A/N

Welcome back people, ready for the feels? And, well... the usual.

Reviews

patattack: You are the man... man? Anyways, cheers for the compliment and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Elvisfonz23: Well... (that's the second time I've done that)you are unbelievably awesome, as always. Would you want to see a YJ season two in the future?

Thanks to all new followers and favouritors, every last one.

Chapter 17: Grasping At Straws...

Kyle's POV- Bio-ship

Sat fairly comfortably in my reclinable (not real?) chair, I relax to the soothing motions of the bio-ship. Next to a commercial airliner, I would take this any day of the month. Public ones tend to full of civvies, and I can't handle that. Even when I was a civilian, back in the old days of the practical orphan with no friends. That's not even counting the fact that I had to look after myself, considering my dad took off, and mom... went to heaven.

"Kyle!"

Choosing to ignore the call and fall back into the relaxing movements of the flight, my eyes flutter closed.

"I swear, if you are ignoring me, I will teach you how I deal with jerks!"

And, carry on ignoring.

"Kyle! Kyle!"

She's growing louder by the second, but I want to see how persistent Artemis is.

"Kyle! " she yells once again, followed shortly by a shooting pain in the back of my head, abruptly ending the fragile inner serenity I had created. Artemis does have an irritating knack of attempting to harm, severely injure, harass, or insult, at every available opportunity. Luckily, I find it quite... charming.

Gingerly, I rub the rear of my skull. "Geez, Artemis! Can't you go a whole day without psysically assaulting me!? You're lucky I'm a chilled guy." I spin the chair around to face Artemis, a deep look on her face. As for the rest of the team, the moonlit sky had lolled them to sleep an hour ago. After they had checked on Ra's, of course- currently rotting in M'gann's makeshift brig above the ship. It's a literal extension of the ship made by telepathy.

"I'm sorry." she unexpectedly apologises, concerning me on a whole other level. Whatever is bothering her must be pretty shocking. To her, at least. "I shouldn't have hit you. It was mean." okay... that feeling I just had is amplified by a billion percent.

"It's alright... no biggie." I awkwardly assure her, partially wondering where this conversation is going. "What did you wanna... talk about?"

She shakes her head. "It's nothing, really." she leans forward in her seat, edging dangerously close to me. Shoot me... now... please! "I just wanted to talk about you, and you know... learn more about you. If we're a team, we might as well know each other." she says. "That's if you want to, of course" she quickly adds on at the end.

By now, levels of anxiety have reached critical and beyond. "Okay... sure, whatever, presto. Okay dok- just get on with it." my stalling only annoys me instead of Artemis, so I regrettably lash out.

"Alright... how do I put this?" she looks to the ceiling of the ship, for some odd reason. I mean, is that going to give her guidance, because I have never seem or heard the roof talk. Never. And I have witnessed some next level weirdness. "This might sound awkward, but I'm just going to say it." the tension is real. "Do you have any friends?"

"Hey!" I snap, and she turns near red.

"No, no, no; not like that, I promise." she quickly responds. "What I meant is... do you really know anybody outside of YJ?"

"Of course, I do." I gasp at the accusation. "There's Billy, Alex, and..." I stop listing names when she gives me the most unbelieving nod I have seen. Come on, Kyle... you can tell her. It's not that big of a deal, I assure myself. "Fine. What do you want me to say!? That I'm a loner and I have nobody!? News flash: not everyone grows up in a stable family that loves you. And when your dad decides that we aren't worth his time, he takes off! Leaving mom and me with nothing!" I take a deep breath, pushing down the growing anger. "rant=done."

Silence follows as Artemis' face remains eerily still, begging from me to ask if she is okay. Something I said must have struck a chord with her, otherwise she wouldn't look like someone who won the jackpot in Vegas. Not the little ones, the huge ones.

"Tell us more." Robin sits straight in his chair, almost perfectly mimicking a psychiatrist. And I am his mentally ill patient. "It's always good to just let things out every once in a while. Inner peace soon follows."

"Sure, Sensei Robin."

"I'm not joking."

"Well, I am. It's the only way I can deal with this garbage. That includes the literal and metaphorical garbage of life."

Wally's head pops up from around his chair. "Man, we're here for you. Just let it all out, as Rob said. Uggh... thanks bro, you're making me want to sing Frozen now." Kid Flash solemnly stares into the empty space at the center of the cockpit; no doubt reciting the lyrics in his mind like the diva he is.

"Sorry, KF" the boy wonder sighs, and then returns his gaze to me. "Anything particular you want to discuss?" No thanks, as that's a road nobody wants to go down. Especially with all the stuff from my past itching to be a nuisance.

"I'll be there will you, Kyle." M'gann's voice pierces through my head, making me wish my ring did better at stopping that. "Just as you were there by me. When I needed support the most, you showed up and was kinder than I ever imagined. Believe it or not, the team are also compassionate."

Deciding that maybe it is time that my memories resurface, I have no clue how they will react, if at all. So, the only rational thing to do is take the plunge on this one, and damn the consequences. This won't be pretty.

