Young Justice: Red Comet

Chapter 19 - Overheating

Bart's going to kill him.

"Bart!" I shout, standing up as the double vision ebbs, but the left side of my face still pulses in pain. I reach a hand out, and see its glowing bright red.

No. No. I can't lose control.

Bart.

"Stop! Bart, you're going to kill him!" I stagger towards the cyclone, but the energy is building up inside of me. It wants to come out, and my skin glows even brighter.

Bart isn't a killer. He couldn't live with that. 

"BART I NEED YOU!" I cry out, and just like that, I feel the wind stop suffocating Maska. The next moment, I feel familiar arms scoop me up, and carry me away.

"WATER!" I shout, knowing I'm burning him with my skin. We blur through the city in a few seconds and hit the beach next to Mt. Justice.

I practically fling myself from Bart and dive into the waste deep water. Steam is produce as I am emerged.

The water fights me, trying to consume my heat. I don't let it take it all, just most of it. Leaving my heat inside of my chest instead of trying to come out. The energy is contained, and my skin turns back to its tanned color. I feel hands grab my arm, and haul me up. Reflexively I jerk away and stagger deeper into the water, holding my hands up defensively.

Bart and I stare at each other, both waist deep in the water. His green eyes wide in fear and concern and... anger. But it's not directed towards me, I feel it. He breathes heavily, and though his shoulders are tensed up, his hands reach out to me gently.

I feel my own lungs moving quickly, pain pulsing softly around my left eye. I now notice the burn marks on Bart's shirt. The red shininess to his hands.

"Bart, put your hands in the water. They're burn," I tell him softly. He looks up at me with a startled expression.

"You're worried about me? Nova, I just watched that monster hit you and you started over heating and I just kept running and I just kept seeing in my head him hitting you and I wanted to stop him and—"

"Bart!" I nearly shout. Slowly, gently, I walk towards him. Gingerly taking the back of his hands, I lower them into the water. The cool liquid surrounds his hands, touching the already puffed up skin.

"I'm so sorry I burned you. I'm so sorry I lost control. I'm so sorry Bart," I whisper, not looking up at him. I focus on his hands, in the water.

"Hey, Nova. Look at me." He says gently. I reluctantly follow his command.

"You have nothing to apologize for. I'll be okay. I heal really fast." He gives me a grin, its strained.

I shake my head. "No, you don't understand. I could have killed you. I could have lost control completely and overheated. You don't understand everything I'm capable of..."

We're quiet for a moment, and he looks at me kindly. Something Maska has never done.

"Tell me, Nova. Please, I want to help you." He says.

I take a deep breath, calming my heartbeat down. I will trust Bart. I will. I want to.

"When I become too emotionally unstable, I heat up. If I don't calm down, I keep heating up. Energy builds up inside of me, and if I don't control it, calm down, it will come out. The effects of unleashing that much energy would be catastrophic." I whisper the words now, hating myself for what I am. Different. Powerful. Unstable.

"You'll exploded?" He asks.

"Basically." I say. "Releasing all that energy from my body would destroy so much..."

When I look down at his hands in the water, I see the skin has stopped swelling, and is actually losing its red color. How fast does Bart heal again?

"I want to help you, Nova. We'll find a way to make sure you never lose control, I promise." He says, smiling up at me.

When he says that, I actually believe this promise. I look down at the water, his hands seemingly okay now.

"Bart, I have to tell you something about Maska." I say quietly.

"What is it?" I hear his tone sour at his name.

I look into his green eyes, and I know I can tell him the truth.

"Maska was my boyfriend."