𝙼𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎, 𝚁𝚑𝚘𝚍𝚎 𝙸𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍
𝚂𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟹𝚛𝚍, 𝟶𝟼:𝟹𝟺 𝙴𝙳𝚃

I'm pissed. Unbelievably pissed off.

As we sat around the table placed in the middle of the main room of Mount Justice, my leg firmly wrapped in bandages and had a once over with burn cream, a glass of water clutched tightly in my hands. I grit my teeth and tried to force out the annoying monotone inflection of my own thoughts. Continuously chattering on in my head about getting 'us' to understand. Using my name, but not calling me, me. Failsafe talked down to me, a human and an alien-like her, so infinite and yet lesser in every way that matters right now.

Complicated. She wants to explain? Justify herself? I'd heard enough. I understand shit. And I can clearly understand the bullshit coming from her.

'Stop, just stop.' I groaned, shifting my injured leg and nursing my ego. 'You don't get to just disappear, Failsafe. You don't get to talk after that. Explain yourself. I've heard enough already. You. Left. Me. '

'At least let us heal the wound.'

'No.'

'But–'

'No.'

"Thanks, but no thanks." Wally kept his head down, leaning on his crossed arms as Green Arrow set down a bowl of pretzels for us. As if that would satisfy the burning pang of betrayal we all felt. Maybe for wildly different reasons though, I doubt they were as angry at Failsafe as me, probably more focused on Treachery Tornado and his surprise siblings. Surprise, really? I sighed, I'm losing my edge...

"Yeah. What we want are answers about Red Tornado and his siblings." Robin urged.

"Exactly!" Wordlessly, Green Arrow went to take the bowl away, not intending to give us anything to work with, but Wally grabbed it, pulling it closer possessively, "Leave the bowl."

I tunned out. Blinking back as Failsafe started talking again.

'(Y/n), apologies, but if we could just explain– It's not as it seems. There was reason, a purpose. A meaning.' I scoffed, furrowing my eyebrows, and tightened my grip on the cup, if I were a bit stronger I could see the thick glass breaking, but for now, I could only imagine it happening. Breaking glass, just like my patience for the alien in my head.

'Don't even try, again.' I snapped, 'you left me, fully well knowing what was going to happen. You planned this, Failsafe! And considering you only see what I see, and I definitely didn't see Red attacking us before it was way too late– you warned me about it. It means you knew!' I went off on her. In my head, I banged my fists on the wall that separates us, one that I never thought was there, but most certainly is.

"Non-linear memory my ass, Failsafe. What's the point of having one if you're not going to protect the things that matter?" I snapped again. "Seriously, you're even worse than Tornado. This isn't the first time you've hidden information from the Team, from me." I emphasized. Throwing my hands around and exhaling heavily.

'I'm sick of it. I'm sick of you! Why can't you, for once, treat me like an equal?! Like the other part of our duo.' I emphasized again, 'If we're one, like you say we are, why, why do you put up so many walls?! I've been open with you, understanding, nothing but patient. And all you do is continue to hurt me. And for what, Failsafe, what? You say you have a mission, a future you want to create, but you're so hypocritical as to say there's no meaning to any of it? Nothing at all? Our friendship. Our partnership? Sharing this body? Taking part of my life?'

"Non-linear what?" Wally's voice cut through my mental spiral, I shot my head up and looked around. Everyone was looking at me. Nuts, had I defaulted to talking aloud, like in the early days? I was upset, but I thought I could at least keep my problems in my head.

"Failsafe possesses a non-linear memory. I thought you all knew..?" Black Canary had a hand on her hip as she stared confused at the teenagers scattered about.

I sighed, "Nope. Just another thing Failsafe failed to share with the rest of us."

"That is so cool." Captain Marvel, Billy, I think –only because I remember Failsafe mentioning it once, god, I don't even know. How much of my life is her, anyway?-- cooed.

"You also failed to tell us about that too, (Y/n)." Robin narrowed his eyes.

"It's not my place to go blabbing people's personal information, Rob."

In the back, Kaldur and Batman continued talking unbothered by our conversation. Superboy didn't seem to be paying attention to anything, but I felt the eyes of my four other teammates, Canary, and Green Arrow squarely on me. I let out a long, tired sigh. Leaning back, I shut my eyes and tried to collect myself, to calm down. But my own thoughts were annoying me now and considering Failsafe's insistence on talking today, it was only making it worse. Having the same voice meant it was excruciatingly awful.

