Thank you guys for being patient. I know it's rlly late right now, but I just wanted to post because it's the weekend. Okay, Bye!
Bethany's POV:
I stood in the middle of the training circle with Nightwing, Artemis, Wally, M'gann, Superboy, Zatanna, and Aqualad. I tapped my finger on my elbow nervously as we stood waiting for Martian Manhunter. I looked over at our Team, watching them with a sort of reminiscence.
Wally, Nightwing, and Superboy were playing video games on the digital computer that floated in mid air, whereas Artemis, M'gann, Zatanna, and I were all talking to each other in a small circle. Off to the side, Aqualad was talking to someone on his phone. He looked like he was in a heated discussion, and was sometimes even whispering angrily.
M'gann and Superboy weren't talking to each other. In fact, it seemed that recently, there was some tension between them. They didn't talk to each other as often and Superboy always looked on the angry side nowadays. Maybe something was going on between them...?
"What do you think about it, Bethany?" M'gann faced me and the attention of the group of girls turned to me. I blinked. What were they talking about again? I hadn't been listening...
"My hair." She motioned to her pixie cut that she had morphed her hair into. Shocked, I took a step back. When did she do that? "How do you like it? I'm considering going to get a haircut."
"Why do you need to get it cut? You can just morph it." I said, avoiding my response to whether or not I like it.
She shifted her light brown hair and made it long again. She sighed and said, "I just want to do a normal Earth thing."
Just then, a female robotic voice echoed around the training room.
"Recognized Batgirl B16. Recognized Rocket B09."
Rocket, also known as Raquel Ervin, and Batgirl walked through the Zeta Tubes dressed in their costumes. Rocket was dressed in her usual gray blazer, long sleeved dark blue shirt, and tight cargo pants and boots. Her double piercings on both ears presented her with an air of confidence. Batgirl looked a little short compared to Rocket's long legs, but Batgirl's brains overshadowed everyone else's. Well, maybe except for Dick's. Call it girlfriend pride or whatever. Batgirl was telling Rocket about the physics behind her force field in some kind of science language that didn't register in my brain.
"Recognized Beast Boy B19. Recognized Robin B20. Recognized Wonder Girl B21."
Wonder Girl, also known as Cassie Sandsmark, and Robin, also known as Tim Drake, walked in with a green Beast Boy, whose name was Garfield Logan, trailing behind them. Cassie was floating a few feet above the ground as she talked with Tim, causing his slim but fit figure to look shorter than he actually was. Cassie wore a sleeveless black tank top, which showed off her arm muscles. As they talked to each other, Garfield skipped along with them, his tail swinging back and forth happily.
All of the Team had arrived to support me, Nightwing, M'gann, Superboy, Wally, Artemis, and Aqualad when we would go into my memories. Aqualad turned around to see everyone waiting and whispered something into his phone before hanging up. He walked carefully over to where everyone was congregating and stood awkwardly to the side before Rocket approached him. She tried to strike up conversation, but he didn't look too interesting. Poor Rocket.
"Recognized Batman 02. Recognized Martian Manhunter 07. Recognized Doctor Fate 17."
Three huge powerhouses of the Justice League walked through the Zeta Tubes with an aura of power and control. They were one of the most powerful heroes on the Justice League, and they were here to help suck me back into my memories.
Nightwing stepped up to me and gently squeezed my hand. "Are you ready?" He asked.
I took in a deep breath to calm my nerves. It didn't work. "I..."
"It's time." Batman stalked forward. He merely needed to stand there and his presence had the frightening effect of silencing an entire room of teenagers. "You all," he motioned to the other members who would not be entering my memories with us, "Need to leave. This is a precarious operation, so there can be no distractions."
Begrudgingly, with a lot of complaining, they all left the room, probably to go congregate in the kitchen and the living room.
Automatically, the remaining members, consisting of the original Team, semi-circled around Batman to hear the briefing. I had specifically said that only the original Team would come into my memories because I had never told the newer members about my past yet. I didn't really feel like having story time with them, so I never told them. There was no need for them to know, anyways.
"Miss Martian and Huntress, both of you will be leading this mission. Miss Martian will be in charge of holding everyone together, and Huntress will guide you through the memory, since it's hers." Batman commanded.
