy chapter 3.
Friday Nov 4, 2016. 1:00 AM PST
Megan waited outside the medical bay, her form flickering in and out of visibility as worry and fatigue caused her control to slip. She looked up as the doors of the recovery room slid back to reveal a tall African-American man, his left eye and body covered in a series of circuits and metal plates.
"Victor," Megan said. "How is she?"
Cyborg smiled. "She's going to be just fine, Miss M. Her vitals are all stable. She just needs some rest."
Megan breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."
Victor nodded. "There is something you should take a look at, though." He handed Megan a small packet of papers with columns and tables of data and scans. "The computer did a routine bio-scan, including decoding her DNA. Tests show she's no ordinary human. Not an alien humanoid like Kory, but not mutated like Gar, either. The closest thing I can compare the DNA's structure to off the top of my head is Superboy's. Half human. Half something else. Then there's this."
Vic indicated for Megan to study a sheet from the middle of the pack. Photos of the girl's arms revealed strange, black patterned lines running from her shoulder to palm.
"Some sort of seal, it looks like," Victor said. "Or maybe a marking. Either way, they're tattooed, not natural. They sort of resemble Aqualad's and you mentioned the girl trying to use a spell. Any chance she might be Atlantean?"
Megan stared at the pictures, biting her lip, then slowly shook her head. "No. I don't think so. The Atlanteans are trained in sorcery, but these markings are different from Kaldur's. And Klarion mentioned something about the girl using inter-dimensional travel."
"So what does that mean? You think we've got another Bart situation on our hands?"
Megan frowned. "It's possible. But the future is still set on the Earthly plane, so it doesn't count as a different dimension. We'll have to wait until she wakes up to know more. For now, I'm just glad she's alright."
"We know she's at least half human and she can't be more than 12 or 13 by the looks of her," Victor said. "I want to run her DNA through the League's database to see if I can't find out who her parents or guardians are."
Megan nodded. "Good idea. I'll ask my Uncle J'onn to patch our request for access through right away."
"Good deal."
"In the meantime, maybe you wouldn't mind updating the others," Megan said. "I'm sure they'd like to know what's going on. I'll stay down here till you get back."
"Sure thing, Meg. Need anything else?"
"No. Thank you, Victor. For everything."
Cyborg smiled. "Hey, there's nothing I can't fix. Least of all a sleeping kid. I'll be back in just a few."
"Okay."
As Victor's footsteps faded into the distance, the quiet that filled the room allowed Megan to clear her head. She focused inward and summoned an image of her Uncle J'onn to her mind, reaching out to connect her half of their telepathic link. After the horrible mistake Megan had made in crushing Kaldur's mind all those months ago, she'd learned to use her telepathic link like a telephone: Megan would "dial" the person on the other side of the connection, send a mental "ring" that she wanted to talk, but it was the choice of the other person to answer.
Megan felt her uncle's mind meld with her own.
"M'gann. It is unlike you to call at this hour. Is something wrong?"
"We've got a bit of a situation on our hands here, but it's under control."
Megan transferred the recent events of the night from her memory to Martian Manhunter's mind, obscuring the part where Klarion had obeyed the young girl's commands. Something told Megan that particular bit of information might not go over well with the League.
"I see," J'onn said. "You are requesting access to the League's database in order to find the child's legal guardians. You suspect she is a runaway?"
"I'm not sure if it's as simple as that," Megan replied. "But if so, her family's probably worried sick. And any information we can gather on the girl's medical history would go a long way towards helping her recover."
"Of course. I will pass on the information to whomever is currently manning the station and have them grant the cyborg Victor Stone the access he needs."
"Thank you, Uncle J'onn."
With that, the Martians severed the link.
Megan took special care to keep quiet as she entered the recovery room. There, the girl lay sleeping on one of the beds, her back straight as a rod. Megan took a seat beside the bed, her ears attuned to the steady beat of the heart monitor. This poor child had been through so much.
Under the direct light of the lamp atop the bedside table, Megan observed details about the girl she hadn't noticed before. Holes and tears dotted the long blue dress that sagged around the girl's small frame. The intricately detailed tattoos curved down her pale arms like a rod iron fence. Her shoulder-length black hair fanned out around her face, its edges frayed as if cut with a blunt knife. On the center of the girl's forehead gleamed a small red stone from which a faint glow highlighted small scratches across her cheeks.
