[o.h.] the robin & the canary; young justice

Prologue I: Up In Flames

S T A R  C I T Y
August 27, 20:00 PDT
FOUR  YEARS  AGO

The young girl crept into the small bedroom, where the walls were painted canary-yellow and small, mural-like clouds adorned them.

On the far side of the room was a baby's crib, a mobile hanging above it, spinning slowly as a soft lullaby rang through the room.

Peering up over the top of the crib, the eight-year-old brunette stared down at her little sister, who was a little more than seven months old, sleeping soundly with a blue security blanket wrapped around her while a white pacifier was inside her mouth, quieting her cries.

Leaning down, the baby's older sister lightly ran her fingers over the small teddy bear plush that her sister held tightly in her tiny fist.

Suddenly, there was the sound of someone lightly clearing their throat behind her, and the brunette spun around, only to see her mother standing in the doorway, a small smile curling her lip as she observed her only two children.

"I believe, baby bird, that it is way past your bedtime," Though her voice was stern, there was a hint of amusement in the older woman's voice.

Either way, it made her oldest daughter pout.

"Mama, can I please stay up a bit longer?" she asked, clasping her hands together, almost begging. "I'll be nine when Christmas comes anyway. Then I can stay up as late as I want. And I want to stay up with Lauren for a bit,"

Lorelai Michaels walked forward and set a hand on her daughter's shoulder, giving the brunette a small smile.

"You're already growing up so fast, baby bird," Lorelai said softly, kneeling down in front of Reese with a soft smile. "But, even magnificent eagles need their beauty sleep,"

Reese, still a bit put-out, grumbled, crossing her arms, but complied with her mother's wishes anyway, lightly pecking her sister's forehead before following the older woman out into the hall of their Star City apartment.

"Do you think I'll see Green Arrow tonight?" Reese whispered as her mother tucked her in, turning to stare out her window at the skyline of Star City.

Lorelai chuckled. "You might," she said quietly, before tugging Reese's light gray quilt up to her chin. "Now," she continued. "Sleep, my magnificent eagle. Tomorrow, you, your sister, and I can go and get some ice-cream, okay?"

"Chocolate Swirl?" Reese mumbled, already falling asleep to the sound of her mother's voice. As it were, Lorelai laughed softly, running her fingers through her daughter's hair.

"Of course,"

Just before Reese finally fell asleep, her brown eyes landed on a framed poster that hung on the opposite wall of her bedroom.

"Do you think that boy's okay?" she asked quietly, burrowing deeper into her blanket as she met her mother's gaze. "The one from the circus,"

Lorelai sighed. Months ago, their family had needed to go across the country to Gotham City for one of Reese's father's "business trips".

The actual work had been done in Washington D.C., but after, before they got on a plane to go back to Star City, Reese's father, Derrick Michaels, had thought it would be a good idea to attend a circus that had been in Gotham the same night.

What a disaster that had been...

Something, it seemed, had gone horribly wrong with the circus' trapeze act, and almost the entire troupe had fallen to their deaths.

The only survivors were a boy, just a little bit older than Reese herself, and who seemed to be his uncle, though it seemed like he was now paralyzed.

Reese had met the boy before, but there hadn't even been enough time to talk for her to get his name before the show started.