Being Different (Young Justice FF)

Chapter 21: Revelations

The sound of beeping is all that fills her ears as she slowly begins to wake up. Opening her eyes she's greeted by bright lights that cause her to cringe only for a sharp pain to shoot up her left side.

Then it all came crashing back to her.

Her fight with Artemis, Batgirl, Poison Ivy and Natillie 2.0 or Selene, her evil doppleganger who gladly stabbed her.

She remembers how James had screamed out for her not to do it as if he was scared or worried about something.

Surely he wasn't worried about her, was he?

But then she remembers someone picking her up and pulling her towards them. Familiar dark hair and piercing blue eyes.

"Diana" Natillie whispers while pushing herself up despite how her side screams out in pain. Her eyes well up with unshed tears while the heart monitor beside her decides to go into a hissy fit. As she hisses out in pain before dropping back onto the bed in a heap, tears streaming out the corner of her eyes.

"Hey" a soothing voice exclaims as she turns to the left noticing Artemis who was staring at her with wide grey eyes, swimming with more emotions than Natillie thought she had. If she was being honest she knew Artemis tended to group people in two categories, arm's length or right next to her heart, a spot she never thought she'd fill. "It's ok. You're safe."

"We're all safe thanks to you" another familiar voice exclaims as she notices Barbara walking towards them. She forces a smile that doesn't reach her eyes as Natillie looks away from them to stare up at the ceiling as images of the past hour cross her mind.

Lifting her right hand up to cover her face she wills her emotions to stay at bay, but she can't as she recalls the bruise on Barbara's jaw and the cut on the side of Artemis's forehead. Not to mention how they looked bruised and battered as well as emotionally drained all because of her.

She lifts her other hand ignoring the pain in her side as she presses the palm of her hands into her eyes willing herself not to cry but it's too late.

"It wasn't your fault" Barbara states already knowing where her mind was drifting. "It's not like you knew that was going to happen" She really didn't but she couldn't help but feel guilty as she recalls James and hers conversation "Roulette got the drop on us and-" Barbara hesitates trying to find the right words but nothing she could say would undo the guilt. "It had to be done"

The room falls silent with the weight of current events and all the unanswered questions.

"But I knew" Natillie whispers as she removes her hands from her face to stare at them

"What?" Artemis fires back her eyes igniting with a new fire as her grey eyes darken.

"I mean" Natillie begins while turning from their gaze that only made her feel worse "I didn't know Roulette was involved but I knew there was a chance that it was a trap"

"A trap for you?" Barbara states the gears in her mind already turning "It's why they sent almost an army of men after us in City Hall. They knew you were coming but how?"

"That still doesn't answer everything" Artemis buts in the fire in her eyes fading while she deflates ever so slightly "I mean you have an evil twin for crying out loud. Where did she come from? Why did they even go through all this trouble for you? And are we going to talk about your powers, because last I checked shattering glass wasn't one of them."

"They wanted to see what I was made of" Natillie whispers repeating James' very words as she shudders from the thought.

"They?" Barbara questions with arched eyebrows