I couldn't escape it either, sleep wouldn't help, she'd simply talk to me in my dreams.

"You knew?!" Superboy yelled, enraged. There was a noise of scuffling, then it was silent for just a moment. My eyes snapped open, and I looked toward the source of the sound. Superboy had shot across the room and grabbed Kaldur by the collar.

"Unh," Kaldur grunted, trying to steady his feet.

"That android and his maniac family nearly killed M'gann." Connor spat at him, not literally, angrily.

"Conner, what are you doing?" Megan flew over, concerned for her friend and more so for her angry pitbull of a boyfriend.

"Kaldur knew we had a traitor among us and said nothing."

"You knew?!" Robin walked over, asking Kaldur accusatorily.

"And didn't tell us?" Wally backed up his shorter friend.

"I sought to protect the team from..." Kaldur tried to explain, but Artemis interrupted him, waving her arm around as she walked toward him.

"Protect us from what? Knowledge that might have saved our lives?"

"You almost died," Connor told Megan, turning the attention back to the thing he was most concerned about.

I sat at the table, loosening my grip on the cup, and turned around as Batman called an end to the argument for now. Tired, I stared at the caped crusader's back, wondering what exactly he wanted this time. I wasn't in the mood for much at the moment, but I suppose a distraction would allow me to clear my head and get rid of the teeth-grinding annoyance for a little while.

I wasn't so much upset at Kaldur, he probably had a good reason for keeping it hidden. He's Kaldur, after all. I've only known him these past few months, but I trust him. I thought we all did, it's why he's leader. He's responsible.

"With Red Tornado missing, the team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors. Captain Marvel has volunteered to take the first shift." He motioned toward the red and gold-capped greek hero.

"I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys." He introduced himself. Is it just me or are there a lot of black-haired, blue-eyed superheroes? Batman, Robin, Captain Marvel, Superman even.

Superboy turned toward Kaldur and whispered a threat in his ear, to which Batman walked over and issued his own warning. "Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League. That makes him a league responsibility. You will leave him to us. I have another assignment for this team."

The holoscreen came up, showcasing a recent Gotham news article. 'Gotham Mayor attacked by Guerilla Gorilla.' I scoffed. Wow. Another one popped up, 'Gorilla trades bananas for bullets.'

How creative.

"Gotham mayor attacked by guerilla gorilla?" Wally scoffed for a different reason, annoyance instead of brief amusement.

'Was this the only thing he could find to distract us?' Connor asked through the mind link. I wondered when Megan hooked us up, I don't remember feeling the slight buzz that happens before our minds connect. Maybe Failsafe had done something about it or blocked it out of consideration. How nice.

"Batman, please, tell me you're not sending us on this joke of a wild ape chase." Robin stepped up, arguing with his mentor. Only for the man to stress his no-joking mentality, which caused the short boy to lower his head. Because Bats was right, he never once joked about the mission.

"I've checked the sources. I've studied the patterns. Mayor Hill's encounter is only the latest in a series of incidents. Aqualad, you and your team will depart for India and check this out." He ordered.

"What about school?" I asked from across the room, the Batman turned to me and narrowed his eyes. I shrugged, "it's still Thursday, you know."

"After class." The black-clad man stressed through clenched teeth. I smiled, helping myself up using the table. "Then I'll be going."

"Ah, ah, ah," Black Canary halted me, coming over and settling me back down on my seat. "Your injured, (Y/n), you can't go to school like this."

I waved her off, "I'll be fine, besides, how would it look if I missed the second day of school?"

'We could heal it, make it look like it never happened.'

'No thanks.'

"You're not going. Get yourself to the medical bay. The rest of you, get ready to go before your late." Green Arrow said, giving me his hand and helping me up, intending to guide me all the way to medical.

Jokes on him, I don't listen to authority very well.
_____________________
𝙶𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚖 𝙰𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚢, 𝙶𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚖 𝙲𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙽𝚈
𝚂𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟹𝚛𝚍, 𝟷𝟹:𝟸𝟺 𝙴𝙳𝚃

"So what's with the mysterious limp?" The redheaded goddess asked, taking a bite of her salad. It wasn't so much a salad as it was three pieces of lettuce and a couple of pieces of vegetables. School lunches were really sad.

'She's onto us.'

'She's concerned.'

