Joining Young Justice

Chapter Five: Confessions

Things were spiraling out of my control. The worst part was, Ned was now a wild card. Whatever he did next was going to be big--and I needed to get ahead of it. I needed to protect myself.

I stayed at the Cave for two nights before zeta beaming to Gotham and walking the long road to Wayne Manor. I needed time to think over exactly what I was going to say to Batman, who I'd managed to avoid since our last conversation. When I reached the door, I froze. 

I was about to reveal my entire life to Batman and admit that I'd been lying to him for years. If that wasn't the scariest conversation in the universe I didn't know what was. Batman had a kill-you-with-a-single-look kind of glare and I did not want to be on the receiving end. Unfortunately I couldn't control everything and there were some things that just needed to be said no matter how painful.

I breathed and leaned forward, sounding the bell. There was no going back. As I twisted and paced, the door opened.

"Chelsey?" Bruce asked, swinging the door open even further.

"Bruce, great. Can we talk? Thanks." I stepped into the mansion and as soon as the door was closed, my mouth was open again. "I have a confession. I have been lying to you since my senior year and--no, don't say anything. I need to get this off my chest because it's important and it's been weighing on me and when I'm done, can we take a moment of silence to think before we act? Great.

"I guess I've been repeatedly lying to you. Starting with the fact that Engelmann is my father. He's not. Second lie would be that I was born and raised in Central City. Truthfully it was far, far away. The third is the fact the machine only traveled through time. It doesn't. Oh, shoot, hold on. There's another one." I paused for a breath. "Oh. I don't need you to train me because I'm already trained. Just rusty."

I stopped for another breath, trying to talk myself down, to slow down, but Bruce interrupted.

"Why don't you come into the kitchen and I can make us a pot of tea," he suggested. I hated how calm his voice was. I couldn't imagine what he was actually thinking.

"Yes, please."

A few minutes later we were situated in the kitchen. There was a steaming pot of tea and two mugs on the table that Bruce sat at. I was too anxious to stay still and found myself pacing back and forth between the butlers pantry and the kitchen door.

"Why don't you start at the beginning," Bruce suggested evenly.

"Yeah. The beginning. So I was born in a galaxy far, far away. The planets there had formed a Republic a long time ago and as I was being raised, tensions were starting to rise. There were Separatist movements, Rebel uprisings, and all sorts of chaos. There was also an order--the Jedi Order--that served as peacekeepers of the galaxy. Jedi are special. They have access to something we call the Force that is...oh, how do I explain it? The Force is everywhere and we can manipulate it, access it, rely on it. The Jedi look for Force sensitive kids around the galaxy and they bring them to their temple where they become Padawan learners, then Jedi Knights, then Jedi Masters. They learn to sense and use the Force, how to fight and plan tactical battles, how to seek peace with minimal conflict. As they get older, they are assigned to a mentor who guides them through the process.

"I was taken to the Temple on Coruscant when I was very young where I trained alongside other younglings. When I was old enough I was assigned to Master Zalz a-Bara, who was a member of the Jedi Council, a very elite group of Jedi that works closely with military and galactic leaders. During this time, the galaxy had erupted into the biggest war there had ever been. The Clone Wars. The Republic used an army of clone troopers to fight the droid armies of the Separatists. The Jedi acted as military leaders for the clones and we thought we were winning when something happened.