Hidden Wounds (A DC Next Generation Story)

Chapter VI | Assembled

Espie's Point of View

I stand there quietly, still wondering why my dad dropped me off at Wayne Manor with absolutely no information on why I was here.

I don't really stand out from the back besides me being Latino; or maybe because I'm wearing jeans and a letterman's jacket.

Surrounded by nine other teens around my age, we are all silent until a girl wearing leather jeans and had a green bow in her hand breaks the silence. "Hey guys, we should all introduce ourselves. My name is Skylar."

The boy next to me catches on. "Nate."

Then we all go around a circle.

"Serenity," says a pale girl with purple hair.

A blonde boy around my age goes next. "Kyle!"

"Hi," a dirty blonde says, "my name is Samantha; nice to meet you guys!"

"Ahimsa; but you can call me Ahi," a ginger girl with freckles says.

"Aiden," says a guy with black hair and sapphire eyes.

"U-u-uh I'm Renée..." a shy, quiet girl stutters.

"Nico," a small, redheaded boy says.

"Darcy," a pale girl with white, red, and black hair says.

"The one the only CARTER!" Everyone looks at the blue-haired ball of perkiness.

It comes down to two people: me and another girl. The other girl looks silently at me.

"Well," I say, "aren't you going to say who you are?" She still looks silently at me. "Are you deaf?" I ask her.

"Chill out," Nate says. "She can't speak English but her name is Alice."

"Okay​, well my name is Espie. Actually, it's Esperanza, but that's a little long."

The man who got all of us walks into the room. "My name is Bruce Wayne; now that you guys know each other it's time to pick a team leader."

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Darcy says, holding out her hands. "What team?"

Bruce winks at the Harley-Quinn-clad girl. "I was asked to make a covert ops team of young superheroes."

"Wait," Ahi says, like the team my parents were on?"

Bruce nods. "Exactly like that team."

Ahi smiles. "Awesome."

"So," Bruce says, "you have to choose a leader."

"I'm out!" Serenity says, walking to her room."

We all just look at each other. "How about Espie? She seems normal." Aiden says.

I laugh. "I'm not that normal. I have friken anger issues. I got into a fist fight last week. How about Nate? He's not weird like the rest of us or has any problem being a leader."

While everyone was talking about who should leader, Skylar tries to slip away. Darcy and I notice and exchange looks; then Darcy speaks up.

"How about Skylar being leader?" She says. "I mean she is really likeable, and she has the traits of a leader." Skylar  looks completely blindsided by this.

"I second that!" Renée says, raising her hand.

Skylar seems shocked to see that most of the other people voted for her.

"Uh..." she says, "I don't what to say... I mean, thank you for making me the leader but--"

"Then its official," Bruce said. "Skylar Lance-Queen is the leader of this team."

Sam raises an eyebrow. "Lance-Queen? You're Green Arrow and Black Canary's daughter, aren't you?"

Skylar nods. "Yeah."

Bruce laughs. "You guys better get to your rooms before dinner and the tour."

We all nod. As I try to walk to the doorway, it happens again; that strong burst of wind. I yelp in surprise as I slam into the opposite wall at an uncontrollable pace.

Nate comes over and helps me up. "You okay?" He asks.

"Fine," I reply as I rub my elbow. "Just don't know what the hell that was."

Bruce looks at me. "You mean neither Bart nor Jaime have told you yet?"

"Told me what?" I ask. "Dad said he wanted to tell me something, but wanted to wait until Papá came home." Even though that's not certain...

"I'll ask Bart about that later," Bruce says, mostly to himself. "Are you okay?"

I nod, still unsure of what got me from one end of the room to the other in such a short period of time.