"Where to begin?" I ask no-one in particular. By now, the entire team is awake and listening attentively, on the edge of their seats. "Let's start off at the beginning. One day, my dad left and never came back, it sucked, but at least I still had my amazing mom. She did everything possible to provide for me- juggling jobs, making sure I was ready for school, and paying the bills. I was the outcast at school. I never talked or played with the other kids, and soon I was being bullied, which also sucked. But, at least I still had my mom, right? Nope. Life enjoyed making me miserable and giving my mom cancer was the next trick, and guess what... it sucked. At this point, I was around thirteen, and clueless. Yet... one thing kept me going..."

"Your mom." Robin wipes a tear away. Poor kid. He's only a child compared to us and he is the most experienced. In Gotham, no less. "I lost my mom too."

"School?" Conner asks, more out of confusion than actually recognition. "Or music?"

Wally incredulously shakes his head. "OMG, you guys, don't you know how the majority of hero stories start? A tragic thing happens and the hero- Kyle- grows a sense of morality and a thirst for justice. Oh... and sorry, Rob."

"You're all wrong." Artemis says, glueing her eyes on me. "He realised that life is always fixable and no matter what, he was determined to carry on. He didn't become a Green Lantern out of nowhere." Oh boy.

"An interesting and enlightening story, Kyle. Please, continue." Aqualad near enough orders me. "Spare no detail."

"Artemis nailed it, but she shouldn't have. When I was driven to change my life, I did it by any means necessary- being paid to protect other kids from bullies and etc. Turns out, people actually will fork at the cash to have a bodyguard for their kid. The next day, my mom died and I went into foster care. And before you ask, I'm not there anymore; I crash at Hal's instead. Thus, I was a complete vagabond up until the ring chose me." I start the next phase of my adventurous story. " To answer Artemis' question... I have never had 'friends' per se, but I do know people. You guys are really, the only friends I've ever had. Enjoy it whilst it lasts, kiddos. Life has a way of eternally wanting to ruin me."

"That's... deep." Conner mutters.

"Ditto," Artemis agrees.

"You don't have to say anything else." Robin says. Underneath his eyes are trail marks where tears have rolled down, sparked by my story. "We understand." he turns and looks reflectfully out of the window.

"Are you okay? " Miss M asks, concerned.

"I'm great, but you really should be checking in on Robin. For some reason, it hit him hard." I deflect the concern onto the person that needs it more. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact they care and it's very reassuring, but Robin needs it more. "I knew I shouldn't have said anything."

"It's not that bad... I thought you were about to say you joined a gang or something like that. Protecting people isn't bad." Wally speaks up.

"For money." was my rejoinder. "I did it for the money, not to do good."

"It doesn't matter, Kyle, I think that it was destiny guiding you." Artemis smiles.

I huff at her misconception. "First off: destiny is something that few have and everybody wants. Destiny doesn't dictate your actions, but gives you a purpose in life. Whereas, fate is what everyone has and few want. It's the idea that you aren't in control of your life and you are predetermined to do certain things. So, you should've said fate."

Shocked and astonished faces surround me. Even Robin stops his procrastinating and swerves his head to stare in shock.

"Since when were you a philosopher?" Superboy snorts from the background.

"Since I decided to help you in your failing classes." I shoot back at him. He quickly shuts his mouth to avoid further roasting from the king of verbal destruction. "Any other questions/suggestions/attempted insults?" I ask the rest, who immediately shake their heads. "School ended. Back to sleep, everyone."

Obeying with the timidness of a child walking into the dark, they return to their comfortable positions and lie back, trying their absolute best to drift off again. Whilst they do that, Artemis continues to glance at me from her seat every few seconds. She needs to learn the meaning of sleep, I think and recline in my own chair.

Focusing on the smooth cruise of the ship, my eyes slowly close and calmness takes over the anxiety from telling the tale. Taking every detail of the responses into account, it didn't go as badly and soppy as planned, excluding Robin's breakdown. Once again, poor kid. Living in the Batman's care must be heavily stressful. Kid Flash made sure to apologise to Robin, and I want to find out why one was needed. He could have done it because he was crying; helping him out. Or, it was an aspect of my story that triggered horrible memories.

Occasionally, I have cried myself over the thoughts and the daily struggle to fit in. And eventually, I did become a member of a family.

This one.

The notion brings me a smile as I fade off.

October 12th, 07:00AM - Mount Justice

Pursing my lips, I definitely want to avoid talking at the moment, judging by the way Batman is silently looking over us, comparable to a vulture waiting for a scrap to pounce on.

"I have decided to let you go on your lead. You did an effective job at taking down Ra's and I believe that you are ready to take the next step." Batman announces after doing one last sweep of our faces. "Don't make me regret this." with that he disappeared from our sights via the zeta tube.

"I'm going to regret it more." I pine.

A/N

Hope you enjoyed. This was meant to be 3,000 words and I did the last 1,000 three times and I couldn't get it right in my mind. Sorry for that, and goodbye for now.