Chapter Three

A Bunch of Freaks

November 19th

"And I guess this'll be your room from now on." Nightwing opened the door to one of Mount Justice's many bedrooms. The girl, Morgan, peeked inside and nodded silently, her face a mask that didn't give anything away. Still, Nightwing could tell that she was sad and scared and feeling like she was in way over her head.

Honestly, when he and Batman had approached her in Gotham, he'd expected her to need a lot more persuasion than had actually turned out to be necessary. Batman had only had to point out that she didn't really have anywhere else to go anyway, and she'd agreed to come with them back to Mount Justice.

Batman had left after that, saying that he'd be back tomorrow and the three of them would have a talk about her possible future as a member of the team. He looked at the small, thin, shivering girl and couldn't help but think that she didn't much look like hero material.

Nightwing shot another look at the bedroom, noting how empty it was. He looked back at the girl and realized that her only belongings where the clothes on her back. "Should you choose to stay here, we'll provide the financial support to make this room more like a home and less like a-"

"Prison cell?" the girl – Morgan, he mentally reminded himself – said dryly.

"Yeah, that." He scratched the back of his head and placed his hands on his hips. "We'll also get you some more clothes, of course. Everything will be arranged tomorrow."

She nodded once and stepped into the small room, sitting silently on the bed.

He had to admit, he was curious. "Can I-" He cleared his throat and tried again. "Can I see them? Your wings?"

The girl let out a small sigh and shrugged her shoulders. "Sure. Why not." She stood and pulled off the hoodie, turning her back to him. She was wearing a black tank top underneath the hoodie, but the back had gotten three inches cut off so the wings weren't hindered by the fabric.

Nightwing could sense how uncomfortable she was, so he kept his distance, choosing to study them from the doorway.

They were smaller than he'd imagined. And rather ill-kept. Originally he'd thought they were white, but he could now see that they were actually a light grey, which faded into a darker grey at the tips. He wasn't sure if she would ever be able to fly with them. They twitched sadly and he looked away.

Nightwing cleared his throat and she turned back around to face him, pulling on her hoodie again. "Batman will be here in the morning. Fairly early, I expect. We'll sort out everything then. For now, sleep well and I'll introduce you to the others tomorrow, after your talk with Batman."

As an afterthought, he added. "I think it's for the best if you stay in here until I come and get you."

She nodded and sat back down on the bed.

Nightwing was about to leave and close the door behind him when he hesitated for a moment and took a step back into the room. "You're amongst friend here, Morgan. And you won't have to worry about hiding your wings."

"I'm not amongst friends. I'm amongst fellow freaks." She said moodily. Nightwing pegged it down to her just being tired and stressed, and obviously sad about the new turn her life had suddenly taken, so he didn't take it personally. Instead he closed the door behind him and left down the hall, into the main room. Superboy was there.

"Who was that?" He asked, not bothering with any niceties. Nightwing wasn't surprised that Connor had seen her. The guy could see through walls after all, and he had super-hearing.

"Maybe a new member of the team." Nightwing paused. "I'll explain everything tomorrow. For now, please make sure no one else bothers her. She's had a rough night."

Connor nodded and Nightwing offered him a grateful smile. "Thanks Connor."

With that, Nightwing left the cave.

Morgan woke up with the feeling that today was going to one of those days. She looked around the room she was in, and immediately understood why. She wasn't at home. She wasn't even in Gotham. She was in Happy Harbor, inside a mountain that she'd heard Nightwing call 'The Cave' the night before. She was here to talk with Batman about possibly joining a team of teenage superheroes.

At least, that was what the two men had told her the night before. Morgan wasn't sure she really bought it. She was sure the moment they saw her today, they'd see how small and unthreatening she was, and realize that she was anything but hero-material.

She soon realized what had woken her up. There it was again, someone knocking on her door. It wasn't really her door though. She refused to call this room hers, refused to associate herself with anything that had to do with this place. Thinking of the room as hers meant getting attached to it, and if her conversation with batman turned sour and she ended up having to leave, she didn't want to make it harder by already having grown attached to anything or anyone in the place.

Sitting up in bed, she reached a hand up to her head, doing damage control. As per usual, her thick curls were a huge tangled mess, and she decided to just let them be.

It wasn't like she had a comb or anything to brush them out with.

There was another knock on her – no the door, and Morgan finally stood up to open it.

Outside, she was faced with a tall, admittedly good looking, black haired boy with blue eyes and a muscular build. He looked young than her by a couple of years.