But the oddest thing Megan observed was how the girl's body didn't quite touch the surface of the bed. Instead it hovered slightly above the mattress. Megan glanced back at the girl's face and had to do a double take. Where minor cuts had shown only moments earlier, unblemished skin now appeared. Was the child healing herself?
Suddenly the girl's face twisted in pain. Sweat broke out across her brow. A nightmare, Megan guessed. She didn't wish to pry into the child's mind, but as the girl began to thrash in her sleep, the Martian had no choice but to calm her or risk the child furthering her injuries. Megan placed a hand against the girl's forehead and tried to channel soothing thoughts.
It's okay. Don't be scared. You're safe here.
But the girl's thrashing only grew worse. Megan's power backfired, thrusting the Martian into a world of chaos and confusion, the very setting of her recurring nightmares.
The dreams had played out in Megan's mind for weeks, but by day became like fossil fragments: solid evidence that something had been there, but now was gone, leaving only an outline. Megan couldn't piece together the full picture no matter how thoroughly she searched her memory. But now the destruction, the chaos, the fear and confusion all came rushing back to her in vivid clarity.
A mighty temple crumbled beneath a ruby-red sky. Black pillars of smoke rose on the horizon. Megan felt the heat of fire on her face, yet she didn't fear the lethal flames.
It was almost like being back in that horrible training exercise years ago, before Artemis' supposed death triggered Megan's mental powers: there was a sense of reality about what Megan was sensing, but also a sort of subconscious knowledge that none of it could actually harm her. Yet something told Megan this vision differed from simulation in one key way: the events unfolding before Megan's eyes occurred in reality, or would occur in some time or place.
She was inside the young girl's mind.
Megan doubled over in pain as wave after wave of guilt and sorrow crashed against her. She was sensing the child's emotions. The temple crumbled into dust and the remnants lifted off the ground as a mighty wind spurred the flames higher. A voice more powerful and terrible than anything Megan had ever heard roared across the plains, shaking the very earth with its force.
This is what has become of your home. This is the fate that will befall any place you call home. Any place you run to, any place you try to hide, I will find and destroy all that you hold dear. I will follow you like a curse until you embrace your destiny. You shall be my crowning jewel, or else be the cause of your own misery, my one and only, precious daughter.
"Megan. Meg, wake up."
Megan woke slowly, trying to make sense of her surroundings. Somehow she had fallen asleep, her arms pillowing her head against the edge of the bed. Victor stood beside her looking concerned.
"How long was I out?" she groaned, sitting up and clearing her eyes.
"You've been asleep for the last few hours," Cyborg explained.
"Hours?!" Megan cried. "What did I miss? Did you find anything else out?"
Victor nodded. "Yeah. That's why I woke you up. I think you need to see this."
Megan took the tablet Cyborg offered her and studied the screen.
"Systems confirm the girl is half human, but it didn't turn up a single record for the kid," Cyborg explained. "No medical history, social security, birth certificate, nothing. Just a big blank. But it did manage to track down her human parent."
Cyborg tapped the screen and a picture of a teenage girl with long, straight black hair and bright blue eyes appeared on the screen. The resemblance left no doubt. This was definitely the girl's mother.
"Angela Roth," Megan read aloud. "Born May 8, 1987 in Gotham City. Reported missing by her parents February 2003. Reports indicate she was one of several runaways that sought to join a cult of unknown origin. The cult seems to have been fairly popular among youths in certain troubled neighborhoods across the Northeast. Do you think Angela left because she was pregnant with the girl?"
"It would make sense," Cyborg said. "But I'd need more information to be sure. And that isn't all I found. Zoom in on that part there. Look who the system matched as her closest living relation."
Megan stared at the familiar face on the screen: the blue eyes, curly black hair, and kind smile she'd recognize anywhere.
"Zatanna Zatara?" Megan asked. "How?"
"The mothers," Cyborg explained, scrolling to the next page of the report. "Zatanna's mom, Sindella Roth Zatara, was the older sister of Angela Roth. She died about a year after Angela went missing."
"Oh, God," Megan said. "Zatanna told me about that once. Her mother committed suicide when Zatanna was just in second grade. That poor family. The Zataras losing Sindella and the Roths losing both their daughters in a single year. What do we do? Tell the League? Or do we go straight to Zatanna?"
