| The Point of No Return | Young Justice | Dick Grayson

VIII

~

Christine woke up feeling stiff. Groaning in discomfort she shifted trying to reposition herself in a more comfortable position. Then all of the memories that had taken place before she had fallen asleep resurfaced and she sat up with a sharp intake of breath. The open book that had been resting on her face fell to the floor with a soft thump. She looked around the library to see if she had disturbed anyone only to find the room dimly lit. As she finished her scan of the room she flinched at the sight of a dark figure standing a few feet away from her.

'He's come to take me back by force.' She whimpered to herself mentally as she pushed herself further into the couch she was sitting on.

"Christine Devine, I presume?" A deep, intimidating, masculine voice broke the silence. This was not the Phantom.

Christine did not respond. She had no clue who this man was, and besides if she even wanted to speak to him she couldn't physically do that anymore.

"Am I mistaken?" The dark figure started to approach Christine, he was finally close enough for her to see who he was.

The dark figure who stood be for her was none other than the Dark Knight from America, Batman. She had heard stories about this member of the Justice League, he was not one to be messed with, Christine saw it in her best interest to answer him.

"Yes, that's me." She said through use of sign language.

"Is there a reason you are not speaking?"

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Why are you here questioning me? I'm nobody, what does a teenage ballerina in training hold any interest to you?" Christine challenged Batman, but as she said that she recalled what the boy with the markings on his arms had confessed hours earlier.

"We were assigned a covert mission from Batman to investigate the mysterious Phantom activity here."

"I have evidence that states that you were present during a covert mission that was assigned to a group of young heroes. Am I wrong?" Christine saw it best for her to cooperate with the Dark Knight.

"They told you this?" A glimmer of hope that the super teens remembered her sparked. Had the sent Batman to retrieve her? Was this the help they were talking about?

"No, they seem to have no recollection of you." Christine's heart sunk, but then she was confused.

"Then how would you know if I was there or not?"

"I have my sources." He answered shortly.

"Who then?" Christine couldn't comprehend how Batman could have know she was there or who she was.

"That's classified." Batman replies shortly. Christine sighed in defeat.

"What do you want from me?"

"Am I correct to assume that you have special powers?" Batman questioned. Christine was hesitant to respond to this, what was he going to do with her? Was he going to lock her up? Surely she deserved it after what the Phantom had made her do, but that didn't mean she wasn't scared. Christine didn't see any point in lying to Batman, she assumed he would be able to tell if she was lying or not, even through her speaking in sign language.

"Yes."

"I have a proposition for you, but first, my sources told me that your power stemmed from you voice, I presume that is why you aren't speaking?" Batman obviously was asking this to see if Christine was able to be trusted before he would continue with his proposition.

"Well, your sources are partially right. My powers are at their strongest when I use my voice, but I can also use them through physical contact with whatever I wish to manipulate."

"That doesn't explain why you cannot talk." Christine airily chuckled at his monotone voice before responding.

"My- no the Phantom took that ability away from me, he manipulated my vocal chords so that I cannot use them. I mean I could but not without..." Christine stopped her hand motions before looking straight up at Batman and giving a sigh. She placed her right hand on her throat, flinching slightly as she came in contact with the bruised skin.

"I would sound like this," she said, her voice sounding like a strained whisper, " and can cause me to-" she was cut off by a coughing fit, causing her to retract her manipulation powers. She brought her left hand to her mouth to wipe the blood that had started to drip out. Putting her right had back on her throat, "hurt myself internally." She finished.

"I see..." the Dark Knight trailed off.

"The Phantom's powers are stronger than my own, he was my teacher. Defying him has always been extremely difficult, in more way than one as you can probably tell." Christine explained further, "now if you don't mind me asking, what was that proposition you had mentioned?"

"I want to offer you an opportunity to use your powers for good, to help others."

"You want me to be a hero? To join the Justice league?" Christine asked, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. She definitely was not Justice League material.

"Not the Justice League, a different team of gifted individuals who want to make a difference in the world." Christine thought about it, this could be her ticket out of this life. This could be her opportunity to make up for her wrong doings in the past.

A fresh start.

"If you'll have me, I accept."

"Go to the Paris International Airport, someone will be there to escort you." Batman replied slowly backing away. Christine hastily put her hand to her throat to speak.

"Wait! Where will I be going?" She rasped coughing right after. 

"Happy Harbor." And then he was gone.

Happy what now? Christine thought to herself scrunching her eyebrows. 

~

Hi!!

Hopefully this was a good update!

I feel like its finally time to get this show on the road with this story :))

This is my first time writing batman as a character in one of my stories so I apologize if he isn't completely accurate

I would love to hear some feedback if anyone has any advice on writing Batman's character!

Thank you for reading!

Please vote and comment if you enjoyed it!

~Mags