I don't own anything but original characters and my original plot

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Chapter 5 - Memories

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"IT'S IRONIC HOW OUR HEARTS CAN STILL GET HURT BY SOMETHING WE'VE SEEN COMING."

"We'll enter through the back, seeing as how all the supplies are brought through the front that's likely where the-"

"Where the decoy is waiting," a familiar distorted face popped up on the nearest screen, "The supplies you'll find on the upper levels are completely legal. The real supplies and weapons are in a hidden basement under the building. You can get to that level by pressing elevator buttons two-four-one in that order. Trust me when I say, you'll know it when you see it."

"Helping us again?" Nightwing questioned, hiding his shock. Their mysterious contact had popped up again, on a cave monitor nonetheless. The only places more secure were the League's headquarters and the Batcave.

"Now you know you can trust me from the last time you were ambushed through the front. I hope you'll take what I say seriously this time instead of only sending Kid Flash to check things out. Even if things worked out in your favor, I can't say you'll be as lucky every time you ignore what I advise."

The face disappeared, and the original image of the building blueprints and the outer location was restored.

"Are we following the new orders?" Superboy asked what everything was thinking.

Running a hand over his face, Nightwing sighed. They didn't have much of a choice. Even if they ignored what she said due to the risk of her lulling them into false security, the chance to uncover what the business was really hiding was too good a chance.

"It would be smart if we did. However, still be on your guard, just like last time. Just because she was right about that mission, doesn't mean we should hang on to her every word. She was right last time. M'gann, Superboy, Impulse, Robin, and I will be on this mission to keep it small and organized. The rest of you are dismissed for normal training."

Those going on the mission walked to the bio-ship to take off. The rest of the team bid them good luck and wandered off to the different training areas. Although most of them didn't have training on their mind now that their supervisor was gone. Nightwing and Aqualad were normally the strictest about their training regimens, even if both of them were lenient. The other original team members, however, couldn't care less what the newer members did so long as they didn't blow up the mountain.

Wally sighed upon being dismissed, leaving the debriefing room and walking past the kitchen. Artemis, who was sitting on the couch on her phone, watched her friend pass by with wide eyes.

"He never walks past the kitchen without taking something," she mumbled, rushing to trail her forlorn looking friend.

Wally entered the quarters hall of the cave, passing M'gann's, Superboy's, and the spare ones for the random team member that needed a place to stay here or there. He stopped at the end of the hall, in front of (Y/n)'s.

The door swished open upon sensing him outside. Wally stepped inside, taking everything in. A twisting sense of nostalgia formed in his stomach. It had been untouched for five years, everything covered with a fine layer of dust. The last time anyone had touched something inside was when the league searched it for clues to (Y/n)'s whereabouts.

Wally ran a finger along the spines of the books on the bookshelves. Most of them were classics, with plain, vintage-appearing covers. (Y/n) loved the idea of owning books like that, so with some help from Bruce and the other team members, they filled up her shelf rather quickly.

Walking to the bed, Wally ran his hand over the comforter, coughing when dust sprang off of it. Despite the uncleanliness, it didn't affect Wally's fond memories. He remembered (Y/n) sleeping there, peaceful and content. He remembered sleeping in that same bed on the night of her panic attack.

"Right, okay," Wally knelt in front of (Y/n), grabbing her hand, "The team and I want to throw you a 'birthday' party to help convince you we're more fun than the villains. There'll be a cake, and piñata, and a pin the cape on Superman. Cheesy stuff like that."

Nodding, (Y/n) took in a deep breath. Wally ran his thumb over the back of (Y/n)'s hand. Light appeared in the room again, the shadows dispersing from the walls.

"I promise I'll always be here to help you through this," Wally swore, "You're lucky it's Friday night, or Saturday morning really."

"I'm sorry I woke you up."

"Don't be. I'd do anything for you."

"What happened to us, (Y/n)?" Wally picked up the key necklace on the nightstand. She needed it to play her music box, but she broke the box itself the night she left. That meant she didn't have anything to help with her nightmares. She was alone. Exactly what Wally promised would never happen to her.

"There's still a chance to get her back. She's not as far gone as everyone thinks," Artemis leaned on the doorway, arms crossed. Wally spun around, confused, "When I infiltrated the villains as Tigress and was caught by the villains... it was her who got me out of there."

Eyes wide with shock, Wally returned the necklace to its rightful place on the nightstand, "What? Why didn't you tell the team? Or the league?"

