Scarlet Justice - Young Justice Fanfiction

Riddle Me This...

Kristen's Pov

Air blew the strands of hair out of my face. Batman's rudely stated opinion made my gut fill with some sort of passion. It might have been anger or maybe the disappointment making me feel like a failure. I don't know. This whole hero thing has been really getting to my head.

I had thought that it wouldn't be any different than what I'm used to. I was dead wrong.

The whole feeling of having some what of friends by my side was new to me. I'm not really a people person. Like at all.

I stopped by the police station on my way through the city to keep up some of my old routine. Sure enough, the Bat Signal was up and Nightwing was there. But so was Commissioner Gordon. I paused in the shadows to listen in.

"He's can't make it tonight. But Robin is covering the suburbs with our new protege." Nightwing said in a low voice. He was trying to hide how dire the actual situation was, and I think Gordon was picking up on that.

"I'm not concerned with how many Bats are running around the city, I'm concerned with our crime lords. They've been too quiet, and I have sources telling me they're grouping up." Gordon spoke with authority, yet every word he said was laced with fear. Something was definitely up.

"We know about the missing kids and we're working on it as we speak." Liar. What's with this job and lies? He doesn't even know where to start. I don't know where to start. "Who were the crime lords you heard about?"

Gordon looked around at the surrounding buildings. "Bane, Scarecrow, Black Mask, and the Riddler. We're lucky the Joker was locked away outside the city." 

Scarecrow? Black Mask? Theses guys are drug dealers, not terrorists. They wouldn't even be big enough to get ties with the Light.

"Thank you. You might not see him for a while. I'll be sending Robin for now. And maybe Scarlet."

"Another one?" Gordon scoffed with some humor, turned away and opened the door leading back downstairs. Nightwing just stood there with his head hung low.

I watched as the light from the stairwell slowed diminished. 

"No one's really working on it. No one even knows about it except Batman," He jumped, turning to me with a scowl. I had actually scared him. "Nice going."

"How much did you hear?" A groan escaped his lips.

"All of it. And I want to help."

"Listen, Scar-"

"No, you listen. It's my obligation to these children to get them back home." With every step I took towards him, he backed away. He wasn't afraid of me. But he did have the same guilty look he had on when I talked to him a few days ago. "You don't need to know why, just know that it is. I'm not a kid, not like some of the others, and I didn't ask to be treated like one either."

My existence was too attached to this part of my daily life, that I couldn't stand by and watch other people be the person I'm supposed to be. And there was not a damn thing Batman, or Nightwing, or anyone else could do about it.

"I'm sorry for brushing you off yesterday," Nightwing sighed. He ran a hand through his hair and straightened up. "So who do we start with? Gordon's list consists of very infamous crime lords. It won't be easy."

"Who said it had to be easy?"

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The two of us swung in through the window of an old factory. Nightwing had said that the Riddler was also a messenger between criminals in the city. If there was ever a showdown going on involving anyone who was anything, he knew about it. This is where he and Batman had almost always found him.