BETA — A specific step-by-step description of a climb or a sequence. This is information provided from a guide book or a fellow climber.

CHAPTER ONE

SUNSET bled through the evening sky when Coach Wymack dismissed the team from the day's training. By the time JJ shoved all her climbing gear into her black duffel bag and made it out of the perfume-fogged locker room alone, not stopping on her warpath through the rush-hour congested streets of Gotham packed by the sea of pedestrians, cutting through the unrelenting crowd with her elbows knocking into ribs without much ceremony, she was not only running late, but agitated enough to slam her elbow into the next suit-clad asshole who told her to watch where she was going. Of course, it was important to preface this by noting that her annoyance had not been borne of the evening's commute on foot back home.

The house that built JJ was not made of an oppressive darkness but a darkness blotting out everything, closing in on the inextinguishable light at the end that was rock climbing. Tunnel vision kept her focus knife-bright and sharp where she wanted it to be. It took a lot to rattle self-made girls reinforced by iron and will like JJ, especially when she so easily compartmentalised everything in her life into two boxes marked "things that didn't matter" and "rock climbing". She hadn't even been that shaken by her fall from El Capitan. Though she supposed she could chalk that down to the new development in her acquired skillset. Or the automatic mechanism of emotional and psychological repression she turned to like a favourite sweater. Nothing really got under her skin.

But as she was hurrying home, barely dodging the tide on the crosswalk, JJ couldn't help the irritation prickling her veins, a slow inferno working through her blood that hadn't worn off since she'd left the bouldering gym at Gotham Academy—the only facility in the school that hadn't been closed for the summer. Tears didn't become JJ, purely because she wasn't a crier like Olivia or a wallower like most other people. And yet, she couldn't quite understand why, as she crushed a corner of the permission slip for a 2 month long training camp to prepare for the upcoming competitions in the fall climbing season in a tightly curled fist, the sheer ignorance and incompetence of her teammates got to her like this.

Locker room gossip was a circle of girls who'd just gotten out of the shower stalls wrapped in their towels and were performing the hour-long ritual of drying their hair and getting changed into clean attire. Although the hour spent locked in that trading port of exchanged secrets was less productive and more debate on which boy had gotten cuter over the summer, or which couple had broken up, or which person was cheating on who, or which unfortunate soul had managed to squeeze their way into the Bitching Blacklist. JJ's lack of interest in entertaining her teammates hadn't granted her a rite of passage in clinching a spot on the gossip committee's board. They all knew she was the best, but they also knew she didn't want to talk about Jessica's new foreign-exchange boyfriend or Keith Walker's male entitlement despite his ugly teeth, which meant she wasn't going to sit with them during lunch or interact outside of training. That being said, they always fell silent each time she walked past, which meant, she'd somehow made it onto the blacklist.

Usually, she'd cruise past without giving them the time of day, mostly because she'd be the first one in and out of the showers after Wymack had threatened to put his foot through their faces if they tried to stay past training hours. This time, however, JJ had caught Coach on his way back to his office to talk about El Capitan, which meant that the gossip circle would've already been in session by the time she walked into the locker room, and one the girls would've been halfway through bitching about someone to her captive audience by the time JJ was out and changing up.

"—Your upper body strength is embarrassing, just commit and go," Clio had said, in a cheap imitation of JJ's instruction earlier during their bouldering session, and JJ had tensed for a split second while shoving her feet into a clean pair of socks. The girls snickered, and Clio continued her bit, "like, she's good and all, and I respect that she's, like, Coach's pride and joy or whatever, but, it's like... this isn't the Olympics, y'know? Fucking chill out."

"Fucking amen," Jamie said, exasperation tinging her tone. "Did you see how condescending she was to me and Lily today?"

"I wish she'd just commit and go," Lily grunted. "I mean, what's wrong with my speed climbing time? Eleven point three is fine. It's probably the average, isn't it? I swear Coach just compares my timing to hers just to spite me."