Behind him, Martian Manhunter levitated 8 white beds to the middle of the training room and then placed them all right next to each other. My palms started to sweat a little, so I wiped them on my cape. I looked around me and saw that everyone else looked just about as nervous as I did. Wally wasn't smiling, Artemis was shuffling from side to side, Aqualad was studying the floor, Superboy was just brooding, and Nightwing was studying me, as if trying to see if he could pick up any sign that I didn't want to do it anymore. I kept my face carefully blank and smiled back at him. If he saw that I didn't want to do it anymore, he'd immediately pull me out and cancel the mission.
I looked over at M'gann to see that she was the most nervous out of all of us. She was looking blankly into space, her eyes wide, and her hands clenched to her side. I realized that it was because of the last time that we had done a simulation like this. We hadn't been able to come back out of our own heads.
M'gann cleared her throat, "I don't think I should be trusted with such a serious mission." She looked down at her hands guiltily.
Immediately, I went up to her and took her hands in my own. "M'gann."
She looked up at me with those clear hazel eyes. They looked a little watery. I swallowed down my own fear and focused on trying to comfort her. If I was scared, then who would be able to hold us together?
"M'gann, I trust you with my life." And I did.
I saw the hope glimmer in her eyes and her eyes turned from watery desperation to fiery determination. Automatically, we all moved to each bed and lay down, Nightwing, of course, taking the bed next to mine. Batman moved towards the head of my bed and looked down at me. I should've been frightened by him, but I was more frightened by what was about to happen and what we were about to see.
Batman called over his shoulder, "Dr. Fate, standby. You will pull them out by force if they can not come out themselves. Hold hands." Batman commanded us.
Immediately, we gripped each others' hands. I reached over and grabbed Nightwing's familiar hand and M'gann's small and slim hand. I felt Nightwing drawing slow soothing circles on the top of my hand. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
In, then out.
"Huntress." Martian Manhunter's voice was like a strong wave of water washing over me. It was clear and soothing, completely in control. "Clear your mind. Think of Jayden's face."
I felt Martian Manhunter's long fingers on the sides of my head and could see the glow of his eyes through my shut eyelids. I thought of her long dark hair that tumbled down her back and her exotic mocha skin that glimmered in the light. Her incredibly long legs and the curve of her hips. I remembered every detail of her from the Ravens' Corporation building. Where had I seen her before? Well, I was about to find out.
I opened my eyes after what seemed like a strange nap.
My eyes adjusted to the dim light and I felt something warm in my hands. Both hands, actually. Wait? What's going on? Oh yeah!
I was in my memories now. I looked over and Nightwing's eyes were gently shut, in a blissful sleep. On my other side, M'gann started to stir.
"M'gann?" I whispered, squeezing her hand a little to wake her up.
"Mmm?" She murmured. Then her eyes shot open and her hazel eyes scanned the room, settling on our sleeping Team members around us.
"Help me wake them up." I commanded. "Hey, Dick," I whispered before pressing a kiss to his forehead. I could see the shadow of his beautiful eyes opening behind his mask. He sat up sharply and looked around.
"What's going on? Where are we?" He looked confused for a second. I reminded him of what was going on while M'gann woke up the rest of our teammates.
"Okay, guys. Here are the rules." M'gann stood up, dragging the rest of us with her since we were all still holding hands. "Do. Not. Let go of each others' hands. It's the only way that we can all stay connected in the memory. If you let go, you'll be stuck here and we probably won't be able to get you back out."
"Well, that's not very comforting." Wally remarked. "Ow!" I'm assuming Artemis squeezed his hand a little too hard.
"Huntress, do you have any idea what our location is?" Aqualad's calm voice floated over to me.
I looked around, taking in my surroundings. We had landed in what looked like a garage. Bikes and a wagon filled with martial arts sparring gear had all been moved to the side. There were old mats on the floor and a single bright overhead light that illumited the room. That's when I noticed that there was a little girl, about the age of five, and a grown man, looking to be about in his 20s, were sparring in the center. I took a step forward.
My heart stopped beating for a few moments. Tears started to form in my eyes and my lip started to quiver uncontrollably. No. I hadn't seen him since that day...
