All Fall Down (Young Justice FF)

4: Crystal

There was exactly three things of which Crystal was absolutely certain.

One, most people wanted her dead, including a certain shadow creature she called a Wraith.

Two, she was completely unprepared to fight a Wraith.

Three, it could absolutely be worse.

The Wraith's eyes looked onto hers, blood dripping from its mouth. A normal person would be petrified, frozen as it plunges them into their darkest nightmares. Eye contact from a Wraith was deadly, even though the creatures themselves were only imprints of far more powerful monsters. If it was one of them, she'd have been five feet under by now. But, by some miracle, it was just a Wraith. An imprint, a husk, a shadow of a monster no single person could hope to defeat.

Crystal's arm bled from where the IV was ripped out, and she wasn't too sure that her stitches hadn't ripped. The League didn't move, those who did received a quick glare from her. Anything could set it off. Kid Flash was a concern -- Wraiths never let prey get away once they taste blood -- he was far, far too close. However, all that seemed distant. Staring in the eyes of death felt so much like home her chest felt tight.

Just like old times.

It'd been so long, though, and it didn't feel quite like it used to. Like when you try on your old favorite jacket and it's just a little too small. The sleeves are slightly too short and the shoulder area feels tighter than it used to, but wearing it isn't entirely out off the table.

The metal pole from the IV felt cold in her hands and far heavier than it should've been. She remembers how to fight, but it feels like something she saw in a movie instead of something she'd done. In those fights, she'd been angry. Bitter about the cards she'd been dealt, so damn stubborn to prove everyone wrong that she'd proven them right. Now, she was just tired, bitterness shoved to some forgotten corner of her mind.

Her grip tightened on the pole until her knuckles hurt. People always used to say she was going to die fighting. She'd always told them that that was the plan. They would then call her an idiot.

Time to be the idiot.

That was when she ran.

Que the Wraith screeching in shock as she sprinted toward the thing.

Its momentary surprise gave her some breathing room, but the metaphorical noose still hung around her neck. It swiped at her, but she slid under it like a baseball player sliding into home. Difficult, considering she was holding a pole taller than her. She then stood between the creature and Kid Flash, her back foot settling an inch from his back.

Too close.

She remembered the last time some she cared about was too close to a monster, one far more fearsome than a Wraith. He died because she failed. This wasn't going to be a repeat.

"They are under my protection."

Its ghost-like tail twitched, so she said it again in ancient demon dialect. It sounded like a cross between a snore and a blender, a short phrase that roughly translated to "mine." Claims on people were serious in demon culture. It wouldn't protect her, but they would be safe for the rest of her life from the Wraith, no matter how short that life may be. However, this would only work if this thing had a brain left.

Its jaw made a strange crackling noise, and Crystal had the pole up before it managed to snap at her. She'd done it horizontally, the pole now cut into thirds, one of which had disappeared into the Wraith's maw.

"Get ready!" Crystal demanded, hurdling Kid Flash's unconscious body to make a mad dash for absolutely anywhere else. Preferably somewhere clear of people. She prayed that the League would listen to her.

It was fast enough to catch a speedster, and undoubtedly fast enough to catch her, but she'd rather no one else get hurt. She managed to get halfway across the warehouse before it got anywhere near her -- it was playing with its food.

"Now!"

She expected to be shot at. What she didn't expect was for some kid wearing a Superman shirt to push her out of the way and shield her with his body. Various things flew at the Wraith, most annoyances at best. Then, an explosive knocked it to the ground. It flickered, wailing in pain. After a moment, it stilled, turning to look at Crystal. The League probably thought it'd attack, but it left with a shriek.

It'll be back.

All eyes turned to her. She probably looked like hell, but she felt better than she had in years. A simple enemy to fight -- one that didn't haunt her nightmares -- made it seem like old times.

"You okay?"

The boy had the clearest blue eyes she'd seen in a while. It struck her how young he looked, how innocent. He couldn't have been younger than sixteen, less than two years younger than her. Yet, the gap felt so much greater.

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

"'Fine' is relative. I've been worse."

She looked past him, where the Leaguers were looking Kid Flash over.

"Is he going to live?" she asked.

"He's a speedster, he'll be up and complaining within the hour," Robin replied.

Crystal knew most of the League and their associates by reputation, from the little bits of news she used to receive from the outside world. Stories like that made them seem far bigger and greater than they were. Humans becoming gods in the eyes of the people they'd saved. Heroes were only heroes if the population saw them as such. She'd grown up in a world without heroes, with certainty that even if there were such things, they wouldn't bother saving her. Seeing them there, she could finally see what the others saw. She wondered why anyone ever dared proclaim her a hero when people like them existed.

The League members said other things, asked questions where necessary. She answered a couple, but fell silent as they continued. Eventually, she was back on a cot, with Kid Flash sleeping soundly in the cot beside her. Robin came in and out, but she ignored him.

He could have died tonight.

She could have, too.

She would have, if it was between the two of them.

Kid Flash woke several hours later, strangely coherent despite his previously comatose state. Robin chatted with him for a few minutes before allowing them to talk in private.

"Why didn't you tell us about the shadow?" he asked.

"Because it wanted something to eat," she answered quietly. "I thought I could..."

I thought I could kill it.

"It could have killed you."

"Hazard of the job."

She didn't want to look at him. Didn't want to see him worry for her. He shouldn't have to.

"We could have helped-"

"Then you would be dead and that would be on me."

It's my job.

I couldn't fail again.

"If you had died that would be on me."

Their eyes met, and Crystal realized that, maybe, they weren't so different.

"We're both self-sacrificing idiots aren't we?"

The rest of the night was filled by Kid Flash endlessly chattering about irrelevant things. It helped, in a way. But guilt began working its way into her stomach.

Don't let them see the damage.