I don't own anything except my original/own characters and my original plot.

⚡️

Chapter 3- Advice

⚡️

I SHOT UP LIKE A BULLET. A scream was lodged in my throat, cutting off my breathing. I took in a few breaths, swinging my feet over the edge of the bed. As soon as my toes touched the carpet snaky tendrils made their way up my ankles and to my calves.

"I'm okay. Calm down," I whispered to myself. The shadows didn't stop their ascent up my body. The ground beneath me was coming to life, "Stop...Please."

I pulled my feet up and pressed my knees against my chest, trying in vain to escape the silky coils of shadows climbing my body. My mind travelled to my nightmare, to the sharp and never ending darkness that swallowed me whole. I assured myself that this was different. This was my refuge. The shadows weren't attacking me; it was protecting me, subconsciously moving towards their master.

I lied back in my bed once again, steadying my breathing. The shadows overcame my entire body, covering up the fabric of my pajamas with glossy armor. I reached down and ran my hand over the area of my thigh. Normal people couldn't touch shadows unless I helped them. Normal people never even noticed shadows. No one knew that they felt like silk and sand, like you could pick some up and wear it as a scarf, and have grains fall through your fingers at the same time.

"Thank you," I mumbled. The tendrils untangled themselves from my body and returned to the corners of my room.

I stayed like that for a while, stroking the shadows surrounding me to become familiar with them once again. The feeling of dread while looking at the darkness ahead of me was fading, and in its place was the familiar warmth of content.

"(Y/n)!"

I heard the metal hum of the front door, and loud footsteps. Within seconds the door to my room flew open, revealing a panting Lex. He rushed over pulling me into an embrace.

"Your vitals spiked. I got here as soon as I could," he breathed out.

"How did you know my vitals spiked?" I questioned, pulling back.

"I- SASS scanned you and notified me," he blurted.

I let out a small 'huh', moving my legs, so I was sitting criss-cross. Something about it irked me. Why was he having SASS track my vitals? I had visits to doctors sworn to secrecy once every year, and my tests always came back fine.

Lex noticed my discomfort and walked over to my dresser to grab the music box that sat on top. It was sleek and new looking, but in reality it was made late in 1997 for Lex's mother. Now it was mine. It was the width and height of my hand, round and encrusted with pearls along the rim. The silver keyhole contrasted the deep blue outside in the center.

"Where's the key?"

I reached over to the nightstand, picking up and holding out the old key necklace. Lex took it from me and inserted the key, twisting it. I could hear the gears click clicking from the inside. As the first gentle notes played through, I hummed the familiar tune to myself.

Once Upon a December from the first Anastasia movie. Old, relatively unknown, but calming and beautiful.

"Once upon a December someone holds me safe and warm. Horses prance through a silver storm, figures dancing gracefully across my memory..."

As I dozed off, I stopped singing. Lex pulled me closer. If I had never been given up, left in that alley, is this what life would be like? Perhaps it would be entirely different. I would attend high school. I would have dated someone at this point. My parents would be warm and assure me that my powers didn't make me dangerous.

I shook my head, pulling up my comforter. I wouldn't think about what could have been. This was. I had my family, and I wouldn't trade them for that normal life with a mom and a dad with blurry faces.

As my eyes became even heavier, I laid back against the pillows behind me. Though my consciousness was quickly fading, I could have sworn I heard Lex whisper.

"You'll be ready soon. You'll help us all. I know you will."

~*~

I woke up the next morning and Lex was gone. He had stopped back home to get ready for work and was above me most likely. I shoved my face into my pillows, groaning loudly. It was Monday; I hated Mondays more than anything. My life may have been different compared to the average teen's, but there were similarities that would never change.

"What's the schedule today SASS?" I sighed defeatedly.

"Half an hour of critical thinking, forty-five minutes of each subject- taught by me today, and two hours of training in the sim room."

Sighing again at the long schedule laid out before me, I rolled out of bed. I went to my closet and pulled on some casual clothes. I stopped in the kitchen for a quick breakfast before I took the long hallway to my classroom for critical thinking. It was one of the hardest classes I had, but it was meant to challenge my mind so it made sense.

I sat down at the single desk in my classroom, a notebook and pencil ready and waiting on a fresh page. A projector dropped from the ceiling, projecting images onto the screen in front of me.

"There's a man in a train station who's lost his ticket. There are one hundred and twenty-six people on the platform with him. There are nine separate tracks, five going south, four north. Over the next forty-five minutes twenty-four trains will come and go. At least seven people will board each train, never more than twenty-two. At least ten passengers get on, never more than eighteen..."

