Pandora~ A Young Justice Fanfiction

Fix

Persephone's POV

"Hermanos the night is young!" Bart declares zooming into us pulling me into his side as he wraps an arm around Jaime. "The night is over ese, and Percy's a girl so she would be a hermana." Jaime sighs tiredly rubbing at his forehead giving me a chance to pull away.

"Yeah I should really be heading back to Wally and Anastasia's place." I mumble pulling at my new metal collar that seems to be weighing down on me. I can feel them silently having a conversation with their eyes, and I turn trying my best to ignore them.

"Since Blue's tired and you look half dead I'm just going to walk you home." Bart shrugs with a nonchalant chuckle, and when I turn to glare at Jaime he takes that as his chance to pull me away. I retract my hand harshly but still follow him outside, but with a safe distance between us.

"Are you okay?" He asks stopping me on the front steps of the Hall.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I breathe out my hand instinctively going to grab  at the collar sticking to my skin, but I stop when I catch his green eyes watching me.

"You're walking three feet away from me, you won't stop pulling at that dang collar, and a demon was literally possessing your body hours ago." He lists them off on his fingers, and when he's done he takes a step forward countering my several steps back.

"I don't wanna talk about it, I deserve this-"

"No one deserves this." He bites out with a little more intensity than I expected, and I'm sure I'm not hiding my surprise because he groans and flops down on one of the large steps. "Those stupid collars aren't to protect you, all they do is put a target on your back. They label you as dangerous, and suddenly you can't go about your day the same way ever again."

I look up across the court that stretches out past the Hall, and sure enough everyone that passes by eyes me wearily, and a mother even pulls her child away. "Bart... Will you talk to me?" I ask carefully cringing when he scoffs his auburn hair hiding his eyes.

"Only if you talk to me, I feel like I've known you for three months and I still know nothing about you." He sort of laughs head cocking a little so his eyes are piercing me for answers. "I could say the same thing." And he nods leaning back like he's considering my words.

"You know I came to stop my future from happening, but I came back when I did because my grandpa was supposed to die that night fighting Neutron. I figured changing that would be the first step in ending a lot of pain, and as selfish as it sounds especially for my family."

He stops elbows resting in his lap while he stares intently at his clasped hands. I wait remembering what Ana has always told me: people will open up as they please asking questions will only overwhelm them.

I wish she were here she's way better at handling these situations than I am.

"My dad and aunt were murdered when I was just a baby for trying to revolt, Iris and my mom raised me and Wally trained me. But my mom got sick and passed a year before I left, and Wally was finally caught and hung in front of our entire colony to be an example of what not to do. Grandma died of a broken heart shortly after, and I was taken in to one of the camps where I was given one of those." He stops pointing at my collar, and suddenly I feel like I'm being choked.

"Now you know why I really didn't want to go back. I could've survived an apocalypse, but doing it without them was unbearable. So when I got the chance to come back, even if it meant never returning, I was okay because there was a chance I could finally have my family."

We both sit there in silence staring out across the open landscape, and I have to bite down on my lip to stop myself from questioning him. I sorta know my fate, but he has to know what happens to Ana or Zatanna, but I can tell he's closed up for the day. Really the less people that know the better, but I feel terrible that he feels like he has to carry this burden alone.