Enigma | A Young Justice Fanfiction

Chapter 5

Aspen groaned as she slowly became aware of her surroundings. She heard the steady beeps of a heart rate monitor and footsteps people walking and talking. A loud whirring was heard from above her, most likely from the roof. ‘Great,’ she thought. ‘I’m in a hospital.’

She slowly opened her eyes and blinked to get used to the bright hospital lights that lit up the white room. Aspen leaned forward and looked around to get a better sense of what was going on, and found an IV in her arm, pumping some sort of semi-clear liquid into her arm.

‘Why am I in a hospital?’ she thought. As she continued to glance around the room, her eyes landed on Ollie snoring in a chair on the other side of the room, and the events from the last few hours suddenly raced to the front of Aspens’ mind.

She had been gone. For four years. Years. But who would’ve done it? They apparently didn’t do it for money, but they seemed to have the ability to wipe the four years from her mind. ‘What happened during those four years?’ she asked herself.

Unsure if she should try to wake Oliver up and ask him some questions, Aspen leaned back in the hospital bed and found herself watching the IV pumping medicine. Despite her dislike of needles, she found watching the IV strangely… calming.

The door to the room opened suddenly, and Aspen quickly looked up from the IV at the blonde woman who just ran in. They locked eyes and stared at each other for a minute before Aspen recognized her.

“Dinah!” she exclaimed as the blonde ran over and embraced Aspen in a tight bear hug.

“Where were you?” Dinah asked with a frightened tone, finally releasing Aspen from her death grip and looking at her. Dinah squinted and reached for a strand of Aspen’s hair. “And what’s with the muted hair color?”

‘The what?’ Aspen thought to herself as she tried to look at her hair. Before either of them could continue, Oliver woke up and joined the conversation.

“She doesn’t know,” he explained, yawning. “She doesn’t even remember the last four years, for that matter.” He walked over and joined the group. “What took you so long?” Aspen watched as Dinah rolled her eyes and turned to Oliver.

“Calling me in the middle of training the Team is not usually an ideal situation, Oliver,” she replied, crossing her arms over her body. “It’s not easy finding a substitute for them.”

“Team?” Aspen repeated. “What team?” Oliver and Dinah gave each other knowing glances before walking out into the hallway. “Why can’t I just get a straight answer?” she wondered aloud.

When they returned a few minutes later, they pulled chairs up closer to Aspen’s bed.
“So,” Oliver started, leaning on his knees, “What’s the last thing you remember from four years ago?”

Aspen leaned back in the bed and thought about it. “Umm… I was on patrol that night—with Roy. We were only out for about an hour when we got a call from you over the comms,” she remembered, referring to Oliver, “and you said we needed to come back. Something about the JL, I think?” she looked to Oliver for confirmation and he nodded. She continued. “On our way back, we—well, I, Roy almost ran straight past—saw a group of about ten people, all wearing black.”

“Then…?” Dinah motioned for Aspen to continue, but she sighed and shook her head.

“Then…nothing,” Aspen explained. “That’s where my memory stops. The next thing I remember is waking up on top of a building in the middle of Star City.” Dinah nodded and the room fell into silence. “So,” Aspen continued, looking between her mentor and her adoptive father, “would anyone care to fill me in on the last four years? Maybe start with this mysterious ‘Team’?”