The famous Martian of the League wouldn't take his eyes off me as I sat down in the consult room. He had no pupils, only red irises that I would have felt uncomfortable with except for the fact that I've come across a lot stranger mutants over the years. His slightly lined, green skin was also a sure sign of his origins. Wearing a blue cape and silver costume he looked every bit the bad ass that I'd heard about. Manhunter was both a shape-shifter and held the ability to phase through solid objects, not to mention the little tricks of invisibility and mind control. I had fantasised about taking his power but the thought I might turn permanently green turned me off the idea.

"So how are we going to do this?" I asked the general table, breaking the uncomfortable silence where everyone bar one was glancing at me.

"In a few moments we're going to take you into one of the labs," Manhunter spoke in a monotone. The 'L' word made me flinch but I angrily regained composure. "I'm going to dive deeply into your sub-consciousness extract the memories of your time in Ireland and place them in your teammate's heads. Therefore the information of the whereabouts will be there for all of you to use."

I wanted to correct him on the teammate thing but seeing as it made no difference I simply nodded and took a deep breath.

"It shouldn't hurt," he said, trying to comfort me.

"Sure it will," I tried to push as much bravado into my words. "I wouldn't give my worst enemies the punishment of having my thoughts in their minds."

Cassie giggled, Conner and Kid-Flash smiled the Martian however looked blankly at me. There was obviously no such thing as sarcasm on his home planet. Instead, he stood up and following his lead everyone exited the room. As I followed Manhunter down the corridors and deeper into the base Sadira ran up beside me.

"Don't worry about it Fraya," she said taking my wrist. "You'll be fine and I'll hold your hand during every moment of it."

I glanced behind me and caught Batman's gaze, the thought of Sadira locked up in a lab with me would not help my concentration nor would it allow her to sleep tonight. So slightly I hoped she didn't notice I shook my head at Batman. He seemed to get the message and cleared his throat.

"I'm afraid only the team and Manhunter can go into the Lab; he can't have any more minds in there than is absolutely necessary."

She opened her mouth to protest but I squeezed her hand.

"It's ok," I said quietly. "It's not going to hurt, I'll see you afterwards and we'll be one step closer to getting out of here."

She frowned but allowed Vixen to escort her down the next turn we came to. The rest of us continued on for another fifty metres. It seemed like hours had passed since Nightwing had kissed me in the elevator, I tried to hold on to that memory as we entered the Laboratory.

It was white, too clean. The sterile scent in the air that appeared to be imprinted in the darkest parts of my memory wanted to make me gag. I tried to inhale through my mouth but the taste of it on my tongue was worse.

"Relax," a voice breathed beside me. I glanced to my left to see Nightwing had walked up beside me.

"I am relaxed," I muttered back heatedly. I felt his hand move to brush against my own clenched fist; the lightest of touches of his fingertips over my white knuckles.

"Then at least stop clenching your jaw so you aren't lying badly," he remarked so casually that I wanted to hit him again. I hadn't even noticed I'd done it, but on releasing my jaw it ached making me wonder how long I'd been clenching it.

"If you would lay here Miss Fairburn," Manhunter's monotone echoed off the white tiles. Swallowing what I hope wasn't audibly I did as he asked, stretching out on the hard reclining chair. I blinked against the harsh white light. The faces above me were shadowed as they blocked some of it out. The feeling of every eye on my form was making me feel uncomfortable but with a deep breath I blocked it out. I can do this I tried to convince myself.

"As I said before, this won't hurt but you may feel some discomfort," the Martian spoke as he stood just at my head. "Do you understand?" Not trusting my voice I simply nodded. "Good."

He raised his hands, one on either side and in line with my temples.

"I'll now ask the team to place one of their hands on her arm," I felt the warm touch of twenty-five fingers touching my bare skin. "We must be connected if this is to work. Now, everyone close your eyes. Miss Fairburn, allow your mind to go blank, think about nothing in particular I'll soon take direction of your thoughts but for now just let go."