'She's smart. We can get rid of it.'

'Not happening. Go away, I don't wanna talk to you right now.'

"Huh?" I said smartly, setting down my fork. Cheese hanging off of it from my– I think it's lasagna, but I'm not too sure. They don't call it lasagna on the menu and there are literal leaves in it. "Oh, yeah, this morning I fell down the stairs and hurt my ankle, I don't think it's sprained or anything, but it kinda still hurts to walk on," I explained to her.

Barbara shrugged, "Oh jeez, that sucks."

I took a bite of one of my apple wedges, "Yup."

Dick chuckled, black hair swaying across his face as he looked from Barbara to me, "Could be worse, y'know. One time I fell off the chandelier and sprained my arm so bad– Ow, hey!" Barbara had elbowed him in the shoulder.

"I know you weren't about to say something graphic while I'm still eating. Were you, Dick?" She threatened him passively. I snickered. She really is perfect, I tell ya.

"Nope, never, not me." Dick held his arms up in surrender, their playfulness with each other was so natural. Meanwhile, he'd been stiff with me all day.

Is he trying not to slip up with the secret identity thing? Or was he mad at me? At Failsafe, for not sharing such a useful asset in her powerset, something apparently not even he knew about?

I hoped it wasn't the last thing, I know Robin prides himself on being a detective, but he shouldn't beat himself up over it. For a while, even I was confused over it. Though I thought he hacked league computers ages ago.

Now that I think about it, Failsafe's never explained jack shit to me. I tried not to show my anger, not to grit my teeth clench my jaw and ball up my fists, charge into the bathroom and start yelling at my alien companion.

I always thought Failsafe was my best friend, someone I could always rely on, but had it really been that way?

The word parasite came to mind, someone had called Failsafe that once, who? All I know is, it was something I'd shrugged off with our relationship because I thought it was mutually beneficial. But maybe that wasn't the case.

Maybe my best friend had been using me all along. And through rose-colored glasses, I had ignored it. Told myself it was fine because she was different, alien. But maybe that wasn't it.

I shook away those thoughts, for later, not the time right now. Not at school.

Barbara nodded, satisfied. I finished off my apple wedges and she took another bite of her, really, could you even call that a salad? Robin played with his food, not really caring for the main dish and instead eating the strawberries off his shortcake.

"Anywho, I can't believe they've actually started teaching us today." I started a new conversation with my female friend. She laughed.

"Well, what do you expect, it is school, after all." She told me.

"It's only the second day though." My eyes trailed down to a silver object coming toward my plate as it swept up and stole two of my strawberries. I snapped my gaze up to the guilty party.

"What the fuck, Richard?"

He stared me straight in the eye, and with confidence backed by ignorance, said, "First come, first serve."

Oh, he's fucking dead.

"You dick!"
_________________
𝙽𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚊
𝚂𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟹𝚛𝚍, 𝟸𝟷:𝟹𝟼 𝙴𝙳𝚃

The bioship dropped us off in the middle of the forest. Robin and Artemis fell out first, on grappling hooks made by the bioship. I played with the sleeve of 'my' hero costume. The simple cropped white jacket over the black turtleneck and ordinary black tights only accentuated by the white shorts really showed how simple it was. Just regular clothes with the initials FS on the chest. Even the combat boots were ordinary. Not the type of outfit you'd expect when facing evil.

She was always, constantly, looking down on others. Looking down on me. How had I not seen that?

The ship came to a halt by the ground, allowing us to walk out of its haul using the organically made bridge.

"All clear. Switch to stealth," Aqualad ordered, quickly stepping out and observing the area. The top part of his outfit, the red shirt, switched to dark gray as he hit the golden symbol on his belt. "And we'll review mission parameters."

"Parameters? We don't need no stinking parameters." Wally shot back, his yellow and red suit turning gray. It seemed that even after going to school the Team's rage hadn't boiled over at all. A headache came on as Failsafe tried to come to the surface, I forcefully shoved her back down. I understand where the Team is coming from.

Any understanding we could've had from the time away from each other went up in smoke the moment they saw Kaldur's face. As for me? I'm just personally pissed at Failsafe, and the incessant nagging hadn't changed anything.

"It's recon. We know what to do." They turned away from the Team, intending to go off alone. This is starting to remind me of our first mission... One where Failsafe consciously let them fight among themselves. Is that what she was doing now? Is this what she wanted?

