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

Chapter Thirteen

It's a loaded question, but one I'm used to. Metas new to the game ask me all the time. "How does a kid like you get mixed up in all this craziness?" The answer is easy, though. "Because I want to be Robin."

"Why? Yeah, Bruce seems like a decent guy, but if he's got something over you and he's making you feel like you owe it to him or something, it's fucked up. I mean, you obviously got some mad skills, man, but you still don't have any powers. Those bad guys you piss off, they can kill you. I mean what happens if you fall the wrong way--you can't fly! If a bomb goes off too close to you, you don't have super-speed to get out of the way. You don't have invisible force fields to protect you. You aren't super strong. You're just... a human doing things the police won't do, and they get paid, and they're all over 18! You don't even use a gun."

Pietro grips my knees. "I know you're not crazy, so why?"

I sigh and put my hands over his. "I have to, Tro. It's a calling. Some people teach, some people go on missions to Africa, some people preach; I save people. The police aren't enough. The FBI isn't enough."

Pietro's eyes delve into mine and he tilts his head. "Is it about Aunt Mary and Uncle John? Is it a revenge thing for you? Because normal kids don't just watch the news and jump up and say, 'I'm gonna put on a costume and fight crime'...and then actually do it."

Just gut me why don't you? I pull one of my hands off his and press it to my bubbling stomach at the mention of my parents. I blink and see the dangling lines, smell the popcorn and peanuts, and hear myself screaming.

"Yeah, it is about my parents, but it's not about revenge. The guy who did it is long dead anyway. Died of natural causes, even. Karma, I say." I really want him to understand, but looking into his cynical eyes, I don't know if I can do it. "I don't want that to happen to another kid, and I can't save everybody—" Hear that Wally? "—but the ones I can, might not have nightmares for the rest of their lives, like I will. And on the nights when I stop the bad guys and put them away, my nightmares aren't as real. It's like I get to watch the show, but I don't have to be part of it. I can't change the dream, but I can make it end before it gets bad." I don't have to see them fall; I don't have to hear the screaming. But I'll always smell the popcorn and peanuts and know what happens next.

Pietro still frowns at me, but he lowers his eyes and pulls his hands off my knees, bringing his knees to his chest. "Should I feel like you then?" His voice is quiet and flat and it's my turn to frown at him.

"My parents, my whole family, got killed by a hate group, for being who they were. I have nightmares every night. Nothing makes them easier. I just don't scream anymore, because Magneto punished me if I woke him up. I even found out that Magneto had another kid, I had an older sister, but she got killed by a mutant hate group before I was born. They burned her up, just like they burned up Mama and Tata."

"I should have a calling, too. Hell, I even have powers, so what's my excuse? Why don't I want to go out and save people who don't give a shit about me? Or better yet, Magneto's cause... he wants to change the world and make it safe for mutants. I should want to help him. Making the world a better place for people who are different should help my nightmares, right? But yanno, even when I did help Magneto, I still smelled charred flesh every night."

"I don't get you, Dickie. I don't get any of you heroes. The X-Men, The Avengers, The Justice League... at least with the bad guys there are perks. You steal it, you keep it. You got no good reputation to uphold, you got no public eye to appeal to. Once you're written off as bad, no one cares about you or what you do."