Young Justice Oneshots

Origins: Cheshire

                                                         Song is ¿Viva la Gloria? (Little Girl) by Green Day 

                                                              JADE'S POV

 "C'mon, Jade," My little sister, Artemis, begged me from across the room as I packed my bag. "Jae, please don't go! Don't leave me here alone!"

"I have to go, Allie," I told her truthfully. If I didn't get out now, who knew what would happen? Dad had made me kill an innocent woman two weeks ago. And it was only two days after Mom was put in prison. There was no way on Earth that I could stand living here with Sportsmaster for six more years without Mom. I knew I really only had to wait like four more years until I could leave, since I was fourteen, and I'd become a legal adult when I turned eighteen, but I couldn't wait three years either.

'Artemis will still be here all six of those years,' my conscious reminded me. 'My sweet, dear, innocent Alice. Stuck here alone with our sorry excuse of a father.''Shut up!" 

I told myself."No. No, you don't!" Arty argued. "Please! Please, don't go!"

"Sorry, Sis," I said, and I meant it. "But Mom's not getting out of prison anytime soon, and I refuse to live in this house with just Dad!" I could hear the rising anger in my voice.

"Dad, and you, and me! We have to keep this family from falling apart!" Alice said, her little voice brittle. That shouldn't be a tone my little sister should have been using. Not words that she should have been saying. But, she was. And it was my fault. My tough little sister, one of the only two people in the world that I loved, who next to never cried, was on the verge of tears because of me. I felt awful, but I didn't dare let it show. I glanced back at her. She wasn't crying, but she sure wasn't smiling. 

'It's already fallen apart, Sis,' I thought, 'Mom was the glue that held this severely dysfunctional family together. With her gone, it can't stay together anymore. God, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wish I could take you with me, but I can't. Plus you're so little, you'll be safe here anyway. Unlike me. Plus, YOU'RE his favorite.' I saw the way she looked at me. I had to cover my thoughts up. I smacked my forehead. 

"Toothbrush, duh!" I said. "Knew I was forgetting something!" I hadn't actually forgotten about it, but, I had to make a buyable cover.I went to the bathroom and grabbed my toothbrush and toothpaste. 

As I walked out of the bathroom, Artemis stated, "Dad will come after you."I put my dental care stuff in my duffel and zipped the bag closed. 

"Let him," I replied. I looked up at my old Alice in Wonderland poster. "I'll disappear, like the Cheshire Cat." It was true. I'd always been really good at stealth. Which is part of the reason the Cheshire Cat is my favorite character from my favorite books/movies ever, Alice in Wonderland.I don't fully understand my obsession with Alice. Well, Wonderland, really. I was always jealous of Alice. Maybe my obsession with Wonderland was because I always wanted one for myself. But, it's also why I call 'Mis Alice. It's like a hope that things will be better for her than they are for me. That she will be able to find her own Wonderland easily. But, unlike Alice in the story, it won't just be a dream.

I walked to the door. I heard her jump off her bed. I could sense her following me. I felt my stomach twist. I felt bad. I looked back at her. "You should get out, too," I told her gently. 

"Someone has to be here when Mom gets out," She said stubbornly. I suddenly felt a hot bolt of anger. How stupid was she? Had she learned nothing from the last two weeks?!