"Kid, Robin," Kaldur called almost pleading.

"The three of us started this team because the Justice League was keeping secrets from us." The Boy Wonder shot back. Wally stepped up too, putting on his goggles.

"Or did you forget that, like you forgot to tell us about the mole?" With that, the friends ran off to the right of the forest.

"Come on, I'll keep you safe," Connor said rather aggressively as he grabbed Megan by the arm, who easily escaped from his grasp.

She crossed her arms and looked away, and they must've been having a psychic conversation because he replied to her motions befuddled. "I just wanna protect you."

Artemis stepped up, coming to help out her friend, and retorted, "Like Aqualad protected us? I'm not sure your 'protection' or your patronizing is good for our health." She, along with the redheaded martian, walked away without another word.

Defaulting back to anger, he turned his attention to the cause of all the in-fighting. Kaldur, with Captain Marvel behind him, stood without a clue as to what to do. He was still human too, and at the center of all that hate, of course he was at a loss as to what to do.

"Why didn't you stop them? You're supposed to be in charge."

"I am–" Kaldur didn't get the chance to finish, however, as Superboy jumped into the air and bounded off into the woods.

"Um, did I miss the part where you actually said what the plan was?" Captain Marvel asked, sarcastically.

I stood there, awkward, not sure what to do. Was I even part of this Team, or was that just Failsafe too? I don't know anymore. My life has been completely taken over by her for so long, that I had to question if I even had one to begin with.

This whole time, had it just been her? And I had ignored that, like everything else, too? Ran away from everything?

'(Y/n), no, of course not.' The alien tried to comfort me, but I wasn't having it. That headache was coming back. I wanted nothing to do with her right now.

I shook my head and huffed. "(Y/n)--" Kaldur called after me, seemingly having given up on getting his teammates to listen to him, I just told him I'd, "scout south for something," and that was it.

I hobbled down the hill, blinking back the ensuing conversation, argument, me and Failsafe were going to have to have. Something I didn't want to face.

Now that I think about that too, there were a lot of things I didn't want to face.

I grabbed onto a vine and lowered myself onto a tree branch on a lower elevation and looked around. Nothing so far.

'(Y/n), we're– apologies. Please, listen.'

Exhaling heavily, I resigned myself to this. 'This isn't something I can just, forgive, Failsafe. This runs deeper than just,' I tried looking for the right words, but I couldn't find the right ones. Not without making me sound like a hypocrite too.

'It was for the good of the mission. Of the dream that will keep our species alive.'

I scoffed, 'You sound like Batman.'

'Once, we compared ourselves to him. We stated we weren't the same, that there were different ways we go about that mission.'

'I remember.' I scanned the field again, noting that nothing was around. I decided to get up and move, sliding down the trunk of the slanted tree and hobbling down the hill.

'He will do anything for his mission– we, if the specific steps do not fall in place, everything will fall apart, (Y/n), all that we've worked for, will crumble.'

'So? It was worth breaking our promise to do that? Did it, did I, mean nothing?! Less than your stupid, vague, fucking future no one but you knows anything about?! What if it's not the future I want, what we want, what if it's only a future that benefits you?! What if I'm helping you to a future I don't want anything to do with?! I don't know and you're not giving me much of a choice!'

'That was not intended!' Failsafe swore to me, 'it wasn't in our memory, for the body to be damaged in this way. Promise.'

"Stop talking like that." I urged her, stepping forward with my good leg to feel for the ground beside a small river I found. It was muddy but stable.

'It wasn't supposed to go as it did. We just wanted to prove that– that–' Wordless, Failsafe struggled with what she wanted to say. Not like I cared enough to help her. Really, that's all I ever did. If even. Did I ever even help her? Shouldn't she know all the things I taught her already? She never seemed to help me.

"So, then, what was your brilliant plan, Failsafe? Have me burn alive?" I snapped, almost slipping down the muddied ground. Okay, maybe not as stable as I thought.

'No, of course not...'

I leaned over the water, crouching down and letting my hand ripple my reflection. The frown evident on my face became more pronounced, and everything else seemed to muddle.

"I'm just not sure that I can trust you, anymore. Not like before." I mumbled, blinking back tears.

'(Y/n)... We didn't mean to–' Failsafe tried, 'All that was supposed to happen was, we wanted to prove– to ensure—'

"Just spit it out already!" I yelled into the open night sky, forgetting all about our reconnaissance. I just needed to scream, cry, and let all of these overwhelming feelings out. But I can't. Or maybe I won't. I don't know anymore.

