Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own Young Justice, or any of the DC characters or locations mentioned.

Chapter Two

Mount Justice

Desmond stood there, awkwardly, staring at his new teammates. They stared back, just as awkwardly. "So…" said Des, trying to instigate a conversation out of someone. No one took the bait, however. "Um, is there like a tour, or something?" The team exchanged a few looks, and then gave a collective shrug.

"Yeah, sure," said Superboy. "If you're going to be living here with M'gann and me, you should probably get the lay of the land. Come on, we'll show you around." He turned to leave, but before Desmond could move, Aqualad stood up.

"Regretfully, I will not be joining you on this tour," he said. "I am taking some time off, returning to Atlantis for a while. While I'm gone, Robin, you will take charge, agreed?" Robin perked up immediately, and nodded vigorously. Aqualad smiled, and walked up to Desmond. "I'm sorry I could not stay for your first day on the team. I'm sure you will make an excellent member. I will see you, and everyone else, once I return." He shook Desmond's hand, and in that small amount of contact, Des could tell something was upsetting the Atlantian. Before he could ask, however, Kaldur walked off to where Martian Manhunter had gone, and with a quick beam of light, he too was gone.

"Seemed like a cool guy," said Des. Kid Flash chuckled.

"Come on," said Robin. "We'll show you around the joint." Desmond smiled, and followed the small boy. Well, not directly, of course. The team had formed a line, with Robin in the lead, followed by Kid Flash. After him went Superboy, then Miss Martian, then Artemis, with Des bringing up the rear. As they walked out of the Mission Room, Desmond saw Artemis lean in towards M'gann and whisper;

"Great, the testosterone level increases." M'gann tired to shush her, but couldn't stifle her giggle. Desmond, feeling he should defend both himself, and the other males of Young Justice, leaned in behind his blonde teammate.

"Sorry to disappoint," he whispered. Artemis jumped, not expecting the comment, and whirled around. Her face was bright red, and at this point Miss Martian was bent over with laughter.

"I… uh… I didn't mean…" stammered Artemis. "I didn't think you would hear that. Uhh… sorry…" Desmond shrugged.

"Hey, don't sweat it," he said. "Trust me; I've been insulted a lot worse. And I get it, if I was one of the only two girls on the team, I'd want the new recruit to be a chick too." Artemis still looked slightly guilty, but Desmond rested a hand on her shoulder. "I swear, it's all good." He said with a smile. The heroine smiled back, and they continued down the hall.

"Well, this is the kitchen," said Robin, upon reaching a large room. There were a few stoves, a large fridge, and a fancy looking sink. There was an adjacent living room sort of area, with a large T.V. "Wally spends a lot of time in here." As if on cue, Kid Flash super-sped to the refrigerator, grabbed several food items, and sped back into line.

"Did you say something," he asked Robin, his words muffled by a sausage sticking out from between his front teeth. Artemis groaned.

"Can't you make a good impression," she demanded. "We want Desmond to think we're respectable, and you're screwing it all up!" Desmond quickly stepped between the two.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down guys," he said. "No harm no foul, alright? I've been on the road for a while, and I've had to share space with some pretty nasty guys. Wally's eating habits aren't going to bother me." Kid Flash motioned to Desmond with his thumb.

"See, new guy doesn't mind," he said. Artemis huffed, and crossed her bunny-covered arms. Kid Flash looked at Des, and started rummaging through his pile of snacks. He pulled out a turkey sandwich. "Hungry?" Desmond smiled, but shook his head.

"Im good man," he said. Wally shrugged, and took a bite of the sandwich for himself.

"More for me, then," he said, and Desmond chuckled. Why was I so nervous? He thought. These guys aren't stuck up, or pretentious at all. They're teenagers! Moving on from the kitchen, Robin led the group into a large room, filled to the brim with exercise equipment. Desmond spotted pull-up bars, dumbbells, a few benches, elliptical machines, and treadmills, just to name a few things.

"This place is hooked up," Desmond mentioned with a whistle. Robin chuckled.

"Yeah," he said. "There were a few large donations a while back, and we got the place outfitted with all of the most recent exercise equipment. It's free to use whenever you like. There's a locker room through that door," he pointed to large, metal double doors at the opposite end of the workout room. "Through there you can get to the showers on one end, and the pool on the other."

"You guys have a pool?" asked Desmond. "Sweet." A few members of the team smiled, and the tour progressed. There were a few other, less important rooms, like the medical wing ("Hopefully you won't spend too much time here," Robin had said) and a trophy room, mostly for Kid Flash. Artemis had called it dumb, and he'd just mocked her pajamas again. The tour concluded with them returning to the Mission Room.

"That's about it," said Robin. "The only thing left will be your room, and Superboy can show you that, seeing as how you two are going to be neighbors." Desmond glanced at Superboy, who turned to leave the room. He motioned for Desmond to follow, and after a few nods of thanks to the rest of his new team, he jogged off to catch up with the boy of steel.

"It's just down this way," Superboy told him. They reached a large corridor, lined with several rooms. Most of the doors were shut, but two of them were ajar. He pointed to the one on the right. "That's M'gann's room, and the next one over is mine. Yours is just next to that." He walked over, and opened the door. Desmond walked in, and was taken by surprise by how… bland the room was. Grey walls, a large bed, a dresser and mirror. There was an alarm clock on the nightstand, and a closet in the corner. Aside from that, the large room was empty.

"It's, uh… homey…" said Desmond, trying to disguise how underwhelmed he felt. Superboy shrugged.

"I mean, you can decorate it how you like, I guess," he said. He didn't really seem to care what Des did in his own room, and Desmond liked it that way. Desmond went and sat on the bed. At least it's soft, he thought. After a few years of motel beds, most things felt a lot more comfortable than they actually were. This bed, he could tell, was genuinely soft.

"So now what?" asked Desmond. Superboy was standing by the door, and seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. He made a sound like "hmm…" and then shrugged.

"I don't think we're on alert today," he said. "Especially with Aqualad off to Atlantis again. We probably have some training to do with Black Canary, but that's usually not until noon at least. What do you want to do?" Desmond thought for a moment. Then he snapped his fingers, an idea popping into his head.

"I think I'm going to explore this town."