In the last chapter we saw that the group had a mental training exercise to test them in a crisis. Though they will be experiencing small hits of trauma from that event. In the show they go straight into the therapy session but I wanted to do a single chapter on how they feel before the session. Might sound a little eh on wording but you may meet some that doesn't appear till season belongs to greg wiseman and Brandon Vietti.
Chapter 28:Trauma
Mount justice october 19th 9:32 am
It was just a few days after the events that had troubled the team as of late. All of them processing it differently right now. As they all where still in complete shock on what has happened during that small exercise. They all where up for the day hanging out here at the cave with some of them being silent
Wally was busy messing with some food right now being some oatmeal with cinnamon on it. While their was artemis adjusting her arrows making sure they where sharp and ready for anything to come their way. With conner right now staring at the ground as wolf was by his side
Though jinny was staring at a coffee cup right now for a long moment. Their was an immense silence between all of them right now as slowly the sink was dripping water. The droplets of water kept coming down as they did nothing about it right now. Though as it kept hitting the sink right now
Slowly and slowly right now soon enough it made conner anger as he growled
"Can you shut that off"conner growled as they stared at him was wally turned it off staring at him
"Come on man just relax. I mean it was just a simple little training exercise"wally said as they stared at him as jinny eyed him down
"Ummm uhh yeah a simple exercise"jinny said rubbing her neck for a moment looking down into her mug rubbing her eyes. As she had some small bags under her eyes from what happened during that event right now as artemis sighed pointing her arrow down.
"Look we all messed up. But still we were strong during the whole thing i mean we tried to take down a dumb mother ship. We technically succeed"artemis sighed messing with her hair as wally looked worried
"Yeah but uhhh hows m'gann taking it?"wally asked as they paused for a moment as someone walked into the room
"Shes with ghost. Doing his best to help keep her happy"Deliah said walking in as their was an immense awkward silence between all of them. As right now someone laughed close by
"Really? Couldn't make her happy by playing around with that little martian in the sheets?"red-x asked with a cocky tone as they stared at him with artemis walking over jabbing him in the chest
"Don't talk about her like that crook. This isn't the dam time to joke about this at all"artimis warned as he stared at her through his mask before chuckling to himself
"Whats funny jerk? Don't you feel bad about what happened?"jinny aksed as the thief thought for a moment grabbing an apple. Then he revealed one of his x shaped knifes as he began to peel it with the apple as he spoke
"I mean it wasn't that big of the deal. Hell i could tell that entire thing was fake"red-x suddenly said
"Well i….you knew!?" wally shouted in shock right now as they stared at him with the thief revealing the peeled apple beginning to slice it into apple slices right now as he explained
"What gave it away that it wasn't real?"deliah questioned as he hummed
"First off your little martian friends can't read my head but they can access it. That little freakout your girl had i guess worked on you. For me well…it kinda worked but i suspected something was off. I mean a bunch of soldier accepting us as their saviors. "Red-x paused eyeing superboy who glared at him
"Quick to accept him as the next superman even though he thinks he can't be the next one."he taunted as superboy growled ready to punch him. But jinny pulled his arm back staring at him as superboy growled walking off
"I'm working on my bike"superboy growled walking away right now as their was silence with wally eyeing the thief he had run in with
"I suggest you leave right now and go to whatever hole you where in X"wally said with the thief shrugging his shoulders for a moment
"Fine by me kid. I'll be off"red-x said with his apple in hand. As they where silent for a little bit right now soon enough artemis asked her friend
"Soooo everyone knows that you two are a thing now"artemis said breaking the ice as wally laughed
"Yeah i mean its kinda sweet how we figured that all out. Though uhhh i'm pretty sure dick knew the entire time by the way"wally said making the girl blush right now as jinny chuckled sighing
"Well cowgirl i'm guessing you've been taking care of the green chick since then"jinny aksed
As the girl has been treating the martian with some care lately. Though shes just been closing herself up in her room at times not wanting to speak to anyone. Along with that it scared her a little as well at the same time. But she just sighed rubbing her face
"Sort of m'gann keeps leaving herself closed up in her room alot though its worrying me"deliah said right now with fear as artemis sighed
"Hey we just gotta be their for our friends right. Were not some weak idiot"artemis said making deliah eye her for a moment before suddenly the zeta tube began to come to life
"Recognized 0-7 martian manhunter, recognized 13 black canary. Authorized access for unknown martian"the voice said making them all share looks on what that computer voice just said. As it just told them about their being another martian here as they where concerned
"Did it just say another martian is here?"wally asked
"Uhhh it just did….should we check it out"jinny replied as they did