"Let's hold off on all of that for now," Cyborg cautioned. "We'll know more when the kid wakes up. Even then, we should move slow. She doesn't need a lot of excitement in her cond- Wait." Cyborg took a step closer to the girl. A scanner on his arm sent a blue light across her several times. "She's healed," Cyborg said, staring at the data on his wrist in disbelief. "How in the world?"
"I noticed that, too," Megan said. "It must be part of her powers, although Zatanna's never shown any healing properties before outside of basic spellwork. Maybe the girl gets it from her father's side. Did the system show any information about who her father might be? At least narrow it down to a certain species?"
Victor shook his head. "I ran the info through the Green Lanterns' intergalactic server. DNA didn't match any documented species in any of our or our allies' systems. It really all comes back to what the kid can tell us."
Megan remembered the horrible voice from her vision. The one that had called the girl his precious daughter. She decided not to mention it. Megan had been connecting with the girl's mind for weeks. She wasn't their enemy, Megan was sure. There was no sense of deception in any part of the girl's mind Megan had come to know. The child's emotions of fear and loss were too raw and real to be less than genuine. Whoever or whatever her father was, the girl was just as troubled and confused about it as anyone else.
The girl did not awake until late morning, hours after Megan had discussed the test results with Cyborg.
When the child finally opened her eyes, Megan saw the first physical indication of the girl's unearthly parentage. Unlike the light blue color her mother and cousin had, the girl's irises were a deep purple framed by dark, naturally lined eyes. Her dark features contrasted with her alabaster skin, which had taken on a healthy glow as her condition improved through the course of the night.
"You're awake," Megan said, coming to sit at the girl's bedside. "You had us worried for awhile there."
The girl slowly sat up and had barely opened her mouth to speak when a sudden blur of reddish brown hair and gray clothes sped by like a rush of wind.
"Megan!" Bart greeted coming to a halt in front of the Martian. "I heard about the new girl. Is she awake? Oh, she is! Hi. I'm Bart. Kid Flash. The second. Formerly known as Impulse. I'm from the future. Where are you from? What's your name? How'd you get here? What are your powers? Oh wait. I forgot. You might not understand me. Hey, Meg, does she speak English? If not, can you translate? Whatdoyouthinkabout-"
"Bart!" Megan interrupted. "Slow down. You're talking a lightyear a second. I can barely even keep up with your thoughts. How did you get down here? When did you even get here?"
"Well you see, it all started with-"
"Nope," Megan interrupted. "Nope. Never mind. I don't need to know. Whatever way you came down here, do that in reverse."
"But why?"
"Because we-" Megan motioned between herself and the girl, "Need to talk."
Bart blinked.
"Alone."
"Oh. Why?"
"Because…it's about…girl stuff."
"Say no more!"
In the blink of an eye, the girls were alone again, a swinging light hung from the ceiling and a few scattered papers the only evidence of Bart's having been there.
"Fastest way to clear a room of men, mention 'girl stuff.' Works every time," Megan said with a wink.
"I wouldn't know," the girl replied, her expression stoic. "I grew up in an all-female monastery."
Megan blinked. "Maybe we should start with introductions. I'm Miss Martian. Or M'gann M'oorz. Or Megan, if you want to use my Earth name. The speedster is Kid Flash. And Cyborg will probably be along any minute now. This is basically where we call home. You're safe here. So, you know my name. What should we call you?"
"The monks of my birthplace, Azarath, called me Xon-siva. In English, Raven."
Megan racked her brain, trying to think of where in the universe a place called Azarath might be. She'd been taught of and traveled to hundreds of worlds and star systems, but couldn't recall ever hearing of any such place.
"And your parents?" Megan asked, trying to be subtle.
The girl remained impassive and, as if remarking on the weather, said, "I don't have parents. My mother died when I was a baby. My father wasn't involved in my upbringing."
Megan bit her lip, trying to think of what to say. Should she tell the girl what she'd seen while inside her mind? Should she tell her what Cyborg's computer had found about her mother and family here on Earth?
No, she thought. There would time enough for that later.
"Well then, Raven, it's nice to meet you."
"I wouldn't say the circumstances of our meeting were very nice," Raven said bluntly. "I'm sorry for bringing so much trouble to you. I should leave before I attract any more."
"Wait! You can't just go," Megan said taking a gentle, but firm hold of Raven's forearm as tried to leave the bed. "You're shaken by what happened. I understand that. But you've been trying for weeks to reach out to somebody for help. Maybe I'm not the one you meant to get the message, but I did and I'm here. I want to help you however I can."