In response to my cry was not Failsafe, but something else. A supersized eel came leaping out of the water, tail wagging behind it as it swept at me with, it had legs. It had legs?!

On its neck was an inhibitor collar, from Belle Reve. Its gaping maw filled with razor-sharp teeth as it lunged. I scooted back, trying to get to my feet, only barely managing to miss the monster's attack. But my leg and the muddy terrain weren't helping me get away from the ground-walking reptile.

"I'm so fucked." I muttered as I kicked it, trying to get leverage off it to push myself up.

'(Y/n), please, let us handle it..!'

"Oh, like you handled the red blunders?! I think not!" I grabbed onto a vine and pulled myself up onto a rock formation, trying to avoid the claws of the beast. It scratched the rock and left a deep mark on it.

'Please, we'll die if we don't. We can't handle this injured.'

"And have you erased the evidence of your own failure? No, I don't think so, you don't just get to forget this, Failsafe. This goes beyond breaking our promise though don't misunderstand me it's still, clearly, about that!"

The creature lunged again, its upper body making it up the rocks but with the mud, it was slipping on its hind legs. Still, it snapped its killer jaw at me. I backed up, sliding down when I placed my hand on a bad rock and it dislodged. "Ack!"

'(Y/n)!'

"No!" I yelled, kicking the thing in the jaw again. It backed up, jumping on its mutated legs and flying into the air. It was going to pounce directly on top of me.

'Please.'

'You broke your promise. Why should I keep up mine?' I punched the underside of the creature, only barely moving it away from me. Landing beside me, it snarled.

'(Y/n)...' the reflection of my own voice actually almost fooled me into thinking she was sorrowful. Actually apologetic.

'I thought our friendship mattered, meant something to you despite everything. I guess I was wrong, and you know what Failsafe, I ignored it all this time because it meant something to me.' I emphasized. "Well, you know what? It doesn't anymore. I hate you, Failsafe!"

I cried out into the silent night, cold air contrasting against my hot face as tears streamed down my face.

'Sorry!' Though inside my mind, and thus couldn't have actually raised her, my, our, voice, the message was clear.

My breath hitched, and in just a moment. Control of my body willingly slipped out of my grasp, to her, to Failsafe.
______________________
𝙽𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚗 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚊
𝚂𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟹𝚛𝚍, 𝟸𝟸:𝟶𝟻 𝙴𝙳𝚃

Overpowering such a weak creature wasn't hard. Simply levitating it off the ground, away from its natural waterborne and mutated ground advantages was enough. We broke the collar, and the creature should have lost all malice toward us, but it didn't.

As we dropped it to the ground, to return to the river in which it came from, it lunged again, and in first instinct we found ourselves kicking it, with our dominant leg. The injured leg.

'No!' (Y/n) cried as the leg healed, trying to cancel out its effects.

The backlash from conflicting forces made us flinch. As the creature hit a tree and fell unconscious, we shook. Control of our body rocked back and forth until we settled.

And we did, we remained in charge.

'No.' We stressed. 'We are going to talk, listen and talk.'

'I have nothing to say to you. Not anymore.' A wave of crippling sadness washed over us, so much so our legs gave way and we dropped down onto the rocks. Anger seeped out of our veins, forgotten and left to the world.

"Something tells us that statement is wrong." We mumbled out into the humid air, despite the cold it felt like everything was sticking to us. All these conflicting emotions made us chuckle in a desperate attempt to lift this heaviness, but it didn't work.

There was a tug at our control, and something told us this time was different than last. So we let go.
____________________
𝙽𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚗 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚊
𝚂𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟹𝚛𝚍, 𝟸𝟸:𝟶𝟻 𝙴𝙳𝚃

Rolling up my pants and looking at my leg, I found that the injury was healed, but not completely. The burned skin had been scarred over, smooth and pink now. I brushed my hand over it, it was sensitive, delicate, but that was the only indication something was amiss. That this wasn't just an old wound.

I felt a numbness overcome me, all the anger and sadness coursing through me gave way to something even more powerful. I was tired. So, so tired.

I just wanted to go home.

'We can heal it completely. Or return it to how it was. If that's what we truly want. We're very, very sorry, (Y/n).'