"She asked me not to," Artemis shrugged as if that evidence wouldn't have changed everyone's current view on their former friend, "She got me out, I owed her my life. The least I could do was keep her secret. There's still some good in her Wally, we both know that."

"We sent you in two-and-a-half years ago. She's different now. I've seen her twice since then," Wally sighed before realizing his mistake, "Once. I've only seen her once."

"No, you said you've seen her twice," Artemis pointed her finger accusingly at Wally, "What was the second time, besides the cafe?"

Sighing, Wally knew he was caught. Sitting on the bed, he let out another cough when even more dust flew off, "It was just the two of us in the back and she didn't do anything to hurt me. She got away before I had the chance to detain her."

"She's good at getting people to keep secrets, don't you think?" Artemis smiled fondly, sitting next to Wally, "She's gotten better at things like that."

"She's gotten better at a lot of things," Wally nodded in agreement, thinking of her seductive fighting style. Did she do that to all her targets, or just him? "I just wish she got better at them here."

"Even if there's a chance for her, if there's ever a point where we're fighting against her, you're on the opposite side. You know that, right? She's killed people. We can't just let her continue to do that."

"I know. I've known for years that if we met again we'd have to fight like enemies. Next time, I won't hesitate to capture her... Do you think we can take her back on the team?"

Artemis sighed, shrugging, "It's unlikely. To the public and league eye, she's pretty far gone. I think she could be good again, but I doubt the league will believe it. Maybe if she was the contact, and the league knows she was an inside agent helping us out."

"I don't think it's her. If anyone, it's Harley Quinn."

"Harley Quinn?" Artemis chuckled at the notion, "What makes you think that?"

"She calls (Y/n) 'Darlin'. That's what the contact called (Y/n) the first time they helped us out."

"What do you think she's doing right now?"

"Probably spending time with Klarion," Wally muttered bitterly. It took a long time, but the league put in a lot of hours to figure out why (Y/n) went with Klarion. In the end, it came down to her birth certificate. Well hidden, near impossible to track down. But the name for the father was Klarion Chaos. Klarion. Chaos. Easy to put together from there, "Father-Daughter bonding time, right?"

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"Use his pain against him!" Father ordered walking circles around the tables in the room.

I moved my hand in front of me, over a bleeding, crying man. Red energy shot out and struck the man's stomach. The victim groaned, convulsing. Swallowing, I averted my eyes from the scene. Killing was one thing, but torture was a different realm altogether. One I dealt with in conditioning.

For the past three hours, I had been inflicting pain on the man. I had no idea who he was, where he came from, or what led up to him being such an unlucky victim of my father's lessons on how to be a proper demon. All I knew, is that as soon as I walked in, I wanted to leave the compound and never return.

If Father chose to teach me about torture two years before that date, I would have been more than willing to do it. But, it was too late for that. Whatever switch that controlled my humanity had been flicked on. That demon side of me was being eagerly controlled, suppressed just enough to understand what I was doing.

"Good enough for today. Dismissed."

Rushing out of the room, I sprinted down the hall and took two rights before I reached the dorm hall. Stumbling into my room, I passed into the bathroom and dropped to my knees in front of the toilet. Throwing up the cover, I heaved and expelled everything I ate that day from my stomach.

Once it was over, all I was left with was a bitter, acidic taste in my mouth and deep regret. Inflicting that much pain on another person- It was unbearable. I was such a hypocrite, and the thought of who, of what I had become made me dry heave over the porcelain bowl again.

"I just want that switch to flip again," I ran a washcloth over my mouth, "I don't want to feel if this is what it's like."

"Miss. (Y/n), I am programmed to assist you through moral dilemmas like this. No bias towards good or evil. As a machine should remain impartial to such matters. The way I see it, there is no difference between the two. Both of them hold goals, the villains just go farther to reach them."

When I was sure I wouldn't be throwing up or trying to, again, I rinsed out my mouth with mouthwash and collapsed onto my bed. Reaching out, I slid my computer closer to me, pushing it open so I could get to work.

"Villains go brutal. At least, Klarion is more than willing to. The other villains are a bit better. Even the worst ones don't have a thing on my father."

"The question you must ask yourself, Miss, before you go off and make any decisions that will change your life is, how far are you willing to go to get what you want? How violent do you believe you can be? You don't have to be either good or evil, many fall in between. You must simply discover this; what are your morals?"