"God, you know what she said to me last week? She said that I'd be lucky to even be considered passable for semi-finals by my standard," Georgia scoffed. "Who the fuck does she think she is? And, seriously? I'm just in this for fun? It's not like everyone has to be aiming for the professional-level stuff, y'know?"

"Someone needs to take that stick out of her goddamn ass," Kayla added, snickering. The others joined in.

It didn't seem like they knew she could hear every word they were saying. A wall of lockers separated JJ from the circle, so they couldn't see her on the other side, but they had to have noticed that the shower had been silent for a considerable amount of time. Perhaps they were as stupid as she'd thought. All she'd done was point out that they weren't measuring up to competition standard if they kept settling for fine, for average. Though, to JJ's ceaseless consternation, as they bail on challenging bouldering routes and laugh off their humiliating speed timings and their many accidental slips while lead climbing, they will keep clinging to average. And they will forever be the object of her criticism. No person wants to see their team fail, and yet, here the Gotham Academy representatives are, without discipline and constantly falling short of the expectations she had for a supposedly strong team.

As she'd breezed past them, a storm gathering under her skin, something ached in her chest, and JJ rubbed at it, wondering if she pulled a muscle during training.

And then there had been the unrelenting brusqueness of the rush-hour crowd on the way home, the hellish wave of people that wouldn't stop shoving in the opposite direction to where she was headed, the unending assault of elbows bruising her ribs and unforgiving shoulders clipping against her broad shoulders and steaming coffee sloshing around precariously in styrofoam cups threatening to spit its contents onto her, which had done nothing to improve her mood except worsen it.

When JJ finally let herself into the apartment and let the door slam shut behind her, a loud crash coming from the kitchen. As she was taking off her shoes by the doorway, Olivia came running at her like a hurricane from the kitchen in a cloud of flour, and before JJ could dive out of the way, Olivia had clamped a hand over JJ's mouth, popping a halved pastry onto her tongue, and demanded, "chew."

Rolling her eyes, JJ complied, knowing that fighting Olivia, while she was in her baking frenzy, would be futile. That, and the fruity pastry in her mouth was really not bad at all.

Normal siblings would greet each other by politely ignoring one another even though they were in the same room. But Olivia chose to greet JJ—who would be coming home exhausted from the day's training session, just wanting to collapse on her bed and nap for eight uninterrupted hours—by lunging at her like some unhinged woman, extra arms outstretched and ready to catch hold of JJ, who was helpless anyway since her arms were spent and devoid of fight, and shoving some freshly baked and cooled pastry into her mouth. To say that this happened everyday wouldn't be a lie at all. Still, no matter how many times it happened, and always in such a predictable pattern, too, JJ had always hated these spontaneous attacks, and hadn't grown accustomed to being used as Olivia's taste-test guinea pig.

But she didn't hate whatever was in her mouth.

"It's good," JJ said, through a mouthful of cream and fruit and buttery crust, no longer glaring. Though the feel of Olivia's six extra arms pinning her own set of two against her sides felt like she'd been bound in compression tape.

Eyes narrowing sharply, Olivia growled, exasperation flashing across her features. All eight hands shook JJ vigourously. Where Olivia lacked physical strength, she made up for with tenacity. JJ's head spun when Olivia drew them both eye-to-eye just to cut her point across. "You always say that. Don't you have tastebuds? Tell me if it's too sweet or too bland or if the fruit is too over-powering! Give me real criticism!"

Swallowing, JJ rolled her eyes again. "And I'm telling you, it's bakery ready."

Olivia released JJ with a warbling sound of frustration in the back of her throat. "I need to make eighty of these by tomorrow for some lady's wedding. None of the ones I've made are right!"

With how much Olivia baked and tasted and baked and tasted and scorned exercise, the real wonder was how she stayed so thin. Though JJ supposed, running a semi-successful bakery singlehandedly (even with the help of all of Olivia's extra hands) kept her older sister in shape.