SASS continued to explain the long question as I wrote it out in a notebook. When she finished, I worked out a few equations on the paper. When I finished, I tapped my pencil against the desk a few times before giving my answer

"We don't know," I stated, grinning proudly, "We don't know if the man ever found his ticket or if he was travelling with anyone. Without those factors we can't come to a concrete conclusion, only estimate."

The room filled with silence. I stared up at the ceiling until SASS answered.

"You are correct."

~*~

I had finished all of my core classes for the day, thank goodness. After my schooling ended I changed into exercise clothes and moved into the simulator room. The room projected realistic holograms of different heroes, mimicking their general styles so I could learn how to fight.

I had just knocked down Batman and swung around to face who was next. Never would I have thought that Wally would face me as if the computer knew what was happening between us. I dropped my hands and allowed the sim to run harmlessly through me, disappearing in a shower of pixels.

"Simulation failed." The deep, threatening voice of the computer startled me. I had never heard that before.

"Miss (Y/n), are you alright? You've never failed a training simulation before," SASS spoke up, pointing out the obvious.

"I'm fine. I... I saw Wally and tensed up. What if we were really fighting? I know heroes can be hypocritical and can do more harm than good, but Wally has been nothing but amazing... SASS, please don't tell anyone."

"I shall not. But I feel obligated to inform you that your attachment to that boy is highly inadvisable. If Mr. Luthor were to find out, the consequences would be severe for the both of you."

"That's why he won't find out," I wiped my face and neck with a towel, chugging some water, "He's my only real link to the outside world. I know I've never really wanted to leave before, and that taking over Lex Corp in two years wasn't something I was excited about, but now..."

"You can't, Miss (Y/n). You must remain down here where you are safe until you are eighteen. I will advise you to end your relationship with Kid Flash before it 'blows up' as people say."

"Understood. But this is something I won't listen to you about. I'm not going to stop seeing Wally, not when there's still so much I can learn about him."

"Your heart rate is rising. I believe that you are either ill, or you have a high affection for Kid Flash. This is worse than I calculated."

"I can't help it. He's my first real, non-villain friend," I shrugged off her words, pressing a hand against my chest to see for myself. Surely enough, my heart was racing, "I won't do anything romantic about what this is if that makes you feel better."

"Very little, Miss (Y/n). Very little."

~*~

Tuesday had finally arrived. While I was excited to see Harley, I also saw Tuesday as the last great barrier before I could see Wally again.

I had just finished eating breakfast and was in the process of washing the dishes when the front door slid open and a blonde-haired blur tackled me to the ground.

"Hey Harley," I wheezed, ribs digging into my lungs.

"Look at you Darlin'," She grinned, her accent momentarily slipping away. She put a hand on my cheek, smiling sadly.

"Look at you," I motioned to her in an attempt to cheer her up, "You look amazing!"

"You're growing up so fast. I don't know what to do with myself," Harley continued.

"Right... About growing up Har, can we talk about-" I cut myself off, hesitating. Did I really want to ask her about this? It's not like I had a choice, "Boys?"

"Oh!" Harley squealed, jumping up and down, "Have you found a few handsome ones on that phone of yours? Have you seen Tom Hiddleston? Woo!"

"Yes Har, you basically forced me to watch every Marvel movie ever made."

"Right," Harley looked into the distance, sighing dreamily.

"Anyway," I prompted, changing the subject, "I'm just curious about all of that. Dating and whatnot."

"What do you want to know?"

"How do you talk to them?" I asked the simplest question I had. Sure, Wally and I weren't awkward around each other in the slightest. We could talk, he was a guy, and I wanted to know if I should have been handling our conversations differently.

"Well, men are a different species. They're driven on instinct," Harley brought me over to the living room, pushing me down onto the couch.

"Okay..." My skepticism showed through my tone.

"To talk to one you have to be yourself, but not yourself. Make sense?"

"No."

"Look Darlin', you can laugh at their jokes and look pretty, but if the man don't like you for you, sack 'em. That's what I did with Mistah J and I'm happy! There's a difference between flirting and changing yourself. Be sure to feed their ego but don't start the fire."

All of my critical thinking classes combined didn't compare to how confused I was in that moment, but I nodded all the same.

"What would I wear?"

Harley pulled me off of the couch again, skipping into my room and to my closet. She pushed around the clothes inside for a moment before pulling out- lo-and-behold- the outfit Ivy got me yesterday.

