Shadows Of My Own (Young Justice Fanfiction)

Chapter 14: Tuesday 20th February

I could feel the bitter cold wind snap at my face when I walked off the bus. Dirt from the unclean streets wavered around my feet as I walked down the path. My hand went to cover a yawn escaping my mouth. I was quite happy that I took Robin's advice this morning and went to bed, even if I didn't get much sleep anyhow.

The dingle of a tiny bell sounded when I opened the door of the diner. A few fans rotated above me, while people in white uniforms stood behind, and next to, light wooden furniture. The pace was almost empty, meaning took mere seconds to discover the person who I was here to meet.

"Hey." I said, sitting down across from her.

"Hello." Rachel greeted in response. "Sorry I wasn't at school today, there was a little emergency at home, nothing to worry about though."

"It's alright. Rose was good company."

She smiled slightly. "You know, you're one of the very few people Rose takes a liking to."

"Well, I'm glad.

I tilted my neck sideways, trying to relieve the pain of the small cramp that had found its way into the sore spot. The stinging of the needles Robin injected had come back to haunt me during the hours of my second day at school. One which hadn't been exciting as the first.

I focused back on Rachel. "So, I called you here because I needed to ask you about something..." I said.

"Go on." She responded, unsure of what to expect.

"Well, when we first shook hands, I noticed a very strong magic current running through you."

She nodded slowly. "I felt the same thing coming from you."

"Yeah, so I'm just going to go straight to the point," I deemed, "have you been turning into a black cat and following me around?"

Rachel looked at me strangely, leaning away slightly in her seat. "Um, no. What makes you think that."

I exhaled a long breath I'd been holding. "Well, you see, it's just that over the past few weeks I've been noticing I'm being followed by a black cat with deep purple eyes..."

"And when you looked into mine, felt the magical current, you assumed it was me." She finished.

"Yeah." I admitted, turning my head away a little.

"Like I said, I'm not this cat you talk about. But if you think that something isn't right, maybe you should investigate it."

I considered her advice. "Yeah." I said. "Yeah, maybe I should." I stood up, putting a five dollar bill on the table. "I'll see you at school tomorrow." I told Rachel.

"Okay, bye." She responded as I headed back out the door.

###

I wasn't sure what I'd find here. I wasn't even sure what I hoped to find here. But it was one of the few places that could perhaps offer me some answers.

As I stood in the hallway of my old apartment building, I registered all of the chaotic mess that surrounded me. Police had blocked off the entire building, evacuated the minority of the residents; ones that hadn't been injured.

There was a dent in the wall, where I was thrown into. I could still remember the pain of the impact, but the worst moment of all was when the fire finally caught up to me.

I shook of the memories, retaining the thoughts and trying to focus on the task at hand. I trod along the broken bots off floor, stepping over the holes that bore black ash marks around the circumference.

I held my breath when I saw it. It was just laying there, outside my door, almost ruined beyond repair. I walked forward slowly, then bent down to carefully pick it up.