"That's your problem," JJ deadpanned, rubbing her arms where Olivia's fingers left flour prints on the sleeve of her hoodie. "You're making me even later for training."

"Yeah, yeah," Olivia said, with a derisive wave of her hand, already turning back to the kitchen, cracking all eight of her knuckles simultaneously, ready to get back to work. "Dinah's waiting for you. Don't kill each other, or whatever."

Ever since she'd moved in, Dinah had done wonders for renovation in their little apartment above the bakery. Before it'd been an apartment, the place used to be a ballet studio until it was bought over and remodelled by JJ's grandmother, who, decades later, left the place to Olivia and JJ in her will before she'd passed away, four months after their parents were killed in the explosion. Dinah wasn't an interior designer, but she had better sense of organisation and object placement than Olivia or JJ. Neither had much motivation to change anything about their lives, especially after the deaths of their parents. The first major change Dinah had made was to turn their guest room into a training room. It was big enough to lay out a sparring area, the same size as a boxing ring, in one half of the room, along with some gym equipment in the other. Dinah had reinforced the walls too, just to minimise the damage done when practicing with JJ's newfound abilities, as well as soundproofed them.

JJ set her duffel bag of climbing gear by her bedroom door. Since she'd already changed into a pair of leggings and a dry-fit tank top back at school, JJ merely shucked off her hoodie and dumped it on the ground beside her bag. The moment she walked into the makeshift gym, she spotted Dinah by the punching bag, pounding her fists and knees into it in powerful motions, moving around as though she were fighting a real opponent. With every killing blow and reorientation of her body, her muscles rippled. With every rattle of the chain connecting the bag to the ceiling and every punch or kick that sent the bag lurching vehemently, JJ thought it might break, spilling sand everywhere. When the door shut, Dinah stopped, planting one gloved hand against the bag to stop its violent swaying. Her blonde hair was matted with sweat, and her skin shone with bruises from an earlier League mission. She turned to JJ with a disapproving purse of her lips.

"You're late," Dinah remarked flatly, the sound of the velcro straps of her gloves ripping through the air as she shucked them off and unbound the blue strips of fabric around her wrists and hands.

"Only by a minute," JJ said, stretching out a tight hamstring.

Dinah shook her head. "If you can be five minutes early for your rock climbing training sessions, you can be five minutes early to combat training. Do you or don't you want to learn how to control your powers?"

Clenching her jaw, JJ didn't answer as she crossed over to the training mats, and Dinah followed.

"Combat stance, Julien," Dinah barked, falling into an offensive stance. While she was a fair judge of moral character, she wasn't a forgiving teacher, and JJ didn't know if she appreciated that in the moment, when all her muscles were sore from the day's climbing session. 

JJ obeyed immediately, her focus unflagging, watching Dinah's body, waiting for the first sign of movement. Dinah assessed her too, but less for indication that she was about to attack, and more for her form.

JJ lunged first.

Dinah easily sidestepped, clamping an arm over JJ's wrist and arm and twisting her momentum against her, flipping JJ onto her back. JJ hit the ground with a grunt, all the air knocking out of her lungs. White spots danced in her vision, and she lay there for a second, disoriented, fighting to get her bearings. Dinah stood over her, lips moving as she barked more instructions, demanding for her to get back up, but JJ barely heard her as her blood roared in her ears. Frustration surged through her boiling blood. Chest heaving, JJ flipped back onto her feet.

Before she could reorient herself, Dinah's leg soared in an arc towards JJ's head. JJ threw herself out of the way, but didn't have time to react as Dinah threw a back-thrust kick into her solar plexus, knocking her to the ground again. JJ gritted her teeth, a muscle in her jaw ticking. She could easily be one of the country's strongest climbers—hell, the few international competitions she'd been registered for had seen her on the podium a fair amount of times, too—but she couldn't win a fight against an established hero. Deep down, even though she knew climbing was different from combat, it still didn't help the bruises on her ego as she kept getting kicked down, unable to get in a single shot on the formidable Black Canary, who remained untouchable. Though JJ supposed it would be far more insulting than a help if Dinah went easier on her.

