From Yesterday (Young Justice/ X-Men Evolution Fiction)

Chapter Two

Bruce drives me to school. He insists that Gotham Academy is on the way to whatever meeting he's going to. I know it's not, but I also know he's sorry about breakfast and he doesn't know how to say so without seeming unmanly so he's giving me a brother-free ride.

"Your stomach, how is it?" Bruce asks. We're stopped at a train crossing in the center of downtown Gotham. The streets are packed with cars and pedestrians on their way to work or school. I see kids with backpacks and umbrellas. The sky is a dingy gray, though the weatherman says it won't rain.

I find myself rubbing my middle unconsciously and stop. "It's fine." Sore and empty, but fine. Bruce's eyes are on the hand that had been rubbing my stomach.

"You've been vomiting a lot lately. Any flank pain?" He asks.

"It's this stupid medicine. It makes me sick to my stomach"—like you and Jason— "I'm fine, Bruce!" I snap. Geez. It's been three months since Dr. Leslie had to remove any kidney- rock-candy stuck in my bladder. Getting kidney stones and having them shift around and clog my pipes hurts like a mother, and I don't keep quiet about it. "I'll tell you if I'm not."

Bruce's jaw tightens and he doesn't say anything and I slump in my seat, feeling like an ass. I didn't mean to snap at Bruce like that, he's just worried. But I hate when he treats me like an invalid.

"Sorry," I say.

"Don't apologize," Bruce grunts. He makes a smooth left turn. "I owe you one for this morning. I shouldn't have put you on the spot like that, especially not in front of Jason and Tim."

I snort and shoot him a sideways glance. "You're apologizing for a Bat decision? Are you okay?"

"Dick." Bruce uses that tone, the one that tells me he's either about to say something profound, or that I'm in deep shit. "I'm pulling Jason from the team."

There's a falling sensation in my gut, like the floor's disappeared from under me. I'm on a trapeze and my line's been cut—like Dad and Mom when they fell. There's no net. I hear people screaming in my head, so loud I can't hear my parents. I really don't know if they screamed or not. I did, though.

"Bruce, you can't! It'll kill him!" I shout, gripping the dashboard in front of me, anything to stop the hurtling sensation. Jason lives to be Falcon. If Bruce makes him stop, he'll... "Bruce, no!"

"I don't want him to get hurt, Dick. And with the way he's going and acting, he's going to get hurt," Bruce says. "I've had Tim keeping an eye on him. Jason's been talking to a boy who lives in his old apartment complex. This boy told Jason where and when he can find Cellucci alone, and Jason's kept this information to himself."

My feet find the ground. "Give him a chance to tell you about it, Bruce."

"It was two days ago. He's been stocking up on charges. There's bomb residue in his room. Tim..."

"God, Bruce! You've turned Tim into your little spy. You wonder why Jase and Tim can't get along? You won't let them! Did you see how Tim was afraid to even look at us over his breakfast while you and Jase were fighting?"

"Dick, you're ignoring facts." Bruce's tone stays level and calm.

And you're ignoring everything else. "You're hurting Jason. You're hurting Tim. Alfred's worried, and I can't stand it. Jason and Tim are fighting all the time and I have to break it up. You and Jason are fighting all the time and I have to break it up. Jason's upset all the time and he's scared, and he's not talking to me as much as he normally would about it, because you're pitting him against me like you're pitting him against Tim."

He feels you squeezing him out of the group, Bruce.

Bruce retreats into one of his infamous long silences, and it's fine by me. I turn on the radio and make sure to switch it from the news to a pop station just to irritate Bruce. We pull into the parent pick-up/drop off lot of Gotham Academy ten minutes later listening to the stylings of the great Justin Bieber. Well, Bruce is. I have in my headphones. The Benz reaches the curb and I unlock my door and unfasten my seatbelt, ready to jump out without another word to Bruce, but Bruce's strong hand grips my elbow. He snatches out one of my ear buds.

"It's for the best, Dick. I've thought about this for a long time."

I give him a hard look, and I hope it's as cold as I feel right now. "I don't want any part of it. If anyone asks, I don't know about it. And I'm not working with you tonight."

"Dick..."

I get out of the car and slam the door. Bruce waits there, even when the drivers behind him start blowing their horns. He doesn't roll down the window like a normal person to carry on the conversation; no, he just sits there, knowing that I'm going to get back in the car because he isn't finished talking.

Well, you know what Bruce? Screw you.

I shrug my book bag onto my shoulders and turn my back on the Bat who doesn't know how to treat family. And once again, it's all on me. The weight of keeping everyone happy is on my back and it's gonna break. I pass through the iron gate of the school and travel through the courtyard without paying specific attention to anyone. I don't want to make small talk with anybody. I don't want to force smiles on my face. I don't want to be here.

The courtyard wraps around the school. Each garden path leads to an entrance to the castle-like building. I take a narrower path, one that lead to the gyms and pools, but I stop before I get to the gym and lean against a stone column. I slide to the ground and fold my legs under me.

The bell rings for first period but I don't move. A few other students pass me by, jogging to make it to their classes before the tardy bell rings. One or two of them greet me, but don't stop to notice that I don't respond to them. The last bell rings and I'm alone. The courtyard is quiet except for the sound of the wind. It's a cold day, not cold enough for snow or ice, but definitely cool enough for a thick jacket and gloves. I've got both, but what I wouldn't give for something to put over my ears as the wind clips them. Coolness from the stone ground seeps in through my slacks, numbing my seat. I don't care. I tilt my head back and stare at the gray sky. Stupid Bruce.

Feet crunch on pebbles and I look around. I don't see anybody, but I know someone's there, watching me. I spring to my feet ready for anything but the white-haired kid who steps out of the shadows of the columns and speaks in perfect, unaccented Sinte.

"Hello, cousin. Long time no see."