(2,327 Words)
(3rd POV)
The shrubbery rustled in the distance the possible threat getting closer and closer. Conner swore his heart could beat out of his chest in anticipation of who was making their way over, not being silent in the slightest. If this was a threat then Conner knew that they must be confident to be roaming the woods at this time of night. This was someone who wanted you to know they were coming, or they were terrible at sneaking around in the darkness.
X could feel the hero's intense heart beat from the almost whisper soft touch of his hand on her exposed skin. Each pulse in perfect sync with her own pounding heart. She placed her right hand on Superboy's cold wet jacket, feeling his muscles tense beneath the layers of soaked clothing. He was prepared to strike, who ever was making their way to them was an obvious threat to the hero, but X knew that he'd fight tooth and nail to keep her safe from harm.
X steadied herself, and with her left hand she carefully slipped her way into her bag careful not to shift around too quickly. She was pressed for time, this was possibly the only shot she had of getting back her USB, and in seconds she felt it's small familiar shape wedged beneath a plastic pack.
Her medical kit no doubt.
X would have to tug it out if she was to get it free, but Superboy would surely feel the movement and catch her in the act. She could hear the threat getting closer and knew that if she waited she could time her pull to the reveal of this being. She could easily mask her movements as 'cowering' away once it made its appearance; should Superboy look back at her she'd feign putting more distance between herself and it.
Snap...
..Crack...
'...Superboy... is that you?', she was cautious in her approach, Wonder girl took note of the defensive stance that her team mate was in and the growls coming from Wolf before she stepped out into the light. She and Nightwing had been looking for them for almost an hour now, and had feared the worst.
Conner breathed a sight of relief and relaxed his stance. It was only Wonder girl, he should have know... Only she would be bold enough to walk through a dark forest all alone in the dead of night with not a care in the world of how loud she was being. She was strong, brave, and resilient; a walking powerhouse if you will.
A small gasp was heard behind Conner shortly followed by X tugging herself a few steps away from him, taking the warmth with her. Upon looking back he found her wide eyed looking at his team mate before them with unease, arms tucked into herself as X shuffled closer to Wolfs large form.
Wonder girl's curiosity peaked at the wide eyed girl who had a mysterious glow underneath the rays of moonlight. She took note of her dripping hare frightened look, and lack of clothes, she was an enigma.
Conner was quick to turn and comfort her, his tense posture, and icy glare was replaced with soft shoulders, a concerned gaze, and reassuring words.
Wonder girl was momentarily stunned at Superboy's behavior towards the mysterious girl. In all her time working with Superboy she could only ever remember his usual guarded icy stare, and his tense posture, and how little he spoke. Yet here he was, with shoulders sagged and slightly hunched, in an attempt to look as least intimidating as possible, the softest tone; his eyes the most gentle she'd ever seen. The only other time she could remember his gaze that way was when he was with his now ex girlfriend Miss Martian.
"Hey it's okay... Everything is alright, she's one of the good guys, she won't hurt you I promise", Conner was truly trying his best to comfort the poor girl. He took notice of the force of her grasp onto his companion's dense fur, her hands pale and shaken. She was probably freezing and needed, rest and there was no way of telling the extent of her injuries.
"Wonder girl, tell Nightwing we found a survivor and to meet us back at the ship, I don't think there's anyone else out here."
"Where did she even come from?"
"I don't know, she hasn't said a word, Wolf found her here in the lake, all she has with her is this bag. I think she's alone"
Wonder girl couldn't believe that such a small frightened girl could have escaped with her life. Beast reported that they hadn't found any survivors, and while with Nightwing in the town and during her search for Superboy she hadn't found anyone. It made her gut twist as she tried to catch a better look at this mystery girl, but with both Wolf and Superboy crowding her she couldn't see much.
"Okay, I'll let him know, get her ready to move though, it's best if we get out of these woods as soon as possible, I've had a bad feeling since I split up with Nightwing"
Super boy nodded before fixing his attention to the nameless woman. "We're gonna be heading back to somewhere far more safe, where we can get someone to take a look at you. I promise Wolf and I will not leave your side if you're not comfortable." The woman gave a silent nod, not looking to meet his eyes as she continued to keep to herself.
Superboy smiled kindly at her timidness; he could see how much potential she had, although stand-offish she could become another great member of the team in the future. He was skeptical of some of the others, with everything the team has been through, emotionally, physically, and psychologically in the past, some may very well be defensive and passive considering she is the only survivor from one of Cadmus labs.
That was the one thing Superboy could not wrap his head around; how someone so small and timid could have possibly escaped such wreckage with their life. But as the saying goes, looks can be deceiving, and his gut told him that despite her shy and closed off demeanor she was someone with potential and power; power that he hoped to help her feel empowered by over time. He hopes to do for her what his closest friends and teammates did for him years ago.
X was glad to have quickly buried the USB at the shore of the lake while Superboy was preoccupied with Wonder girls presence. She was disappointed in all of the information she could not access, until she returns to retrieve it. She hoped to find out more on her birth parents and where else Cadmus had Labs. X was certain that there had to be labs all over the world that could possibly house other beings like her, that could very well kill her; though it wouldn't be without great effort, she couldn't allow irresponsible scientists to continue creating genetically enhanced experiments.