"Breakfast is ready if you want any." He informed and pointed his thumb behind him in the direction Morgan figured the kitchen was. He hadn't bothered with any introductions or other awkward small talk, which Morgan had to admit she liked. After years of isolating herself from other people out of fear of being found out, Morgan wasn't very good at talking to other people her age. She only had her mother.

Had only had her mother, until she saw her wings and freaked out just like everyone else would if they saw how much of a freak Morgan was.

The thought stung, so she put it away. She didn't like dealing with pain. It tended to make her want to punch something.

Morgan nodded at the boy and followed after him.

"I'm Superboy, by the way." He said over his shoulder.

"Morgan." She muttered shortly. She decided that she liked this kid already. He wasn't much of a talker.

They entered what she assumed was the combined kitchen and living room, where a colorful small group of teenagers where sitting around an island table, eating.

The only girl at the table – who was green by the way – floated off her seat and landed in front of Morgan, an excited look on her face.

"Hi!" She said, a big smile on her face."I'm Miss Martian, but you can call me M'gann."

Morgan looked at her uncertainly, not exactly used to people with green skin.

Then again, I have wings so I guess I shouldn't be judging.

"I'm Morgan." She said eventually.

M'gann grabbed her hand and began pulling her towards the table, but Morgan flinched, pulled her hand away and took a step back. M'gann's smile fell and there was silence for a second. Then she smiled again and motioned for the table instead. "You can sit next to me, I'll introduce you to everyone."

Morgan relented and ended up sitting between M'gann and the black haired guy from earlier. She looked at the people sitting around the table, and her eyes nearly bulged out of her head. Maybe having green skin was actually a new trend, as all of the kids around the table, except for her and Superboy, did. There was a younger boy that cheerily introduced himself as Beast Boy, a grumpy sounding, fish-looking creature that introduced himself as Lagoon Boy and said he came from Atlantis, and then of course the Martian and the Kryptonian.

Morgan simply introduced herself as Morgan. She didn't bother with a last name as people could rarely pronounce it.

The girl – Miss Martian or M'gann or whatever – coerced her into eating some breakfast, and Morgan settled for scrambled eggs and toast. She ate more than she usually would, but she figured that her previous eating schedule that was made to prevent her wings from growing any more was rendered moot now that she'd been found out anyway.

Fifteen minutes later Nightwing came in, surprised to see that she was already at the table. He pinched the bridge of his nose, a tired sigh escaping his lips. "I thought I asked you to stay in your room."

Morgan frowned at him. "I was offered breakfast. And I think it would've been rude to say no."

Miss Martian rose from her seat and began cleaning up by levitating everything into either the sink or the fridge, depending on where it belonged. "We're just being friendly, Nightwing. No harm done."

"I guess not." He said, though he didn't sound convinced. "Batman is here. Follow me."

Morgan jumped off her chair and shuffled after the tall hero, shooting a look at the people behind her. Lagoon boy and Miss Martian were being all gushy with each other, which Superboy was pointedly ignoring, but Beast Boy offered Morgan a thumbs up and what was supposed to be an encouraging smile but came off as more of a pained grimace.

She guessed that talking with Batman wasn't always a pleasant experience for the teenagers.

Nightwing looked between his former mentor and the girl. She was shifting her eyes nervously between him and Batman. Batman was keeping his eyes firmly on the girl.

The three of them stood in the caves common room, in a small triangle. For a while, nobody said anything, as Batman was simply studying the girl, the look on his face the same one he'd given Nightwing many years ago when he first asked to join Batman on his nightly routines.

It was the look of a man that was sizing someone up, trying to read their thoughts and understand how they worked. The calculating look of a man that was discovering what the other person was made of.

Eventually, after Batman had finished his study, he spoke up. "We brought you here out of kindness last night, and because you had nowhere else to go. But now we need to talk about what is going to happen next."

The girl shuffled in her spot and one of her hands reached up and started pulling at a curl. Nightwing figured it was a nervous habit.

"We've known about your.. condition for a week now, and both Batman and I have expressed interest in letting you join the Team, if you're interested." Nightwing took over.

Morgan widened her eyes and let her hand fall limply by her side, she looked like she had thought they'd been kidding when they'd mentioned the same thing the night before. "But I have no experience in fighting. The only thing I have is a pair of pretty useless wings that I'm pretty sure won't even let me fly."

Nightwing raised an eyebrow.

"You've never attempted flight?" Batman asked. That was exactly the question Nightwing had been about to ask.