"Wait and watch, Julien," Dinah said, as JJ got back up again, slightly shakier from the effort, and resumed her stance. "Wait for your opponent to move, especially if they're a lot stronger than you are. Don't act. React. Strike after they throw their first punch. There is a moment between each blow that allows you a small window to counter. Find that window, and use it to your advantage."

Telling Dinah that it was impossible—especially when JJ, inexperienced and still new to recalibrate her mind to the shock of martial arts, was pitted against an opponent who could take down men thrice her size as a warm-up—to find that window given the very few chances she had to catch her breath wasn't an option. Neither was it in her blood to give up on something just because it wasn't going her way.

Dinah swung, and JJ ducked out of the way, but didn't recover quickly enough to avoid the uppercut that sent her toppling to the ground once more with a ringing in her ears. Blinding agony shot through her face. Her jaw was on fire, ablaze with touch. JJ spat out a vicious curse, slammed her fist against the training mats, and shook her head. Adrenaline coursed through her. Where was that window? Why couldn't she seem to grasp that simple concept? In rock climbing, when their coach gave her the beta on a difficult lead climbing route, she'd been able to replicate it without issue. Why couldn't she follow simple instructions now?

The moment JJ got back to her feet, she barely spotted the flash of silver in Dinah's hand before the knife came soaring at her. JJ didn't have time to dive out of the way. Instinctively, she threw out her quaking arms, lips curled into a snarl. Energy rippled out from her hands, and the pointed tip of the blade bounced off the force-field shimmering around JJ in a white-blue gleam. The shield held for a second longer as Dinah hurled two more knives at it in quick succession. The knives glanced off the gleaming barrier as though it'd struck marble, before clattering to the ground at the same time the shield vanished. JJ let out a relieved breath, all the fight drained out of her. If she tried to hold onto the shield a fraction of a moment longer, she might've collapsed from exertion. Dinah seemed to sense this, too.

"Well done," Dinah said, not even the slightest bit winded, crossing her arms over her chest as she regarded JJ with a satisfied smile, severe features softening a little. She clapped a hand over JJ's shoulder. "Your technique's really improved since the last session. I'm proud of you."

Panting, JJ wiped off the sweat pouring from her forehead with the hem of her tank top. Dinah passed her a water bottle and she drained half of it in greedy gulps. She failed to see how she'd made any progress at all, since she didn't even get the chance to land a hit. Shooting Dinah a dubious look, she scoffed, swiping the back of her her hand over her mouth. "Thanks, Dad."

It's only been a few weeks since she'd discovered her powers. Every chance she got, Dinah had been helping her train, honing her abilities until it wasn't dependent on her life hanging in the balance anymore. JJ still didn't have full control over it, but at least her powers weren't fully hinging on her body's fight or flight response. Before, she'd only been able to create the forcefield shields for seconds at a time, and only when she had been in mortal peril. Now, under Dinah's supervision and gruelling guidance, JJ could project them somewhat at will now, even for a fraction of a moment, even if they took up almost every shred of concentration and strength in her body. Dinah had helped her figure out how to hold onto the forcefields for longer, though they were still weak, unable to sustain her in a real battle with more artillery power. Additionally, the relative stability of size the forcefield was something she couldn't quite get right yet, but that was alright. JJ figured she had time. Plus, she wasn't in a hurry to fight supervillains.

A corner of Dinah's lips twitched in amusement. "Go hit the showers before I make you drop twenty."

With a wry grin, JJ tapped two fingers to her temple and backed out of the room, leaving Dinah shaking her head at her.

