This story was influenced by the Batman, Superman, and Justice League animated shows, DC comics and movies, and obviously Young Justice. The first few chapters will be a little bumpy, but bear with me, they set up the rest of the story and I promise they get better as they go. Also, Please leave reviews. I started this story to try and improve my writing, and the only way I can tell if people are really liking it or not is if they leave reviews telling me what they think. That doesn't just go for my story, that's for any fanfiction you read. If you like the story, just take a few seconds and leave a review. It doesn't take anything out of your day, but it can mean the world to the author. Anyway, on to the story. I hope you like it. I don't own anything except my OCs and original plots.
A nurse walked to the front desk of the clinic and nodded a greeting to the receptionist before leaning on the counter, glancing around idly. "You can change that, you know," she mentioned.
The girl at the desk looked up. "What?"
The nurse nodded to the calendar. "It's after midnight, girl. It's tomorrow."
The receptionist chuckled and tore the page off the calendar, taking a moment to read the new sheet. "'July 21st, expect sunny days ahead.'" She scoffed, dropping back into her chair and fanning herself with a file. "I hope not. It's plenty hot out for me."
The nurse nodded in agreement, looking out the glass doors, the only thing giving them a little reprieve from the sticky summer night that was causing the glass to fog up.
"I wish we could just leave," the receptionist said suddenly. "No one's coming in at this time. We're referring most of them to the ER anyway."
The nurse raised an eyebrow at her. "Girl, I know you're new, but you better knock on some wood or something, or you'll have the whole city in here in a second."
The receptionist chuckled. "Oh, come on. Nothing's going to happen just because I said we're slow."
The door swung open before the nurse could disagree with her, and a pregnant woman stumbled in, clutching her stomach and scrunching up her face in pain. The women at the desk sprang into motion, grabbing a wheelchair and ringing for the room to be made ready. The pregnant woman was wheeled down the hall quickly, her screams blood-chilling as she clutched at her unborn baby, fear in her face. The doctor met them in the room and immediately began to work on her, checking the baby's position and making sure the labor was going well.
"Who is she?" he asked no one in particular.
"We don't know," the nurse admitted. "She hasn't been able to tell us."
The temperature in the room spiked, then went back to normal as the woman let out an excruciating scream.
"What was that?" the nurse asked nervously.
"Never mind! This isn't going well. We need an emergency C-section," the doctor yelled. They started to prepare for it, but suddenly the temperature spiked again and the doctor saw the baby. "Never mind, too late!" he announced. The baby came out steamy and red.
"What is-why-?" the nurse stuttered. The doctor shook his head as he handed the baby to her to get cleaned up. "Why is she so-hot?" the nurse asked, barely able to take the heat in her hands.
"Stop asking so many questions," he snapped, rattled at the unusual circumstances. Suddenly, he stopped cold. "How are her vitals?" he asked nervously.
A different nurse checked the mother's vitals. "They're dropping," she announced, her voice hinting at panic.
The doctor took one look at the amount of blood and the unusual burns and knew there was nothing he could do. He moved to the woman's head and put a hand on her sweaty brow. She was barely conscious, but she was staring at her baby. "Miss, we need to know your name," the doctor said. She opened her mouth, then closed it. "Miss, who is the father?" he tried again. The woman pressed her lips together, shaking her head, her eyes locked on the child in the nurse's arms. "We need to know who your next of kin is," the doctor said, his voice more urgent.
The beeping machines stopped suddenly. The doctor tried to revive her, the nurse holding the baby watching on helplessly.
"She's gone," the doctor said a few minutes later. The moment of silence was broken by the nurse looking at the baby.
"What'll happen to her?"
Two Years Later:
"Today's the day," a middle aged woman said to her husband. They were in the lobby of an adoption agency filling out paperwork to meet some of the children. Her husband didn't have time to respond before the director of the home, a pinched, hard-looking woman named Mrs. Tompson, walked in.
"You can follow me, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson," she told the couple. They followed her into the nursery where children of assorted ages played and napped. The couple talked to several children before the wife spotted a toddler playing by herself in a corner. "Darrin, look," Elaine murmured. The girl had fiery red hair and pale skin dotted with freckles. She looked sad and lonely, but there was something about her that spoke to the woman.
"Oh, well, don't bother with her," Mrs. Tompson said.
"Excuse me?" Darrin said harshly.
Mrs. Tompson must have realized how it had sounded, and she rushed to explain herself. "She's, well, just take my word for it, she's a lot of trouble."
"In what way?" Darrin asked.
"She's a strange one. Ever since she came here she's had‒ medical problems. The doctors can't do anything for her, so she just runs up the bills."
Elaine looked over at the girl. She looked perfectly healthy, except maybe a little flushed. "How long has she been here?" she asked, her heart already warming to the girl.
"Since the day after she was born. Her mother died in childbirth, and they never found out who the father was."
"The mother's family didn't want the girl?" Darrin asked.
"Well, strangely enough, they were never able to find out who the mother was, either. There were no records of her anywhere, and she never told anyone her name, so that made it much harder to try to find any next of kin," Mrs. Tompson said, then she brightened a little and gestured to a little girl in the middle of the room. "Now, how about little Emily? She's a darling girl."
"What's her name?" Elaine asked.
"Emily," Mrs. Tompson repeated.
"No, the redhead," Elaine amended.
"Well, Mallory Desdemona, but-"
"I'd like to meet her," Elaine interrupted gently.
Her husband looked at her hesitantly. "Dear, you heard what Mrs. Tompson said. Are you sure?"
Elaine looked up at him pleadingly. "Oh, Darrin, it won't hurt to just talk to her," she said. He sighed and nodded.
Mrs. Tompson looked less than pleased, but she didn't say anything as the couple made their way over to the toddler. "Hello," Elaine said softly, kneeling down next to Mallory. The toddler looked up from her toys. Her young face had a sort of haunting beauty to it, and her coal black eyes searched Elaine's face warily. It tore at the woman's heart, seeing the child so uncertain at such a young age. "I'm Elaine, this is Darrin. What's your name?"
The girl just stared, her dark eyes piercing them. Elaine tried a new approach. "What are you playing?" she asked. The girl hesitated, then handed her one of the toys. It was strangely warm. "Who is this?" Elaine asked. The girl shrugged, still not speaking.
Darrin went to brush some hair off Mallory's face, then started pressing his hand to her forehead, concerned. "She's got a fever," he told Elaine. Elaine pressed the back of her hand to Mallory's cheek. It was burning. Suddenly, the girl curled up in a ball and started clutching her arms, sobbing in pain.
"Go get Mrs. Tompson," Elaine said, and Darrin hurried off. Elaine pulled the girl into her lap and held her, gently rocking her back and forth. "You'll be alright," she murmured soothingly, curling her torso protectively around the child.
The other children in the room had stopped playing and were staring. Mrs. Tompson and Darrin came over quickly. The director took one look and sighed heavily. "There's nothing we can do. We've been through this before. Well, I'm glad you got to see what you would be dealing with if you adopted her. I'll get one of the nannies to take her, and you can continue meeting with the other children."
"That won't be necessary," Elaine said, sharing a look with her husband. "We want her."