Ingenious >>>(Young Justice/Dick Grayson)<<<

Chapter 26

October 17th
08:37
Mount Justice

Parker hopped through the zeta tube. The experience was like none other. Every individual particle of the individual was stripped down and carried across beams of zeta radiation at almost the speed of light to the next hotspot on the zeta grid. For a brief moment, she did not exist. Every cell of her body became next to nothing. The entire process always made her shudder.

Not today, though. Today, the only thing she had in mind were her traumatized teammates. Those who attended were given permission to skip their school on the following Monday. Gathered around the couches were sullen, depressed individuals. Most of them stared off into empty space, reminiscing the events Parker had had the fortune of skipping out on.

M'gann noticed her presence and offered a smile. The Martain ran to the youngest among them and hugged her as a silent plead for comfort. Parker had expected nothing less. The two girls were little more than friend; Parker had little time to engage with her teammates because of her work. Still, Parker had been the one to introduce Megan to earth, and for that they carried a special bond.

Wally, too, glanced her way, giving her one of the most realistic fake grins she had ever seen. But Parker still knew. An individual who is suffered from PTSD or depressing will use less facial expressions than one who is not. The keys was always in a person's eyes. By this point, Parker knew how to widen her eyes as a show of innocence as someone who had any naturally would. Sadly for the speedster, she could see right through him.

"Hey, Nali!" Wally announced, causing the rest of the team to look her way.

Kaldur nodded her way. Superboy merely looked in her direction to acknowledge her presence. Artemis had enough curtesy to sit up straighter in her seat. Finally, Dick, Parker's own best friend, turned his head the opposite way from her like she was the last person he wanted to see.

Parker backed politely away from M'gann's hug, maintaining a warm, inviting gaze. "Hey, guys," she greeted.

"Not that we do not enjoy your company," Kaldur began, "But, if I may ask, why have you come?"

The young vigilante looked the Atlantean's way. "I thought I'd check up on you guys." She admitted. "I'm sorry I wasn't there yesterday when you guys woke up. I came to make sure everyone is okay."

Again Kaldur spoke. "I think we are all far from okay, my friend." As the Team's leader, he was employed to answer on everyone else's behalf.

Parker nodded. "I know. I just don't know what to say."

"There is nothing to say." Artemis's solemn, emotionless voice replied. As she directed her gaze toward the archer, Parker could see the nearly invisible hints about the blonde's psyche. Whatever had happened last night had only chipped away more of Artemis's spirit. No one could hide secrets from Parker, and she had learned everything she could about her fellow Gothamite. She wished she had not been so curious.

"Ok," Parker said. "I want you all to know that I'm here if you guys need anything." No one jumped to answer that. Sometimes, someone just had to be a little pushy. Parker took the empty sofa chair. "Look, I know that person experience what it's like to believe something is real and find out that it's not. I also know what it feels like to lose people. Something I've learned the hard way: not talking about it just makes it worse. Besides, I don't know what exactly happened in there last night. If you guys want to talk about it, I'd like to figure it out."

This raised some eyebrows and turned some heads. No one really seemed like they wanted to open up, which was okay. It took a few moments of awkward silence before someone spoke.