Walking down to the floor of the cave right now slowly they walked down to see manhunter along with dinah. But their was someone or something else their that being a inhuman looking white skin. Along with that having long limps and a hunchback to boot with a red x shape across their chest
Immediately they looked shocked by the sight as wally heaved a little as jinny shivered at it. While deliah stared at with an indifferent look though artemis quickly drew her bow at the creature
"What is that thing?!"artemis shouted as they eyed it with the white creature growling at her right now
"say that gain uman"the white creature said making them confused as they have no clue what its saying
"Uhhh buddy what are you saying?"wally asked but j'onn stepped forward putting a hand up toward them
"Calm yourselves everyone this is someone very close to me"j'onn said as they were skepetical of this as the creature was glaring at them which jinny noticed
"Its glaring at us"jinny stated as dinah stared them down for that comment
"It is a boy. This boy being one of j'onn nephews"dinah said as it shocked them right now hearing that weird alien like creature being related to the manhunter. Their was immense silence as artemis lowered her bow for a moment staring at the creature
"So uhhh this a relative of yours then?"artemis asked as the martian looked at the white martian staring him down
"M'comm could you possible change your form you are startling your sister teammates"j'onn said making them stare at the creature hearing that thing was her sister. M'comm stared down his uncle scoffing
"Why should i do that dear uncle?"m'comm asked in a calm but irritated tone as the man simple stared at him
"Please do it for me. You know that your sister took on a form more suitable for humans. As did i so please for her"j'onn asked calmly but the martian paused for a moment before he started to shift his appearance. Suddenly he began to shrink in size as he began to stand at about 5.9ft in height. Though his face slowly started to morph into the face of a boy who was maybe sixteen for his age. Along with that he had a slight muscular build as his skin turned pure white with him sporting black hair slicked back. But his eyes had black sclaera and his eyes where piercing ornage.
Though for his clothes he seemed to be in a pair of black jeans with light grey tennis shoes on. While for his shirt he wore a pure white jacket over a green t-shirt on.
Their was immense silence inbetween the two sides right now as they where silent wally smirked walking over
"So your a martian. Do you know if m'gann has any sisters?"wally asked as m'comm stared him down for that comment
"What about it human"m'comm coldly said making wally not like him as the others walked over as artemis cleared her throat
"Well uh i'm artemis a uh friend of your sisters"artemis said offering a hand as m'comm stared at it looking at his uncle who gentle nodded. The martian took her hand shaking it as jinny sighed stretching her back out
"Names jinny hex a friend of your sister too. Also that one annoyance is wally west"jinny said
"Hey?"wally said as she shushed him with deliah looking nervous right now as she stared at the guy
"Oh dear god this is so nerve racking. Ughhh i'm meeting my girlfriend brother right now"deliah thought but sighed gently waving to him
"Hey i'm deliah uh also a friend of your sister heh heh"deliah said nerovusly as dinah smirked for a moment before looking around the place
"Where is kaldur? Robin? Superboy? And red-x?"she asked as they paused for a moment
"And my niece"j'onn asked as they thought before one of them spoke up
"Robin is training somewhere and aqualad is probably mediating somewhere. Though ummm superboy he uh got pissed off. Red-x that jerk somewhere and m'gann…in her room cuddling a dog"wally answered but m'comm looked confused
"Those earth creatures covered in fur?"m'comm asked as he seemed dense for his species
"Yes those things. But me and deliah are heading over their to check on green friend. Care to join us?"artemis asked as the white martian stared at her before nodding. They walked off as black canary sighed walking away
"I'll be talking to kaldur to check on him j'onn keep an eye on the others"dinah said as he nodded right now hoping that boy he brought cheers his niece up
With the three right now their was an immense awkward silence between all of them right now. As they weren;t making any drive to even speak as artemis and deliah stared at m'comm who seemed to know where he was going
"So this guy is uh weird…i mean hes uh…white"artemis said as deliah eyed her for a moment humming
"I mean its normal i guess for him though uh surprised to see that what martians truly look like."deliah replied as artemis shivered
"Yeah now i'm imagining m'gann like that though…you doing okay?"Artemis asked her friend who thought for a moment sighing heavily at that question
"You ask me that now? I mean…i…i saw my life flash before my eyes…i…i saw myself die"deliah said shaken up still about it as was artemis but one thing was itching in the back of deliah head
"And…and…if i died…then…the last words i said to my mom was her being a murderer…before i even listened to her"deliah said hugging herself ready to cry as she wants to speak to her mother about her true family. But she was so scared of doing it right now as shes been very emotional because of it. Noticing this artemis soften her gaze before looking ahead seeing m'comm turn a corner
Before the archer decided to let her in on something"You aren't the only one who was a criminal"artemis suddenly said making deliah stare at her friend who soften her gaze making sure no one was listening as they where in a barren part of the hallway
