A Siren's Forte [Young Justice]

Illusion of Control

I'm running on three hours of sleep and I work until the end of the business day. Yay~

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Star City

November 22, 11:37 PST

"Violet, let's go! I promised Artemis we'd be over soon to help prepare dinner!"

Jenna peeled off a corner of the aluminum foil that had been wrapped around the dish resting on the counter. She took a peek at the blackberry pie, double-checking that it survived the night before covering it again. Grabbing the edges of the glass pan, she moved it to the kitchen table so she could grab her purse and keys.

She quickly ushered Violet out the door and then held out the pie pan to her. "Hold this please."

The girl complied, giving Jenna more mobility to lock the apartment up. And they were off, ready to enjoy the holiday with friends and family.

Jenna had suggested to Dinah that she join them, but she declined. Paradise wasn't all that perfect still between her and Ollie, so the two sisters agreed to have brunch the following day while the older Lance woman just preferred to be alone for the actual holiday. It did little to prevent the guilt from eating at her sister.

That's a problem for another day. Jenna forced the unhappy expression off her face as she slid into the driver's seat of her sedan, glancing to the backseat to make sure Violet was able to set the pie on the floorboard. Once the girl had done so and had moved to the front of the car, they were off.

"So," Jenna started as they were making their way down the street, "excited for your first Thanksgiving ever?"

She was met with silence. Curious, she spared a very quick glance over to the passenger seat.

"Vi?" she prodded.

Violet turned her head abruptly from where she was staring out the window. "Oh, sorry. Yes, I think it will be very enjoyable," she answered.

The street light they had rolled up to was still red so Jenna took a moment to fully examine her unofficial ward.

She shot Violet a smile. "Everything okay?" she wondered. "Is school going alright?"

Violet nodded, saying nothing else. It was clear her mind was on other things.

Jenna hummed uncertainly but didn't push it further. She'll feel better once she sees who decided to join us.

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Taos

November 22, 14:03 MST

Getting embraced by someone moving faster than the speed of light was unexpected the second Sam exited the Zeta-Tube, but not unwelcome. He didn't have much time to react to the hug either as Bart zipped around to repeat the same action to Traci and Virgil individually before throwing his arm around Ed's shoulder.

"Nice to see you again, Ed," Sam greeted, still holding Jaime's hand after they were not quite jumped by their speedy friend.

Ed nodded in acknowledgment. "Likewise. Although the circumstances are a bit better than last time," he said with a smile.

Sam just shrugged. The events leading up to the first time they met weren't all that enjoyable, but it had been a long time since so he didn't want to relive the memories.

"Is everyone here?" Jaime asked, squeezing his boyfriend's hand as he probably sensed where Sam's train of thought had gone.

"Not yet, the others should be arriving any second now."