"I'd wear this. But of course this whole conversation is rhetorical. Right?"

"Yeah," I blurted. I hated having to lie to Harley, but how could I tell her that the guy I was asking about was a hero? The villains seemed to hate the junior league more than they hated the Justice League themselves.

"Good! Cause if you were seeing an actual boy I'd have to show him my hammer!"

"Okay Har," I laughed off her threat.

"Oh, right. So, find his interests and like them too! You need to be sexy, and smart, and-"

"Fifteen," I huffed out, flopping onto my bed. I felt hopeless, "Harley how could an awkward fifteen-year-old do all of that at the same time?"

"You're beautiful (Y/n)," I sat up when she said that. She only ever used my real name when I was being scolded, "You can be all of that and more. But don't be too much, you're still too precious."

"Thanks Harley," I faked a confident smile. Harley whined, leaping forward to squeeze the life out of me in another hug.

I was the anacondas prey in her arms, something to chase and embrace before taking out entirely. Though I knew she would never kill me. 'Taking out' in this sense was disorienting to fit in more than one hug at a time.

"Dress nice, look pretty, laugh at his jokes; You'd do just fine. Now, how about a Disney marathon?"

"I love you!"

"I love you too Darlin'."

Harley and I travelled to the living room again to set everything up. Along with the Disney movies came one or two 'off-brand' Disney movies. Ones that different companies produced ones that had the same feel.

We were halfway through Aladdin when I stopped being all smiles and laughter with Harley. A Whole New World came on, with Jasmine and Aladdin falling in love and Aladdin showing Jasmine the world she never got to see.

My mind wandered to Wally. Was he my Aladdin? Gifting me my freedom before I was allowed it, showing me dreams I never knew I had? All of my curiosities had been stated in the past by fears and contentment, but Wally challenged all of that.

"You alright Darlin'?" Harley picked up on my sudden silence. I shook my head, sending her a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine Har, just thinking about... About my birthday!"

Harley leaned in closer as if she were about to share a life-changing secret, "I hear that Lex is trying to get you a license and a car. He's building you a track right now."

"Happy birthday to me!" I yelled, grinning ear to ear. It was half fake, half content and half yearning. I could drive that car down the countryside, going to prom and homecoming like I heard about in TV shows.

"What do you want for your birthday?"

"To go outside." It slipped out before my mind filtered it. As soon as I realized what I said, my hands flew to my mouth, "I didn't mean that!"

"(Y/n), what's gotten into you?" Harley's tone changed to the same scolding one from before, "I thought you loved it down here. Whenever someone brought up you going up to take up the company in two years, you always seemed so scared, so uninterested."

"I know Har, I wasn't thinking," I winced, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly, "I just, I don't know I'm starting to feel more ready. I can control my powers pretty well and I think being able to see what's really out there would be amazing."

"What's really out there?" Harley crossed her arms over her chest, "What you think we're all lying to you?"

"No, Har, I didn't mean it like that-"

"(Y/n) I understand that you go through curious patches, I understand the longing for something more normal than this, but you aren't ready. There are still more things we need to teach you, more practice you have to go through. You aren't ready."

The ground opened up beneath me and I fell back into that hole from before. I bit the inside of my cheek to hold back my argument. Wasn't ready for what? The chance to adjust and have something real, something normal? I wasn't ready. I had had a nightmare that had activated my powers the other day if something that freaked me out enough happened above there would be no barriers holding me back.

"I understand," I whispered, shrinking down into my seat.

As we continued on with the movie, I was too distracted in my thoughts to really focus on anything further. It was in that moment I made a vow. I would get ready, I would be ready. No matter what happened I would work to make the villains proud and make them see that I could leave. Not then, maybe not the next year, but I would do it.

"Hey," Harley nudged my leg with her foot, "I didn't mean to upset you. I just need you to understand where all of us are coming from. You can't leave, we need you to stay where we can watch you, where we can get you ready."

I nodded, looking back up at the TV as Harley got up to switch to another Disney movie. Something twisted in my gut. I pushed it away, ignoring it. They had taken care of me my entire life, helped me realize how dangerous I was, trained me. None of them would lie to me.

My gut twisted again, harsher this time. I winced, hand going over my stomach. Looking at Harley, I squinted to see the tension in her brow. Why was she so tense? The conversation was over.

For the first time in my life, a seed of doubt had been planted within me concerning the villains.