Jackson's dark hair was matted to his forehead and his face was drenched in sweat. He was wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and a simple black t-shirt. His gray eyes had a glint of humor and looked daring as he whipped around the little girl. The little girl had pigtails on and was wearing little shorts and a pink t-shirt. She was so tiny that her shoes looked like they could fit in my palm.
I stepped forward and started to loosen my grip on M'gann's hand so I could reach out and brush aside Jackson's hair. Just touch his face, wipe away the sweat. I just wanted to touch him and make sure he was there-
"Don't let go!" M'gann's sharp voice rang in my ear and I jumped back a foot, shaking my head to get rid of the forming tears.
"Bethany? Who are those people?" M'gann asked.
"That's me... and my-my dad." I might have shed a few tears. My heart felt like it would burst any second. God, it hurt. My chest and my heart, they ached. I wanted to yell at my dad. I wanted to shake him and tell him that I was here, that I was okay. I wanted to hit him and ask him where he's been? What happened that day of the explosion at the Raven's Corporation building? Why did he leave? Why didn't he ever come back? Why didn't he say goodbye?
But I knew he couldn't hear me. He was just a figment of my imagination, a character in a dream. He was just part of my memory.
It was storming outside, with the occasional flash of lightning that lit up the sky. The ominous weather sent chills down my back. Something was about to happen.
I looked at my younger self, a care and stress free little naive girl. I never would have even dreamed that I would be where I am now. I'd grown a lot since then. I recognized the garage as part of the house is grown up in when I'd been living with my real father and mother. It was cluttered and dusty, but it was where my dad had always trained me in martial arts.
"Jump higher when you do the spin jump kick to the head. And bend those skinny little legs of yours!" He poked little Bethany's leg.
I jumped at the sound of his voice. His voice. I hadn't heard it in 13 years. His hard but rustic voice. My throat started to choke up and and my eyes started to close a little. The tears started to come down my face without my permission. It wasn't fair! How could he be gone?
I saw the rest of my teammates watching the scene unfold around us with big eyes. They were curious about my past. Well, they would get a front row seat. Nightwing looked over at me and scooted closer to me and I leaned my head on his broad shoulder. He knew the past was hurting me.
Dream-Bethany giggled like a happy little girl at my dad's poking. I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment, causing more tears to fall down. This scene, my dad, everything, it was all too much. My heart was hurting so much. It was in little broken pieces and it felt like they were being crushed even further. It hurt, God, it hurt so bad.
Jackson continued coaching, ""Let's go again, one more time. And snap your knee forward. Technique and control ALWAYS win over power."
"No kidding," Superboy grumbled under his breath. I remembered when he'd gotten that same lesson from Black Canary. He'd punched a hole in the wall out of rage, but that was two years ago. Funny how much he's changed.
Little Dream-Bethany nodded her head and bent her knees accordingly. She took a deep breath in concentration as Jackson held up a wooden board that she would need to break with her kick. It seemed as if the entire Team were holding their breath to see what would happen.
When it seemed as if time had finally stopped and you could almost see the flakes of sawdust floating around in the room, Dream-Bethany jumped up, twisted her little limber body, and snapped her leg at the wooden board. My eyes widened and it felt like it was in slow motion. A long split rushed across the wooden board, and then all of a sudden, the wood splintered into little pieces, flying in slow motion across the room, even into all the little crevices.
Dream-Bethany landed on her feet and stared for a moment, as if trying to register that she had just broken a two inch thick wooden board.
"W-W-W-WHAAAAAT?" Wally stuttered.
"Hmm... I didn't master that kick until I was 14..." Artemis muttered jealously.
"Impressive." Aqualad glanced at me.
"That's my girl." Dick whispered down at me. I felt a warmness spread in my heart.
"Wow." Jackson looked in his hands and there were only a few shards of wood left. "Great job, kiddo. You've really improved since yesterday."
I nuzzled further into Dick's shoulder. It'd been a long time since I'd received a compliment or any praise for something I'd achieved.
"One of your greatest strengths that you have is that you are able to read what people will do before they even do it. You've always been good at that, but you can't always depend on that. Others may not be able to outsmart you, but I can." Jackson paced in front of Dream-Bethany, like he was teaching a lesson.
Dream-Bethany stuck out her tongue at Jackson because of his last comment, but Jackson merely laughed and continued talking, and Dream-Bethany paid close attention, despite her playfulness.