She scowled at the floor and stuffed her hands deep into her pockets, her shoulders raised high in a defensive stance. "I hate those stupid things. They're the reason my life sucks." She looked up at the two heroes and met their gazes bravely, first Batman and then Nightwing. "Of course I haven't attempted flight."

"Well, can you try now?" Nightwing asked before he could stop himself. He quickly realized that it had probably been the wrong thing to ask as she stiffened and sent him an incredulous look.

"Look, Night -whatever your name is- I've been strapping those things tightly to my back for years and moved them as little as possible." As if to prove her point, she pulled the hoodie over her head and spread her small wings as far as they could go. "Their muscle-mass is pathetic, and they hurt to move. I'm pretty sure I've as good as mutilated them in my attempt to keep them hidden. They. Do not. Work."

Even as she spoke, her wings fluttered and twitched almost angrily, rising and falling with each annoyed breath she drew.

"We'll have someone look at them. For now, all you can do is train them. Are they still growing?" Batman's voice was as calm and put together as ever, not at all fazed by Morgan's attitude.

She huffed out a breath, but nodded all the same, a small pout on her lips. "They're growing all the time. I think they could've been larger, but I've been eating very little for years to slow their growing process." Nightwing looked at her again and noticed that not only her wings looked frail, small. He'd noticed before that she was a short girl, sure, but now that her hoodie had come off, he also saw that she was very thin, an obvious sign of her less than ideal eating habits.

Nightwing decided to let Batman deal with the rest of this conversation, as she seemed much more willing to answer Batman's questions than his own.

Batman nodded slowly once. "Do you want to join this team?" He asked firmly.

"I-" she looked a little lost for a second, very vulnerable, but she quickly recovered. "I still don't have any training what-so-ever. I'm pretty harmless."

"There are ways to remedy that. Should you decide to join the team, you will be put on an intense training program. We will teach you anything you could possibly need to know about fighting and surviving."

She hesitated for another moment, but then shrugged her shoulders once, pulling her hands out of her jean pockets. "Then I guess I'm in."

"Good." Batman said shortly. The moment was incredibly anticlimactic for such a big decision. Nightwing remembered how excited he'd been himself when the team was formed. This girl looked like she couldn't care less.

But, he supposed, he had his reasons to be excited. She had two options: join the team, or find somewhere else to go.

Maybe she thought she was just choosing the lesser evil.

"One last question," Batman interrupted Nightwing's thought stream. "Do you have any other powers, other than the potential for flight?"

".. No."

Morgan hesitated for a moment. It was only for a second, but Nightwing noticed. He narrowed his eyes at her from behind his mask.

"Very well then. I will be back tomorrow to sort out the rest. For now, go and get to know your new team mates."

The girl understood the dismissal in Batman's request, and started walking back the way the kitchen was in.

"And Morgan," Batman added a few seconds later. She turned around and looked at him expectantly. "Your first assignment is to eat properly. You need to start caring for your body if you ever hope to accomplish anything on this team."

She stood straighter and Nightwing could tell she was fighting the urge to do a salute. "Yes sir."

"Welcome to the Team." Batman said. With that, the conversation was ended, and Morgan slipped around the corner without a second glance.

"I don't trust her." Batman immediately concluded.

Nightwing looked fondly at him. "You don't trust anyone. But I agree, she's definitely hiding something."

Batman kept his eyes trained on the spot she'd been in moments before. "Which is why I am assigning you as her mentor. I need someone to keep an eye on her for now."

"Me?" Nightwing asked incredulously. "Batman, I'm stretched pretty thin already-"

"You are the best and most knowledgeable hand to hand combatant on this team. Except for Robin, you are the only other member of the team who does not have any superpowers, which makes you the only candidate for the job. And until such a time as we know whether or not our distrust is justified, we will keep that suspicion to ourselves, so I'm asking you," – and with asking Nightwing knew he was really ordering – "to train her and keep an eye on her."

Nightwing sighed, but already knew that the battle was lost. "Yes sir."

"Thank you, Dick." Batman said, suddenly sounding more like Bruce than Batman.

There was a pause and then Batman stepped closer, speaking in a low tone. "Alfred wants to know if you're going to be home for Thanksgiving."

A small smile crept onto his face. He felt a rush of affection for the old butler, who had always been more like a grandfather than an employee."Of course."

"Good." For a split second, Batman had a faint smile tugging at his lips. "I'll see you tomorrow."

And then he was gone.

Morgan wasn't sure what had made her say yes. She wasn't a superhero, and to be honest, she wasn't sure she really had the desire to be one. Her new living situation was so far from what she'd expected from life, she was having a hard time comprehending what was even going on.