Just let go…

I thought it would be harder than it was but with the Martian's help I was able to let all the worries and stress of my own life slip away. My mind was thinking of nothing yet everything in an easy, fluid rhythm. The image of mist appeared behind my closed eyelids, I slipped into it like a dream. I was standing amongst the mist, feeling it slip through my fingers just like my thoughts were.

"Now Fraya," Manhunter's voice echoed softy through the hue. "I want you to cast your mind back to the night you and Sadira escaped…"

It was easy I just told myself where to go and I was there, it was just like that time I absorbed a teleporting ability five years ago. I appeared within my old cage, my stomach dropped as I was much too big for it now. I crouched uncomfortably in it and could feel myself beginning to panic.

"Stay calm…" the voice above commanded. "You're fine, you're not really there… you are just recalling the discomfort, not feeling it." I took a quick breath and the feeling evaporated. I eyed a four-year-old Sadira in the cage next to me. My heart swelled, watching her determined little face. I glanced forward again. The Body guard had entered, the memory seemed to flick to fast forward, he was yelling, I got electrocuted minus the physical pain and I absorbed his power.

"That's enough of inside the Lab, what did you see when you were outside?"

The image changed, I was now in the woods, glancing back I could see the building I'd just exited, it was just normal grey brick. Nothing unusual about it, there were no signs and it was far too dark to see any landscape.

"Keep going…" the voice urged. Suddenly the reception of the dream changed, this was the part of the memories that I'd long ago let slip away, it was fuzzier, harder to see. I sprinted down through the woods, tripping and tearing my knees and shins until they bled. I'd made it less than half a kilometre when I broke through the trees.

A lake stood in front of me, the waters so still it looked like glass, lights from a distant village flickered across the way –

No! My heart raced and I dived behind the shrubs. I peered through the leaves again. The buzzing sound of helicopters broke the quiet scene. I narrowed my eyes to see that those flickering lights weren't those of houses in a small village. They were flash lights on the nearest island, a search party for me, but that didn't make any sense –

"The facility is obviously huge," the Martian answered my silent question. "There could be a huge portion of it beneath the ground, many exits on the surface."

I moved from behind the tree, knowing that the guards would never see me from this far away cloaked in darkness, just as I reached the trees on either side of the road I saw it, exactly what we needed. A sign post.

"Perfect," Manhunter's voice seemed closer than before. "Now we can infiltrate what appears to be a human organ –"

And that was when everything went to hell.

It was like my brain had been turned to elastic. As the Martian tried to pull me out of my own mind it had stretched outwards and on the word 'human' it snapped back into place, locking myself and everyone with me back into the height of my memory.

I was back inside the institute once more and running, fast.

"Fraya, calm down…" the voice commanded, for this time I couldn't listen to it. "I need you to stay calm before we can escape your memory…"

Escape… that's what I needed to do, escape. I pushed my legs harder against the linoleum, feeling Sparks bouncing on my back. I ran through the halls, each sector passing like a blur of blues and whites. I pushed out the sound of the Martian's instructions, so consumed in panic that I couldn't separate my memory from mind anymore. I was reaching the exit, I could feel it. Any second now…

A woman came into view, not just any woman, the woman. Her terrified look clearer than any other part of these memories. My panic, the need to escape was the only thing in my mind as I leapt on her, the skin on my hands fusing with hers. Her life flooded through me, emptying her as the image of her family carved itself into my brain and soul before we both fell to the ground. The blood from the head wound she received in the fall pooling on the floor, seeping into my hair. I pushed her off me, staring into her vacant expression.

I killed her… the thought repeated itself over and over. I killed her… I killed her… no… no… no…

"NO!" I screamed and sat bolt upright in the seat. There was a pulse and the others collapsed around me. I stared in horror at their unconscious bodies. Their unmoving forms far too close to what I'd just seen. To what they had all just seen. My secret was out; the Justice League now knew I was a murderer. No one would help me now, I was on my own.

With nothing left inside but the fear and misery I did the only thing I thought was right to do then.

I stood up and ran.