Working With Red

Psychoanalysis and Metamorphosis

Edited: 2022.02.10

"Roy, you need to let her rest," Oliver muttered, letting out a sigh as he watched Roy curl up at the foot of your bed, sitting crisscrossed beside you. He was just staring at you, and he couldn't help but feel guilty about what had happened. 

After the incident in the Arrowcave, Oliver and Roy had brought you back up to your room. You hadn't moved for the past few hours, though both men were relieved to see your skin had almost returned to its normal color. However, your eyes still remained their unnatural green and your breathing had yet to even out. It was something similar to panting, your breaths coming out ragged and shuddered, and you were sweating, so much that the two had to call Dinah over to change you into something lighter. Even after that, Dinah refused to leave, instead insisting she stay downstairs and make breakfast. Oliver knew it was all she could do to keep her distracted.  

The boys on the other hand, seemed to be taking it a lot harder than Dinah. 

"She should be awake by now," Roy mumbled, shaking his head as you took another shaky breath. "Those tranquilizers were meant to act fast, but they're supposed to wear off after a short period of time. It's already been three hours." 

"Her body isn't used to midazolam," Oliver replied. "Her physiology is compromised now, so the drugs might be having a different effect on her. Either way, staring at her won't do any good. Come on; we need to plan our next move." 

"Our next move should be figuring out what the hell just happened down there!" Roy hissed, his teeth gritting together painfully. "Ollie, what happened? What. . . What went wrong?" 

"I don't know," the blonde hesitantly murmured, taking a seat in the armchair beside your balcony doors. "When I went downstairs to train with her, she looked almost scared. I didn't know what to think of it at the time, but while we were sparring, she started asking me about her mother's connection to the Council of Wings. I had to refuse her any information per the League's orders, but I never expected her to get so mad about it. And, then. . ." 

"And, then?" Roy pushed. 

"She started changing," Oliver mumbled, running a hand through his hair. "Her eyes, the color of her skin; she began looking like Ivy." 

"Oh, God," Roy groaned, burying his face in his hands. "This is getting worse." 

"It's not just her appearance anymore, Roy," Ollie continued, his eyes narrowing. "Her body, itself, it changing. She's stronger now and much less susceptible to injury. Hell, when I went downstairs, she was wailing on one of the BOBs, and I could tell she'd taken damage; there was blood on the floor. There was no way her wounds would have healed in mere seconds unless her metagenes had already been activated. She must have inherited her mother's accelerated healing abilities, among God knows what else." 

"Then, it's actually happening," Roy muttered, shaking his head. "She's becoming one of them--a metahuman." 

"I. . ." Oliver trailed off, anxiously licking his lips. "I don't know, but with the way things are going, I'm not going to deny she's headed in that direction. The only problem is, will it stop with enhanced endurance and accelerated healing, or will her abilities continue evolving until she has all of Ivy's powers?" 

"Do you know what everyone will think if we have two Ivys running around?" Roy replied. "They might lock her up, or worse! Everything Ivy's been through could happen to (Y/N), all because she's got her mom's powers!" 

"We don't know that for sure," Oliver interjected, folding his arms over his chest. "Dinah and I have known about (Y/N)'s accelerated healing for a while, and while it seems it's gotten much faster, there's the possibility (Y/N) will stop growing after this encounter."