Superboy could be a hinderance or and advantage to her come back. He'd be keeping a close eye on her from now on; X didn't know what her next step was but she was sure as hell going to use his savior complex to keep others from poking and prodding her too much. If X wasn't mistaken there was a mind reader on the team, a green skinned woman that went by Miss Martian, she is her biggest obstacle yet to be faced. If X can not find a way to block the mind readers attempts at peering into her mind, or altering her own memories when the time came; X's own alias may be uncovered, and then she could never live a semi normal life.
X refused to life that way the rest of her life, she wanted to fulfill Dr. Vallen's dying wish, she had to really try to let go of the toxic vengeance that coursed through her veins. A large part of X, the blood tainted side of her, despised Lex Luthor, the man that payed to order her creation, and had been looking to weaponize her. She wanted him dead at her hands, to cool the burning fire in her chest, but she needed time to recover, improve, and build an identity, before going after him.
"...We're going to leave now, is it alright if I lift you now?"
Superboy's question brought X out of her vengeful thoughts. Feigning timidness X nodded and clutched the itchy blanket closer to her.
Superboy could feel heat rising up to his neck and reaching the tips of his ears. Knowing that one wrong move may expose her bare skin, flustered the man to no end, and it didn't help that she was absolutely breathtaking under the moon. He gently shook away his indecent thoughts and carefully lifted her onto Wolf, being sure to keep his eyes closed until she was situated.
Wonder girl walked towards the trio with silent wonder as she took in the smaller woman sat atop Wolf, she took note of her pale skin and lightly rosey cheeks from the cold that flushed just below her sea green eyes, not to mention her raging red hair that was messy, wet and singed in several places. She looked like she'd walked through hell and only barely felt the flames. She was powerful and this, along with the mystery of her survival left her stomach tied in knots.
As she spoke with Nightwing she mentioned her concerns and suspicions, mentioning Superboy and Wolf's odd behavior, and the ever growing unsettling feeling she got from the woman. Nightwing assured her that they would question her once they got somewhere safe, and more importantly talk to their fellow teammate to get his side of the story.
"Hey, Nightwing told me he's heading back and to meet him there. We should get moving, I've had a bad feeling since Nightwing and I started looking for you."
"Okay, we're ready when you are", Superboy replied before taking a glance back at the mysterious woman. He gave her a small smile hoping to reassure her.
She only shivered in return, remind him of the state she was in. Sopping wet, cold, and surely injured from escaping. Wonder girl took off in light jog back towards, what used to be, Cadmus labs with Wolf and Superboy following there after.
••••••••••
Back at Cadmus, Nightwing made his was through the rubble now only steaming, the last few fires having been put out for a while now. Seeing all of the destruction up close and in person weighed in his chest at the thought of all the people that didn't make it out; all except one small woman.
Nightwing couldn't help but be on edge, how could someone so small and seemingly, from what Wonder girl said, timid have made it out alive. Wonder girls added concerns towards Superboys change in characteristics brought cause for concerns. The last time he had heard of Superboy letting us guard down and being approachable was when he was with Miss Martian. It didn't make his growning concerns lessen the more and more he wondered what her abilities were.
Could she possibly be have the power to compel someone, maybe a mind reader like Miss Martian, or perhaps trained in mystic arts like Zatanna. She was a mystery, and he hoped that she could be helped and become apart of the team like they had done with Superboy years ago, but he had to be prepared for the worst.
As Nightwing made his way up into the ship he took notice of Miss Martian sitting crowded by the younger members on there mission. She looked dazed, frightened and pale; a thin layer of sweat coated her green skin. Blue was quick to get up and meet Nightwing half way, "Nightwing we don't know what's going on, Miss Martian just burst out in hysterics. Beast thinks it because she was getting too heated, but it's been like an hour and she's not responding to us anymore"
It was evident in Blue Beetles tone that he was very concerned with the state of her health.
"Have you given her anything to drink?"
"We've tried but she just curls in on herself. We don't know what to do"
Nightwing was in disbelief but made his was towards Miss Martian with caution, and crouched down to meet her dazed gaze.
"M'gann, what's going on?"
"I can't help you unless you talk to me", she made no movements; just continued to stare through Nightwing.
"M'gann please... did you heard something... See something..?"
Her gaze flickered and she began shaking gently burning tears filling her eyes. Nightwing's gaze locked with hers.
"M'gann did you see something..."
Silence hung in the air as the boys waited in anticipation for any form a sign from Miss Martian. Tears spilled from her eyes as Miss Martian nodded shortly and clean clenched her eyes willing away glimpses of what she'd seen.
"Beast, Blue, take Miss Martian to the back of ship and try to calm her down. Impulse, head out to the woods and find Superboy and Wonder girl, get them to pick up the pace, we've been here long enough."
The boys nodded, Beastboy and Blue Beetle moved to help Miss Martian, and Impulse sped off in search of the rest of their team. The weight previously in his chest sank down to his stomach; what could Miss Martian have seen to cause her to react in hysterics. He'd have to wait until they got back to HQ to properly speak with members of the league and most importantly Martian Manhunter. Nighting hoped to gain some clarity on what exactly was going on, and he had a hunch that this survivor may have something to do with it...
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