"I'm able to read you, even though you can read me. So, in fact, that skill that you have for reading people isn't a big advantage when fighting me. You know what I like to do, I like to trick you and mess up your readings."
And it was true. I remembered that he would always read what I would do ahead of time and I would always try to read him, but he always knew how to get around me when I would try to predict what he'd do. He'd trick me into making me think he'd do something, like crouching ever so slightly to pretend like he's about to jump, but then he'd do the opposite and kick me low. He was the only one who could trick me like that.
I looked over at our Team and saw that they were all hanging onto every word that he was saying, like he was their new mentor or something.
"I told you, technique is the key to better results than just going Godzilla on your opponent." Jackson picked up his water bottle and chugged half of it down.
"Tell me about it," Superboy mumbled under his breath. He'd learned the same lesson the hard way from Black Canary about two years ago.
"Heehee! Godzilla!" Dream-Bethany giggled. "RAWRRR!"
"Haha, you'll be even greater than Godzilla one day." He ruffled the top of Dream-Bethany's head, causing her hair to fluff up in the back.
I squeezed my eyes shut. This was too much. If only he knew what I was now. Would he consider it being "greater than Godzilla?" He had had such high hopes for me, and what had I done in return? I'd run away. I'd been scared and backed down from the fight against my step family. I am such a weakling.
Jackson crossed his arms and smirked lovingly down at his daughter as he taunted, "You still have yet to beat me in a sparring match."
That seemed to spark a fire in Dream-Bethany and she jumped up and down and pointed at her father yelling, "I'll beat you right here! Fight me!"
They started bouncing up and down around each other and laughing, Dream-Bethany's eyes so bright and childish. It was a foreign sight. I hadn't seen my eyes so bright and my spirit on fire since forever. Ever since my step family moved in, I'd been full, gray, and impassive towards life. I couldn't believe I was seeing myself before my eyes, it was just so surreal.
"Hey, Honey?" Grace's voice floated over to us. We settled down and looked at her from the entrance.
The light was shining behind her and her long light brown hair was tied up in a messy bun, with stray strands of hair framing the sides of her face. Her kind eyes almost seemed to shine at us. She was wearing a short stylish apron and had a mixing bowl and a whisk in her hand, a streak of flour decorating her beautiful face.
My heart almost stopped at the sight of her. I expected my anxiety to hit me full force because my mother was right in front of me, but it didn't. I didn't feel trapped or anything, I just felt an intense sadness. This was what my mother was like before she turned into a total monster after Jackson died. I let out a sudden sob. I couldn't help it, it was all so sad. I never thought I would see my family like this again. All of this, the entire dream, was just how I had wanted my life to go back to. I had yearned for these moments again after my life got turned upside down.
"Someone's at the door. I think it's for you." She continued stirring her bowl and and smiled at Dream-Bethany. Bethany grinned back at her mom.
I almost screamed in shock. I would have never smiled at my mother now! The image of us smiling at each other was so foreign and forgotten that I felt glued to the spot after seeing that.
"Hmm..." Jackson started to walk slowly back into the house. "Who could be here at this hour? It's about 9 pm."
Dream-Bethany began to follow him into the house, but after Jackson looked through the peephole, he turned back towards Bethany with a serious look on his face. The air suddenly turned still and a heavy cloud settled upon us.
"Shh. Stay out of sight. Remember what I taught you about stealth. You're not even here..." He waved his hands around in a ninja hand motion with a smile on his face. Bethany giggled a little and Jackson put his finger to his mouth in a quieting motion. He had always made it into a game whenever someone from his work came over. But now, I realized that it was his way of hiding me from his work associates. Hmm, that's strange.
But what Jackson didn't know was that night, I had followed him to the door and hidden around the corner. In addition to stealth, he had taught me about recon and I had always been up to a great challenge. The Team and I inched forward into the foyer to get a better look.
Jackson opened the door and I heard gasps and saw jaws drop at who was at the door.
A frantic looking Jayden was standing there in the rain, her coat covered in water and her long hair sprinkled in rain droplets. There was no mistaking her perfect caocao colored skin and long beautiful hair. This was where I had seen Jayden.
Okay, bye!
Distraught, traight.