Young Justice: The Mimic Contingency (A Young Justice Fanfic)

A True Mimic

After the incident at the Light facility, Desmond relayed all the information he had to Batman personally, but withheld any information to do with his apparently alien powers, the Reach and most importantly, the figure that appeared before him in the portal, a figure that haunted him every time he shut his eyes.
But despite the amount of information that Desmond withheld, Batman seemed satisfied enough and never brought it up again, allowing Desmond to take a break from the emotionally draining task he had given him with a "good work" and an inclination of his head, which in human terms would have been equivalent to several high-fives and celebratory drinks.
That was a week ago.
Over the past few days, the League had granted the Young Justice a some time off, allowing them to enjoy themselves in a 'normal' teenage way, with Desmond spending nearly every waking moment with as many of his team mates as possible.
With Dick, he engaged in long marathons of video games, which were ironically enough, first person shooters with espionage themes, something that Desmond was far too familiar with.
His time with Wally was spent mostly when he was challenged to race against him at random times. Desmond was able to mimic Wally's speed almost perfectly, much to Wally's chagrin. There was one instance three days ago where they raced each other at the school track, with the two apparently tying. Artemis refused to give the correct times and who won unfortunately, but made a small smirk in Desmond's direction every time she looked at the scores.
His time with Kaldur was much more important however, as he was repeatedly summoned by Aquaman to Atlantis, where he had to explain to Queen Mira that he didn't actually kill Aquaman and that there was no need to attack the surface world.
This was wrapped up with his time together with Megan and Connor, which was mostly spent completing the school assignments that Desmond had missed. He was incredibly grateful that the time he had spent with Savage was during the later semesters, in which not much happened at the school.
And finally, Zatanna, who spent nearly every waking moment with. Whenever he was not hanging out with the Team or relaying information to the League, he was with her, showering her with all the love and devotion that he couldn't while completing the Mimic Contingency.
But despite all the love they showed each other and how many times 'I love you' was spoken, they both seemed to avoid the topic of becoming an official couple. The Team always saw the two together, the happiness on each other's faces when either one's name was mentioned to the other and the passion and love behind every kiss and embrace they shared.
Their answer as to why such a happy pair wouldn't become an official couple was revealed later.



