Zephyr: A Young Justice OC fanfiction

Chapter 22: Family

The mission didn't go well.

It's not like it was an overly powerful enemy; it was Clayface. He was gross and annoying (and more gross), but not hard to take down. A good electric shock or an ice pellet and he's down.

But...Something was wrong.

I didn't recognize it at first. I thought maybe the team was just worried about school coming up soon, or maybe something was going on with the League. But all my hypothesises were wrong.

It.was Kaldur, his head wasn't in the game. He was distracted and this led to him being distant during breif and regroups, bad plans of attack, and rooky mistake in combat.

In the end: Batman had to intervene. Or, I think that's what happened: we were all unconscious.

As we stepped through the zeta-tubes- bruised, smelly, injured and sore-I walked in a limp as I pulled off my belt, gloves and mask before throwing them in the trash. There was no way I'm getting the smell of Clayface and Gotham sewers out of my white and gold costume. I'd throw the rest of my clothes out later and change after a frenzy of hot and soapy showers.

"Hit the showers and head home: I need to talk to Aqualad." Batman ordered.

"Home? I am home!" Superboy huffed before heading to the showers, the rest of us following.

I look over my shoulder and send Kaldur a look before turning the corner and heading the showers.

Maybe I should have a nap after showering...
***

France, Dubois household

As I limp through the front door, completely exhausted, I hear my family all turn to me.

My 'nap' turned into a sleep that lasted a good three hours so now, in France, it was 7:30 in the morning.

Curse France and America and their damn time zones.

"Good...Morning?" I groaned, rubbing my eyes.

"You look like hell." Calvin stated, looking up from his cereal and I glared daggers into his skull.

"She looks better then you do on a regular basis." Papa steps in and Leo laughs loudly, making my wince. My reaction doesn't go unnoticed by my family.

"Medication?" Leo asks, and I shake my head while also clutching it.

"I need sleep, and food. I'll probably be called again by 17:00, and I haven't slept more then three hours in the past 36 hours." I explained, rubbing my hands. "Medication later."

I feel a hand on my shoulder and I look up to see Papa looking down at me with his kind smile.

"You've been pushing yourself too hard. Sleep my dear." Dad orders and I smile, peck his cheek, and walk into my room.
***

When I woke up five hours later, I quickly injected my medication into my bloodstream before sleepily walking into the living room where Calvin and Leo sat. Leo was reading while Calvin just stared off into space with his headphones in.

"Good morning." I said.

"You mean good afternoon." Leo smiled and I stuck my tongue out at him.

"You look a lot better." He said.

"I feel a lot better." I replied. "Sleep plus medication equals healthy Lina. Did Papa go to work?"

"Ya, he said there was an emergency and, well, you know how he gets."

I smiled sadly and looked over at Calvin as I pulled my knees into my chest.

"How is he?" I asked, motioning to our oldest brother.

"He's alright compared to past years." Leo said, looking at our blonde family member before looking back at me. "And you?"

"Fine." I said, tucking my hair behind my ear. "Like you, I've made my peace. I try to focus on both the present, and what little good there is in the world."

"That's why you became a hero." Leo nodded. "To make the world a better place."

"Among other things." I shrugged, looking down at my hands. "I almost have killed people the day my powers manifested, and when I woke up...I promised both myself and the world that I'd never let that happen again. The reasonable course of action, obviously, was to take up Red's offer to mentor me. Once I learned that I could not only keep people safe from me, but other things...I couldn't have exactly turned the offer down now could I?"

Leo smiled before leaning over and placing his head on my shoulder. Even though he was still taller then me (stupid men and their height) he still decided to curl up into me.

"You're awesome, you know that?" He asked and I laughed.

"Now that's just you sucking up." I snorted.

"No! It's the truth." He said. "You took the cards life dealt you and decided to go above and beyond with them. That's amazing." He said.

I smiled and wrapped my arms around my little brother, hugging him.

"Thank you Leo." I said, kissing his head.

Suddenly, a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around us and pulled us into a warm chest.

"You two are so damn cheesy, it hurts." Calvin said and we all burst into laughter.

"You know..." Calvin hummed, calming down. "I'm pretty sure mom would have been pretty proud of us."

We all smile widely, but remain silent as we remain on our 'family clump'.

Sorry it's so short :/ But I'm really trying to show how much family matters to Lina. In case you didn't pick up on it, this chapter is set on the anniversary of the death of Lina's mother.

I decided not to put a huge emphasis because, as mentioned, Lina's not still mourning her mother's passing. She recognizes it as a large turning point in her life, but she doesn't let it define her.

Anyways, I really hope you don't mind the short chapter! Thank you all so, so, so much for all the recent views and stuff: it really means a lot.