"I should return home-"
"Raven," Megan said gently. "We both know there's no 'home' for you to go back to."
Raven's expression wavered for all of an instant, but Megan caught the flash of fear in her eyes, how the girl tensed like a cornered animal looking to flee.
"Your mother was from Earth, right?" Megan asked in a soothing voice. "Is that why you came? To find her family? Your family?"
Raven stared at the ground for several long, silent seconds then said, "I do not quite know why I came here. I remember pain and fire and then everything was cold and dark until I awoke in the woods."
"Klarion said you traveled from another dimension."
Raven nodded. "Azarath exists on its own plane. A sort of fold within this reality. I must have opened a doorway between the worlds, even though I don't recall doing so."
Raven's nails dug into the skin of her other hand.
"If my control of my powers is slipping, there is even less time than I feared."
"Less time until what?"
"You know what, M'gann," she said in quiet, frightened voice. "You saw the vision, too."
Megan remembered the awful words that had echoed in her mind: I will destroy all that you hold dear.
Megan took a shaky breath. "We can sort that out later. Right now, you're here. You came to Earth for a reason. Whatever it is you're running from, my friends and I can help you. We will help you."
"Got that right."
The girls turned to find Cyborg standing in the door.
"Raven, this is Cyborg. He's the one that looked after you."
"Nice to see you up, little lady. Name's Victor or Vic. I only use 'Cyborg' when working in the field."
Raven eyed Cyborg's outstretched hand with mild apprehension before giving it a half-hearted shake.
"Meg is right," Cyborg said, pulling up another seat beside the bed. "We want to help you. Starting with making a few specific introductions. When you feel like it, come on up and meet the rest of the Team. Everyone currently here at the Tower, that is. Later we'll make some calls and you can meet your cousin."
"I have a cousin?" Raven asked, showing genuine surprise. It was the most animated the girl had looked yet. The light on the bedside table flickered and Raven immediately resumed an unreadable air.
"I thought we were going to wait and tell her that," Megan muttered.
Victor shrugged. "Better now than waiting till Zatanna shows up at the door."
"Has anyone told Zatanna yet?"
"Batman's going to relay the info."
"Oh, great," Megan said with a roll of her eyes. "So both members of the family will have the news broken to them gently. Since Batman's known for delivering news so delicately."
"Now, now, Meg," Victor said. "Leave the sarcasm to the pros. The League will also need to start a file for the little lady here. Legal name, planetary status, all that jazz. The UN's decided they want all non-terrestrial visitors registered after the incident with the Reach."
"Do you have a last name Raven?" Megan asked.
"You mean a family name?" she asked. "No. But my mother's Earth name was Angela Roth."
Cyborg nodded. "System never lies. So then, Raven Roth it is."
Megan shook her head. "My friend Artemis would probably advise against using your personal name for a secret identity. Got her into a few sticky situations."
Raven paused, looking thoughtful. "The monks called me Xon-siva. But Azar, the temple's founder, once told me that my mother gave me a different name. An Earth name like hers. Rachel."
Cyborg groaned. "Why do you non-Earth folk always have to have so many names? You've got Miss Martian here, AKA M'gann and Megan. Superboy is Kon-el and Conner. Now Zin-yoga/Raven/Rachel over here. I'm just going to call you Rae."
Raven shrugged. "Fine with me."
Megan smiled. "Well then, Rachel Roth. Welcome to Earth."
Elsewhere in the endless reaches of space aboard a large spacecraft drifting in the constellation of Orion, three tall, male hooded figures sat atop thrones of emerald, amber, and onyx, their red eyes glowing in the dark.
"It seems our sister has made her way to Earth and seeks refuge among her mother's kin," said a man garbed in gold robes.
"Clearly Father's lesser servants have failed in their task to retrieve the gem," a man in green agreed. "I think, brothers, it is time we handle this ourselves."
"What do you recommend?" asked the eldest brother, cloaked in clothes the color of blood.
"Our allies on Apokolips have made use of a very subtle method perfect for inciting strife among the Earthlings. We shall use human servants. Inconspicuous figures, but influential. Small in number, but strategically placed."
"How very underhand," the brother in gold said with appreciation. "Do you have someone particular in mind?"
The eldest brother smiled. "I have. Come, brothers. Let us remind our sister who her one true family is."