By the time JJ emerged from her room, towelling her short hair dry, changed into pajama shorts and an old t-shirt from a previous competition, dinner was on the table, Olivia was seated on Dinah's lap, an arm thrown around Dinah's shoulders while Dinah's hand rested on Olivia's waist, and they were laughing at something JJ had failed to hear. Probably an inside joke. They had lots of those. In JJ's hand, the permission slip had been smoothed out haphazardly, the wrinkles still evident from when she'd accidentally crushed it on the way home. JJ cleared her throat as she approached, hooking the towel over her shoulders

"Hey," Olivia said, unable to shake the grin from her expression, sliding off Dinah's lap as JJ pulled out a chair and slumped into her seat. Over the years, she'd grown accustomed to Olivia and Dinah's casual displays of affection, albeit, that didn't mean it didn't make her feel any less awkward in their presence. Excitement radiated off her as she placed a hand over Dinah's. "Dee tells me you're getting better."

"Faster, too," Dinah added. "She picks up things pretty fast."

JJ shrugged, still in doubt of her progress, considering she'd been knocked flat on her ass thrice. Instead of entertaining the trajectory in which this conversation was about to head in, JJ smoothed out the permission slip over the table, pushing it towards Olivia. "Coach wants this signed by next week."

Olivia lifted a brow. "What's this for?"

Spearing a carrot with her fork, JJ flicked her calloused fingers at Olivia. "Coach signed the team up for some competitions in the fall season. That's for a two-month training program for the rest of the summer break to prepare us for them. I'm going. I won't have much time when school starts again, so this might be the crucial difference between winning and falling off the podium. Same thing as last year."

Olivia exchanged a glance with Dinah. JJ was too busy polishing off her plate to pay attention to their expressions.

Olivia cleared her throat. She eyed the permission slip, lips tugging into a troubled frown. "Well, obviously, you can do whatever you want since this is your summer, after all, but—"

"Will it or won't it interfere with rock climbing?" JJ cut in, pinning Olivia with a cool look.

"Just hear us out," Olivia said, eyes darting furtively to Dinah for support. "Dinah was telling me earlier that the Justice League just formed a covert, junior team of sidekicks to help resolve some crimes that the League doesn't have time for."

"I was thinking that it could really help you learn how to control your powers," Dinah proposed, waving her fork in a gesture of emphasis. "I told Batman to put you down as a potential member on the roster."

JJ blinked, disbelief crossing her expression. "You want me to miss the training program—which, by the way, is very crucial to my chances at getting to the finals this climbing season since I'm competing against top athletes across the country—and waste the rest of my summer on some... Junior Justice League club, which might help me with powers I have hardly any use for?" 

"Your powers could be used for good, Jules," Olivia said, lightly, a glimmer of sadness tinging her voice. Like their parents, they were destined for great things. But the difference between most of the kids with superhero parents was that they weren't expected to carry on the legacy. From the get-go, their parents had always believed that whether their efforts were focused on their own lives or in bettering the lives of others, it didn't matter what they did as long as their morals were set straight, and that all they did, they did for good. While Olivia had chosen to fulfil their grandmother's wishes of seeing the bakery flourish, JJ had chosen to dedicate her life to rock climbing. That part wasn't going to change, granted superpowers or not.

"I'm not interested." JJ snapped, jabbing a finger at Olivia. "And don't be such a hypocrite. You chose civilian life. Why can't I do the same? Not everyone with powers has to partake in saving the world or destroying it. Ever thought of that?"

Maybe Mom and Dad might've lived if they weren't running around trying to save everyone, the angrier part of JJ thought.

Olivia sighed. "Jules, you know why I couldn't do the whole superhero shtick."