"What do you mean by that?"deliah asked as artemis sighed
"Look right now i'm trusting you with this. Because i'm in the same boat…in reality i'm not really green arrow niece. I'm not even related to him"Artemis said making deliah go wide eyed in shock hearing those words escape her lips
As deliah rubbed her head"then who are your parents? Why…why are you here?"she asked as artemis made double sure no one was listening right now as she sighed staring at her friend
"Look ever hear of huntresses? Sportmaster? Or chesira?"she asked as the teen hero thought before recalling some files she read on her spare time
"Their all…criminals with sportsmaster being a master thief and chesira being a…."she paused as the blonde nodded
"Assassin. Yeah big sis is following in the league of shadows footsteps right now"artemis replied with a hurt look stunning deliah as she was tempted to scream she was a criminal. But she saw the look in her eyes for a moment as she soften her gaze
"Wait but why are you here? If their criminals i…your moms in a wheelchair"deliah asked with artemis sighing looking down
"Mom left that life behind after she went to jail. During that time my dad raised me and my sister. It was not the greatest childhood and when mom got back out. She tried to raise me the right way so i didn't end up like her. But…i thought about maybe making a name for myself as a hero i mean…to…prove i'm not gonna follow in my dad footsteps"artemis said hoping she doens't freak out
Waiting for the yelling to start as deliah stared at the person she told about her powers for the first time when she activated them. Instead of yelling she hugged her to artemis surprise right now as she gently let her go
"I…i appreciate that you trust me with this…i won't tell the others"deliah said as artemis chuckled
"Better not besides…lets hope your girlfriend doesn't peek into your head"artemis said walking ahead as deliah blushed
"Shut up miss i like wally west"deliah said making artemis eye her for that but as they walked into m'gann room. Right now it was like the rest of the rooms here but right now she was sobbing hugging m'comm who was hugging her back as ghost nipped at her shirt right now for pets.
As the two stood their awkwardly the siblings undid their embrace as m'gann looked over before getting up walking over hugging her girlfriend
As she sighed"heyya uh M"She said as m'gann kissed her on the cheek for a moment sighing with a nervous look
"I um guessing you met my baby brother m'comm"m'gann said gesturing to the martian who stared at her for a moment as artemis held her laugh back
"Baby brother?"artemis asked as he growled at her but stared at what his sister did to the human
"Why did you exchange a kiss? With this human sister?"m'comm asked making them pause as m'gann green skin turned red as deliah rubbed her neck
"Ummm well…i um…i'm in a relationship with your sister"deliah answered as he stared at the two titling his head
"You are lifemates?"m'comm asked confusing them what that meant
"What do you mean by lifemates?"Artemis asked in air quotes as he blinkded at them
"That you are betrothed to one another"m'comm said sounding dense as the three paused hearing those words. As what he just said was the two being married as deliah went eep hearing those words as m'gann covered her blushing red face
"Were…were not engaged! I thought i asked you to catch up on human dilec and lingo! Girlfriend means their dating!"m'gann shouted as her brother stared at her slightly smiling
"I did dear sister but….let us talk because i'd like to hear what you've done. All i've done on earth is watch movies on our species. They believe we need to wear helmets to breath, partially right but at the same time no"m'comm stated as they sat down to talk to this new martian as m'comm eyed his sister who looked away from his sight as he knew her true form wondering why she hasn't revealed it yet.
Elsewhere with conner right now he was busy trying to keep himself preoccupied right now. As he was busy working a bike that he had for a while. With him adjusting the axel of the wheel with a wrench as he kept twisting it to make sure it was tight. As he was next to him was wolf who sat their on card staring at his master.
But as the clone of superman kept working soon enough someone tapped him on the shoulder. This startled him as he growled reeling his fist back but saw it was jinny who stared at him
"You gonna punch a lady now?"jinny asked as he chuckled slightly
"Your not much a lady though…what brings you here"conner asked getting back to work on his bike as jinny sighed
"Conner come on i know your a little troubled after what happened in that training exercise"jinny said softly but he eyed her down continuing to work on his bike right now
"Theirs nothing wrong with me and you woudln't even understand"Conner said making her eye him down for a moment with a stunned look right now as she crossed her arms huffing at him
"What you think your better than everyone or something?"jinny questioned as the clone of superman stared her down getting up pointing his wrench in her face
"If you haven't noticed i'd like to be alone go bother someone else and be annoying"Conner growled hurting her feeling right now as she scoffed walking away from him. As she walked away he glanced back for a moment before looking down sighing as he kept working on his bike
Meanwhile in the training hall right now robin was busy trying to get his stress out right now. As he kept punching and kicking a bag several times right now panting and heaving with him delivering a devastating kick to the bag making a loud thud.