MOUNT JUSTICE - November 20th

6:13AM



Desmond was in his room, the lights dimmed to a small glow, as he neatly packed all of his clothes and possessions into a large bag and suitcase on his bed. He had already given Batman his letter of resignation as a League member more than a week ago and believed it was now a time to make good on the agreement.
He was about to put his black and blue suit into his bag, but instead looked at it fondly. He wrapped it up into a neat ball and tucked it under his arm. And with a final tug of his jacket and a quick, bittersweet smile at his room, he turned off the room's light and walked out, his bag rustling as he walked over the threshold.
When he approached the Mission Room, he heard Batman, Flash and Captain Marvel talking to each other, probably about their individual exploits with Desmond.
"But seriously!" Flash laughed at Marvel. "How could you FORGET the word that activates your powers?! The word you say EVERY DAY?!"
Marvel pouted with his arms folded, revealing the little kid beneath the adult exterior.
"Don't be mean, Flash!" he said. "Besides, what about you forgetting about your healing powers?"
Flash shut up immediately.
"Even if Desmond had shot you in the spine with a real bullet instead of a liquid one, how could you forget that your legs would have healed in only a few days?"
"Shut up." Flash said, his pout looking even more childish than Marvel's.
Before an argument could start, Desmond stopped eavesdropping and walked around the corner, his bags rattling after him.
"Leaving already?" Batman asked.
"Yeah..." Desmond nodded. "I didn't want to have a huge goodbye from everyone, so I thought I should leave before they wake up..."
Batman acknowledged his words, but looked in the direction behind Desmond.
"Really?" he said.
Desmond looked back and saw Dick, Zatanna and Wally standing near the entryway, a mixture of disbelief and amusement on their face, like when you catch a thief right before they steal something.
"Did you really think you were going to get past us?" Wally asked.
Desmond smiled and looked away, shaking his head.
"No." he admitted. "But I thought why not give it a try?"
Batman looked in the direction of Captain Marvel and Flash, indicating silently that they should leave.
As they walked away, Dick, Zatanna and Wally got closer.
"I know that you said you were leaving," Dick said. "But why?"
Desmond looked at Dick with guilt.
"There are answers that I need to find out." Desmond said. "And I won't be able to find them with everyone tagging along, this is something I need to do alone..."
"How long will you be gone?" Zatanna asked hopefully.
"I don't know...It could be a few weeks, months..."
He made a small, sad scoff.
"It could be years for all I know..."
He was about to look up, but suddenly, Zatanna threw her arms around him and pulled him into a sad embrace.
"Promise you'll call." she half-ordered. "That you'll call us, send photos, letters...Anything!"
Desmond smiled, his heart warming itself with happiness as he hugged her back.
"I will." he promised.
After a few moments, Zatanna let him go. As soon as he was free to move around, Desmond reached down to the balled-up suit on his bags and handed it to Dick.
"Here."
Dick took the edge of the suit into his hands, but looked at Desmond with confusion.
"I won't be needing that anymore," Desmond told him. "You can have it. Black and Blue always seemed to suit you..."
He made a small chuckle at Dick's pyjamas, which looked more like a gym suit than sleeping apparel.
Dick looked away in embarrassment as Desmond looked in Wally's direction.
"And you." he smiled. "Next time I come back, we're finishing our race! I still have seven nanoseconds above you!"
Wally immediately stepped toward Desmond defensively.
"Now hold on!" he protested. "That watch was broken!"
"Oh?" Desmond laughed.
"Yeah! And not to mention that fact that the ground was uneven on my side of the track!"
Desmond ignored him and looked down in thought, a smirk growing across his face.
"Well..." he snickered. "If I'm faster than you, does that mean I'm the new Kid Flash?"
Wally's jaw dropped in horror, looking like he was about to scream.
"I always did look good in yellow too..."
"No!" Wally screamed. "No, no, no!!!!"
The group began to laugh as Wally desperately tried to explain how he was clearly the victor, summoning up every excuse he could possibly find as Batman, Captain Marvel and Flash looked on from a distance.
"Desmond could be Kid Flash?" Marvel asked. "What do you think about that Barry?"
Flash shook his head in amusement.
"No, Wally would kill me..."
They both looked at Batman, who looked on at the group proudly, almost happily.
"Batman?" Marvel asked.
"It's interesting isn't it?" Batman asked. "Desmond always wanted to belong somewhere, somewhere normal..."
He looked at the group as they were giving Desmond their high-fives and goodbye hugs.
"And yet he found a place to belong in the exact opposite place, in a place with people who are far from normal as can be..."
Flash put his hands on his hips and smiled as he saw Desmond walk into the glowing light of the Zeta-Tubes, the three left behind waving even as he disappeared in the golden yellow beams.
"To tell the truth," Marvel said. "I'm going to miss him. A lot. He was always more approachable than everyone else, like he had nothing to hide..."
They looked on as Zatanna, Robin and Wally suddenly stopped waving, a bittersweet atmosphere settling over the three of them as they walked back to their rooms.
"Like a mimic, " Batman said. "In every sense of the word..."
Flash and Marvel suddenly looked at Batman with surprise as they saw a proud smile growing across his stoic features.
"He blended in with those around him. Fitting in perfectly..."

That concludes 'Young Justice: The Mimic Contingency'.
I would like to thank each and every reader of this fanfiction for taking the time to share this experience with me :D
Whether you read it from start to finish, a few chapters or have somehow ended up on this last chapter without knowledge of the story, I thank you from the bottom of my heart :D

At the end of each chapter, I always asked you, reader, to wait for an answer in the next chapter. To wait for some mystery in one chapter to be solved in the next.
 But now, I ask you to wait not for an answer, but a new question.
 A new mystery.
Keep an eye out for the Epilogue of this fanfic...