For a flash of a moment, guilt was a slow poison working its way through her veins. After their parents had died in the explosion, Olivia was officially JJ's guardian. Even with her powers, she couldn't risk any life-threatening situations. Not if she wanted to give JJ some sense of a stable home—or, at least, as stable as two orphans could salvage from what survived in their shipwrecked family. Olivia took over their grandmother's bakery, which had been left to her in the will after their grandmother passed, a couple months before their parents died, went to baking classes whenever she had the time between college and taking care of JJ. 

"And, y'know," Olivia added, "you could use some friends. Maybe you won't talk to me about Mom and Dad or the fall—or anything, really—but maybe you'll talk to them. Some of them might be able to relate to you better than I can."

But JJ didn't want to talk. There were things that were better unsaid. Things better left buried. Digging them up might cause an avalanche JJ didn't have the time or the headspace—especially with competitions coming up soon—to deal with. Talking might be Olivia's style, might've helped her through everything that they've been through, but JJ needed every ounce of her focus.

JJ narrowed her eyes. "I don't need friends."

But there was a small, betraying twinge in her chest that said otherwise. Truth was, even though she'd been strictly independent her whole life, especially after her parents' death, JJ was lonely. Most people learned quickly that she was a fractured isolationist and rock climbing has always been her focal point, the only thing she ever needed. Her literal rock, some would say. Nothing else. The most company she kept was her climbing team. Granted, the team wasn't made of people who liked her as much as admired her work ethic. She couldn't even call them acquaintances when they kept calling her a coldblooded psychopath behind her back in the locker room.

Perhaps it was her fault that she'd never established any close friendships with anyone, especially her teammates, who'd extended efforts before they knew the only time she'd ever speak to them would be to critique them. Despite how much she couldn't stand her team's persistent and pervasive laziness and evident lack of potential, she did want them to like her. She'd wanted to be friends. She did give a shit whether they liked her or not. That's why she gave them such a hard time during training. She wanted the success for them just as much as she wanted success for herself. They were her competitors, but they were also representatives of Gotham Academy during their individual competitions. It was their problem that they couldn't see it that way.

But not letting anyone close, letting people know they weren't good enough by her standards, meant that they wouldn't try too hard to get to know her beyond her role as JJ the mean orphan, the arrogant athlete. Some part of JJ feared there might not be anything else of substance beneath that granite facade after all.

Dinah hummed. "Don't you? You know, these kids might be up to your speed. Having this commitment could be beneficial to you."

Truth was, as much as JJ denied it, a tiny fragment buried deep down inside her did want friends. Maybe, just maybe, this time, she had a chance to start over with people who didn't only know her as the callous bitch who would never be content with any other level of effort apart from her own.

JJ huffed, unwilling to admit that they were right. "Fine. I'll join the stupid team. But I still want to be able to make the training sessions on Tuesdays, Thursdays and the weekends starting next week. I don't care if there's a mission, or whatever. Those are my terms."

Olivia's expression lit up.

Dinah nodded in approval.

Procuring a pen from her pocket, Olivia signed the form. "Deal. I'll email your coach."

JJ gave her a skeptical look.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "I'll make something up, okay?"

Around a mouthful of mashed potatoes, JJ shot Dinah a look. "When do I start?"

"When I get you up to speed with your agility training," Dinah said, resting her chin in her palm, eyes narrowed as she examined JJ with critical eyes. "You're already very athletic, and you're a natural problem solver too—more so than most kids your age, dare I say. I guess we have rock climbing to thank for the shape you're in and the special skillset you already acquire outside of your powers. But being fit isn't enough. Your reflexes need to be quicker. Your combat skills need a lot more work, and so do your abilities. You'll be needing that on the field. Good news is, I told Batman you'd come in whenever you're ready."

"And when will that be?"

Dinah levelled her with a knowing look.

"That part is all up to you."

AUTHOR'S NOTE.
hello!!!!!!! we meet the YJ team next chapter!!!!! but leave your thoughts about this one please ☺️ feedback (especially constructive criticism) is very much appreciated and welcome!!!!