A Siren's Echo [Young Justice]

Cornered

New week, new chapter! This one is nothing super special, but it was fun to write plus things are about to kick up a notch again. ;)

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Star City

April 1, 16:20 PDT

"Secretary Tseng and I are so glad you accepted the Reach's invitation to meet, Captain."

Jenna grimaced when she viewed the very tight and very fake smile on Captain Atom's face as he reluctantly shook the Ambassador's hand. This is such a mess.

She moved around her couch to sit down while she watched the broadcast, tucking a foot under her other leg. It felt like she was watching the news more and more as of late. And it seemed to make her stomach roll every time.

"The Justice League always supports peaceful diplomacy," the Captain said.

"And should diplomacy fail, you have your wanted meta-powers to enforce peace."

Jenna bristled as she absentmindedly petted her cat. "Oh, you have got to be joking," she said, glaring at the television screen. "How can they fall for this bullsh-"

A knock on her door made Jenna stand. She muted the audio before crossing over to see who had arrived.

"Tina, good to see you. Come on in." Sam's aunt entered the apartment as Jenna closed the door behind her. "What can I help you with?"

"I had some questions...and a few concerns."

Jenna wasn't all that surprised. "I'm all ears. Why don't you have a seat?"

"I just wanted to make sure that Sam was doing all he needed to take care of himself," Tina explained. "I understand the kind of risks that come with your line of work, but, well, I'm worried about him."

She lowered onto one side of the couch after she accepted Jenna's invitation. "He got a concussion a couple of days ago, after all. What if something worse happened later on?"

Jenna settled into a chair beside the couch, shifting to face her protégé's aunt. "Sam is doing really well during our training and our patrols. He's catching on really well with proper offensive and defensive techniques that I'm teaching him," she assured. "In fact, they're the very ones that my sister taught me years ago. But you're right. There's going to be risks."

She leaned back in her seat, glancing up at the ceiling. "I can't say that I haven't been injured on the job either. I don't want you or your family to worry, but I also want to be transparent with you.

"Because Sam is still a minor, I find it important that you know everything that is going on. But I promise you, I wouldn't put him in situations that I didn't think he could handle. Our last mission just...took some unexpected turns."

She tried to fight the wince as she thought about how her team had to go toe to toe with that Black Beetle guy. And epically failed.

She had been able to hold out on her own for a little while after Sam was knocked unconscious, but it wasn't for long as Superboy had been grabbed and slammed directly into her. She was lucky that it just dazed her—and gave her a massive headache—so she laid low until Blue Beetle showed up to take on the big guy himself. Then she helped get the rest of her team inside the Bioship to make their escape.

"I know my nephew has been one to ignore what he really needs if his mind is on something else," Tina continued. "When his parents were killed, it took a lot of work to get him to eat, much less out of bed."

She looked down at her lap, muttering, "My husband's...opinions didn't make our home very welcoming either."

Jenna gave a sympathetic look. "I understand what it's like. I was really young when my dad was killed and, some years later, when my mom died from cancer," she said. "I had my sister, Dinah, to take care of me and to raise me, but it was still hard to cope with."