Chapter 23: Hearts vs. Bones

"Down the ladder, baby girl." Sportsmaster said in a commanding tone. I rolled my eyes at the nickname, the one he seemed to give only to younger and slightly smarter girls. I stopped short, staring at the fifty foot drop from the helicopter to the hard rocky floor below. I shivered at the thought of landing.

"You're kidding right?" I asked, looking back to see Sportsmaster's disapproving face. He was still, his eyes focusing on me. I sighed. "I may not be the girly girl type, but there's no way in hell that I'm breaking a heel, let alone these heels." I pointed down at my shoes. Cheshire face palmed behind him as he stared at my boots. She pushed him aside and walked around me.

"Pathetic." She said, suddenly jumping out and catching onto the end of the ladder with her fake claws. I rolled my eyes as I watched her land. Elegant was so not her style; it never was. Sportsmaster grunted behind me and I rolled my eyes, not even bothering to look at him as I climbed down, jumping from the last handle of the ladder and falling at least seven feet onto my heels. I cringed, my feet feeling awkward from the sudden hard impact they had made to the hard surface.

"Maybe you shouldn't wear heels." Cheshire said in a suspiciously high and squeaky voice. I glared at her.

"I wasn't the one who chose these shoes this time." I said, slightly smiling. Cheshire walked behind me, positioning my hands to be retied with a stronger, more appropriate holder. I took a deep breath.

"Ready to catch a bird? Or are you more the fish type? Oh, wait, I remember. You're more into arrows." Cheshire snarled. I glared at the forest of trees in front of us. Now was my chance.

I threw my head back, hitting Jade's revealed jawline harshly. (That was, after all, what she got for taking her mask off in front of me.) I felt her hands let go and heard a thump, turning around quickly to see Jade in the dirt, quickly getting back up and charging toward me. I swallowed. Why didn't I just run?

She threw her fist, my eyes widening as her glove-covered knuckles impacted the side of my face, or technically the side of my nose. I felt a crack and yelped, tumbling backwards and catching myself mid-fall. I glared at her and ran, swinging my foot into her rib cage. She fell back, an angry look in her eye and my legs spread wide, running my torso in the direction of the trees. I couldn't stop myself. It was one of my few chances, and my legs took it.

I could hear angry shouts from the open pasture as I ran faster and faster, avoiding trees as if they were a simple obstacle course. My right foot hit something hard and my body went forward, my left foot not having enough time to catch up. The ground seemed to come at me, my body twisting sideways as I began to roll down the steep, branch and rock covered hill. I hit my head hard, groaning as I reached behind, rubbing the back of my hair.

I was slightly glad that my hit was damaging, or at least not as damaging as the rest of the times I had hit my head, but I also wished that I could just get away from it all. Escape the world for a few seconds. But thinking back to it, I was no where near ready to experience Hell the way people talked about it.

I stood up quickly, the world seeming to spin around my as I stumbled limply down the rest of the hill, falling quickly on my hands and knees once I saw the battlefield.

Away from the colorful costumes of the Justice League and the dark and skimpy figures of every villain I had ever come to know or hear of, it was quite peaceful. No blood, just random acts of violence, for instance my ex-best friend's boyfriend getting thrown into a tree by Superboy, but I wasn't so concerned about that.

I heard a branch break from behind me and I swallowed hard, my head swerving around to see Roy off in the distance. I slightly smiled, watching Cheshire interrogate him as she pinned him to a giant oak tree. Aside from the multiple swear words from the redhead and the hissing of Cheshire's voice, the two pretty much seemed like newlyweds. Well, from what I saw anyway.

I crouched behind the tree, taking a short glance at them and feeling a sudden presence behind me. I froze, carefully listening to the breathing patterns. I swallowed hard. This was not good.

A arm swung in front of my neck, cutting off a little bit of my airflow as my heart pounded faster. My right foot stepped back hard on impulse, and the heel of the shoe made something crack and let off a grunt and moan and semi-scream. I turned around fast, dodging the fist that had been aiming for my ribs. Honestly, I was mentally and physically prepared for the fight, but my hands couldn't stop shaking.

I stared at the grey eyes and blinked, forgetting what I was wearing. I glared suddenly, swinging my leg underneath and tripping my opponent. I swallowed hard, my feet and legs moving quickly as I ran toward the nearest clear area. I gasped for air as I stopped in a small clearing. My hands stuck to my knees like glue as I panted uncontrollably, my heart racing abnormally. I froze at the cracking sounds behind me.

"And I thought you'd just run away once again and leave me hanging." The voice said behind me. I sighed, standing up straight and feeling more at ease.

"And so did I." I turned around and stared at his green eyes. "So are you stalking or hunting me?" He laughed.

"I stopped stalking you on your sixteenth birthday. As for hunting...I stopped when you left to...wherever you went."

"I didn't leave, I was forced." He laughed.

"Tell that to Madeline." I swallowed hard.

"What do you want? I thought I made it clear that our meeting were for business only."

"Well, for starters I was only here to fight..." I raised my brow. "Incognito, of course. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if he recognized me. As for what I want...you obviously won't give it to me, so why not look elsewhere? Unless, you mind..." I frowned.

"Why would I mind? If anyone would care, I think that It would be your parents, or even your brother for that matter." He was awkwardly silent and I swallowed hard wondering what he was about to say. I turned away.

"Maybe I just thought that in that dark heart of yours, there was a little more light with my name on it. Or at least Madeline's. But I guess I was wrong. You may be able to fix those cracks in your heart with a bottle of super glue, but the ones in my heart...will never be able to put back together." I swallowed hard as I listened to him walk away. I closed my eyes, a single tear sliding down my face and landing on the fabric over my mouth.

I took a deep breath, clearing the once tension-filled air and turning around to make sure he was gone. He was. I took another deep breath, letting the muscles in my body loosen as I began to walk away from both the battle field and the landing site. I shivered as I replayed his words again and again. I couldn't let his words get to me. Not again; not ever.

I had to be strong, stronger than my naive, sixteen year old self. The one whose scars bled more than ever, and whose memory shall never be healed. I sighed. In the end I had only two options. Break hearts...or break bones.