𝘿𝙍𝘼𝙂𝙊𝙉, young justice

Chapter One

"Please, please don't go," the small blonde girl begged, watching as the elder raven-haired teenager bustled around the room, throwing clothes into a suitcase located on her bed. Sitting beside the younger, a creature not of this world watched the exchange, a dragon. Remaining silent as it glared coldly at the older of the two, with orange eyes as bright as fire.

     "Sorry, sis," the teen replied, just as coldly as the beast stared at her, "but mom's not getting out of prison anytime soon, and I refuse to live in this house with just dad."

     The smaller child spoke with such anguish, such pain. "Dad and you and Jyotsna and me," she insisted, stroking the creature that rested on the bed beside her. "We have to keep this family from falling apart."

     The older sister paused, looking over her shoulder at the younger girl who gently pet the dragon beside her.

     For a long moment, the creature thought the elder sister was considering the words of the younger, until she put a hand to her head and turned around. "Toothbrush. Knew I was forgetting something."

     Jyotsna, the dragon, bared her teeth as the elder sister moved toward the bathroom, then reemerged to add the last item to her duffel bag. The little blonde girl watched with such pain and sorrow. "Dad will come after you."

     "Let him," the elder responded, looking over at them with no expression in her dark eyes, before turning and putting on a black cap. "I'll disappear. Like the Cheshire cat." Then, she slung the bag over her shoulder and headed toward the door.

     The younger sister picked up the dragon and followed.

     "You both should get out too," the raven-haired woman glanced at them again, standing in the doorway now. "I'd let you come with me, but you'd slow me down." Her gaze rested on the dragon for a long moment, nothing but utter hostility in her gaze.

     The child held Jyotsna close to her chest. "Someone has to be here when mom gets out."

     "Haven't you learned anything?" The eyes of the elder narrowed. "In this family, it's every girl for herself."

     And with that, she shut the door and disappeared, leaving the young girl and the dragon alone in the bedroom.

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     Standing beside its best friend at the bus stop, arms crossed, waiting for the moment when everything would finally change, Jaye found it hard to draw in breath.

     The sun was going down now, but the towering apartments of Gotham City seemed to glow even as the light faded away. The young creature leaned against the bus sign that beheld what they were waiting for — Gotham Transit. It would be any moment now.

     "Should be any second," its best friend, the blonde teenager by the name of Artemis said, casting a sideways glance over at the elder.

     This was their life . . . their life of waiting. Waiting for something to happen, to change.

     Their life was a bus stop in a figurative sense.