She'd planned on getting good enough grades in biology to be able to pick whatever job she could want in that field, and then spend the rest of her life hiding herself away in a lab where she could do research all by herself.

In a way, that actually wasn't that far from her ultimate nightmare, except this way around, she had chosen to be in that lab by herself, and she was the examiner, not the examined.

And now she was neither. Now she had suddenly been recruited to a team of.. well, she supposed freaks were a pretty fitting term.

But strangely enough, she didn't really mind. She'd chosen it for herself, and to Morgan, the freedom of choice was what made all the difference. If she was in a situation where she wasn't allowed to choose for herself, she felt suffocated and helpless, which she hated.

So, maybe she wasn't a superhero yet. But she would certainly attempt to become one. Even now, Morgan could feel herself wanting it more and more. Maybe the reason she hadn't wanted to become one was because she'd just never considered it before. 'Becoming a superhero' wasn't exactly a career school councilors tended to bring up.

Working with a team of people that traveled the planet, did something good in this world – something that mattered – and had all sorts of adventures actually sounded very appealing. And the heroes she'd met so far seemed nice, actually.

Most importantly of all, she knew they wouldn't think she was a freak because of her wings. That was very important.

Morgan found herself in the kitchen again, where, to her surprise, the four from before were all seated around the kitchen table in mostly silence. At the sound of her entering, they all looked up simultaneously.

Creepy.. Morgan thought.

"So, how did it go?" The youngest one she remembered as Beast Boy asked her.

"Guys," Morgan jumped at the new voice behind her. She hadn't even noticed Nightwing arriving. "Meet our new teammate, Morgan." He placed a hand on her shoulder and Morgan fought the urge to flinch and edge away.

The four heroes all offered smiles, some more convincing than others. Miss Martian – M'gann – beamed at her and flew off her chair, landing in front of Morgan. "It's always so exciting to get a new member of the team! If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

Morgan offered her a close-lipped half-smile. "I'll remember that."

"She'll be staying at the cave, so I guess you guys will have lots of time to get to know each other." Nightwing explained. Morgan wondered when he was going to stop talking for her. "I've been assigned as her mentor by Batman."

Morgan stiffened and looked at the tall boy behind her. She'd gotten a mentor? What did that mean? And why had it been him?

"So," Lagoon Boy asked, his voice forcibly casual. Morgan got the feeling he didn't do small-talk very often. "What are your powers?"

"Uh," Morgan reach her hand up and started pulling at a curl. "None. I just happen to have wings. Don't ask me about those either. I have no idea what they are doing on me."

The three boys around the table sported a mix between surprised (Super boy), disappointed (Beast Boy) and unappreciative glances (Lagoon boy – seriously, what was with all these hero names that ended in boy?)

M'gann quickly covered for their looks. "Well, powers aren't everything! Nightwing doesn't have any and he's the leader of the team."

Before she could stop herself, Morgan snorted incredulously. "Really?" she turned and looked at the hero that was apparently her new 'mentor'. "You don't have any powers?"

Nightwing eyes – which were just white slits because of the mask he wore – narrowed a fraction. He didn't answer for a second. "No," he eventually admitted. "I'm just a normal human. But powers aren't always what make a superhero."

Morgan scoffed slightly and crossed her arms across her chest. "Tell that to Superman.." She muttered.

There was a tense silence that Morgan hated to admit that she'd actually created. Her social skills really had suffered from all those years of avoiding people.

"It'll be so nice to have another girl live here again. It's been lonely for me since Zatanna moved out." M'gann plowed on, obviously doing her best to level out any tension that Morgan had created. "I'll show you around, come on!"

She looked like she was about to grab Morgan's hand again but stopped herself just in time, probably remembering how Morgan had reacted the last time she had touched her.

Morgan shot one last look at the people in the room, and then followed after the excited Martian.

"I'll be back later this afternoon with money for you so you can buy some clothes," Nightwing called after her. "Remember to get work-out clothes; you'll need them tomorrow morning when we begin training."

This time, Morgan did follow the urge to salute. "Aye, captain."

With that, she began the tour of her new home, leaving behind a mentor that, rightly so, was thinking that she was probably going to be more of a handful than he'd prefer.

Eh, I promise things get more exciting and the write gets less clunky soon. I'm not entirely satisfied with this particular scene, but when is an author ever completely satisfied with their work?

Fun fact: Sometimes I literally forget that Morgan has wings as I write a scene and then I have to go back and add them to her body language afterwards because I don't want my readers to forget either.