But the young ward growled before cocking his fist back punching the bag harder this time. With him continuously throwing punch after punch to let out his aggressio. As he was he threw one fnal punch making the bag swing as he panted with sweat beating down his face
"Well lookie here boy wonder got some fire in his veins. How yah feeling kid?"Red-x asked as dick eyed him down
Dick scoffed as he grabbed a towel to wipe himself off"i'm doing great…what do you want thief? Here to hold me hostage so you can escape?"robin questioned
"Still thinking i'm gonna betray you all?"red-x replied
"When your wearing a mask and we don't even have prints for who you are we will"dick replied as the thief stared at him walking into the training hall right now as robin sat down holding his head panting right now
As the thief noticed him with a troubled look right now
"Hey kid you doing good after what happened in that training simulation?"red-x asked as robin looked away for a moment before getting up to continue his training
"I'm fine. Not like you understand anyway"robin said walking past him but as he did red-x placed a hand on his shoulder. This anger robin as he tried to grab him to throw him back or something. But the thief was quicker dodging the attempted strike before kneeing him in the stomach. As suddenly robin was flipped onto his back panting as he was met by the finger of red-x to the face
"Listen well kid. You aint fine right now i can tell because i know you have the drive to become a leader. But what happen aint your fault"Red-x said making robin flinch slightly as he shoved him off walking away rubbing his neck heavily
"Like i said i'm completely fine right now….everything went bad is all because of me being an idiot….leave me alone"robin said walking away
As the thief stood their for a moment right now the boy eyed his surrounding staring at a wall for a moment
"Mind coming out martian man. I know your their"red-x said as slowly phasing through the wall was j'onn who stared at the thief
"I am surprised you knew i was their"j'onn replied
"Eh i got my ways besides you here to check on us after your little niece freakout almost putting us in comas"red-x taunted but the martian calmly walked over before placing a hand on the boy shoulder. Though as he did red-x winced slihglty in pain feeling some grip on that little shoulder grip
"Do not insult my niece or any of the others again boy. I may be unable to read your mind but batman is digging into your past. Sooner or later we will know who you who"j'onn warned as he let him go walking away as red-x eyed him through his mask keeping that in mind for the future.
Elsewhere right now where kaldur was he was mediaitng right now in a grotto like area of the cave. That being a small oasis in a way that had some trees and plants around it but he sat their for a moment sighing heavily. As he processed what had happened during that simulation deeply
Mainly being how it went all horrible wrong with some of them almost dying as a result of the failure. Though the thought of his own teammates getting hurt troubled him deeply wondering what would have happened if he stayed with them instead of scarfiecing himself.
"Deep in thought kaldur?"captain marvel said walking over toward him as the boy stared at him
"Ah captain i…its nice to see you again."kaldur said with a slight bit of sadness in his tone which he picked up on
"Hey something up pal? I uh heard what happened you good?"captain marvel asked as he paused for a brief moment staring at the ground
As he sighed"i am…just tackling what has transpired is all….that i failed my team again like we did with the mission we went on with you. I may be unfit for my team still as their leader"kaldur said but the captain eyed him for a bit before tapping him on the shoulder with a smile on his face
"Hey chin up. Like i said before you got make hard decision when leading a team. Besides you did what you could"captain marvel said patting him on the back as kaldur stared into the water at his reflection with a slight upset look on his face.
Meanwhile with jinny she was wandering the hall right now as she was hurt how conner snapped at her. But the cowgirl slide down a wall right now sighing heavily throwing her head back wondering how things became like this
"God…i feel so tired"jinny said as she struggled to sleep last night from what happened on that mission. As she thought about her own death as it felt so real like she acutally died that day trying to save someone.
"Dear are you okay?"dinah asked startling jinny who stared at her as she rubbed her eyes
"I'm fine ma'am…just…taking a breather is all"jinny replied but dinah softened her gaze taking a spot next to her for a moment. Slowly she placed a hand on her making her flinch but the women stared at her rubbing her head
"Your not fine. You have experiences something terrible right now and…you look tired do you want to talk about it?"dinah asked as the cowgirl glanced at her for a moment burying her face into her knees
"I…i um….just….really scared still on what happened..i..i died…i died and i felt my life slip away. And…i died trying to save someone and…i failed at that. I…i aint gonna make my ma proud…i'm just…human….a girl who pa wants her dead and…failed her own ancestor legacy. I…i..umm…"jinny stammered her words but the superheroine did one thing that was hugging the poor girl holding her close
"Its okay…its okay just fall apart"dinah said as jinny slowly cracked throwing her arms around the women beginning to sob into her chest for what happened during that mission feeling so emotional. With dinah thinking that the league needs to tackle this problem head on now for their mental health.
It seems the team is struggling mentally with their issues after the training exercise. But we got to see m'comm in this universe on earth. In the show they gave a reason how m'gann could have taken him but didn't as she was worried for her own safety if i recall. But I wanted to make it interesting to see him on earth to sort of build their bonds since you know if you've seen the show both are white martians. Also thought it be fun to have be a good guy instead of a bad guy...though someone will replace him as a martian antagonist...hint...hint. thanks for reading!