"...I'm just sick of it. Of all the hiding. Of the lies and half-truths. The blatant disrespect for me and my intelligence, Failsafe. I'm not stupid, ignorant definitely, but not stupid. I know when somethings wrong." A sigh escaped me, and I lazily lifted my head to the night sky.

'Sorry. We truly are.'

"Are you?"

'...It wasn't supposed to end as it did. Our memory was clear. The flood that took Robin should have taken us as well, faking unconsciousness and holding our breath until the time was right. Then distracting them when Artemis fired her shot. No harm should have been dealt.'

"But it was."

'And we're sorry for that.'

"No, Failsafe. You're sorry. I have nothing to be apologetic for." I stressed to her, feeling something build back up in me.

'We don't understand.'

"No. You don't understand, Failsafe. The truth you have to accept is, that, we're not the same. We're not Failsafe, you are. I'm just (Y/n)."

'No, we're Failsafe, together.'

I shook my head, "We're not the same, though."

"But we are."

Water built up in my eyes and I blinked back the flood. "No, we're not."

It seemed to take her a second to comprehend what I was saying because there was a long, long moment of silence.

"I just want you to talk to me." I told her, "I want to be open with you too, I want us to be friends. Real, true friends." I hoped this would comfort her, my best friend.

'...(Y/n).'

"Yeah?"

Involuntarily, I inhaled deeply. I knew it was her, I knew she needed it. So I took in another one, exhaling everything.

'I'm sorry.'

The two words were such a shock to my system, that I wasn't sure if they'd actually been said– thought, at all.

"Wha– What?"

'I'm sorry I broke our promise. It means a lot, to both of us. I want you to know that.' The thought was stiff, unnatural, almost robotic, but when she was using 'we' it flowed much better until she corrected herself. In any case, she was trying, and I had to give her that.

I wiped at the tears flooding down my face silently, sniffling. "Yeah, Failsafe. I know."

'We would like– I would like, to repledge our vow.'

I laughed because it sounded like we were about to get married. That sounded hilarious, we did just argue like an old married couple. And because I was never good at being angry, holding grudges sure, but true, burning anger? It never lasted long, and I just wanted to be reunited with my best friend. She'd taken a step forward, that was good enough, right?

I just want to be with my best friend again. "Alright then, I promise to always be beside you, Failsafe. We're a duo, forever!"

'And to you, (Y/n), pledge that no harm should ever come to you while we are together. Ever again.'

We couldn't shake hands, hug, or do anything to physically signify our promise had been cast. But I did the next best thing and shook my own hand. Or, intertwined my fingers. That felt fair.

'There's still anger, flowing through you...' Failsafe numbly stated after I let my hands go. My left trailed down to my leg, where I brushed at the scarred pink skin.

"...It's not for you, Failsafe. I'm not mad at you, anymore."

'Then who is it for? Tornado, Kaldur?' There was a pause and she took a wild guess, 'Superboy?'

I chuckled, though there was no humor to it. "What? No!"

'Then who. Please, if there's something to do, we can take care of it.' Again, a pause before she wisely added, 'together.'

I sighed, "It's no one important. It's..."

'I know I have not been honest, and that you have been. But, (Y/n), you can still feel comfortable, to be honest now.'

"It's me." I bit my lip as soon as the words passed through them. I brushed up against my leg again and stared down at the glaring symbol.

'What?'

"It's me." I said again, "I ran away from my responsibility. From the people who loved and cared for me, from my life, to go play superhero. I was scared," As soon as I started speaking, the once-locked gates of self-loathing and the truth rolled out. Everything I had been keeping locked away, out of sight and mind.

'Of what, (Y/n)?'

"Of growing up!" I cried, the tears that had stopped now flooded out again, "I was scared, sure, people thought I was smart. But, but life was getting harder, would get harder. I kept thinking, what if I don't measure up? What if people leave me? I didn't want to lose my friends, leave my parents and become an adult. The world's scary, Failsafe. So, so scary. And I was so immature to think it was cool, admired heroes and villains from afar." I took in a deep breath, and Failsafe let me get everything out.

"I don't want to grow up," I cried, "I don't want to get older. Don't want to fall behind and be left alone."

I curled up, head on my knees as I sobbed, "But, in trying to avoid that, I realized I ran away. I went to go play hero, a life I thought was so fun and exciting. Simple and where the world would wait for me. But really? I just ran away. And– And I left my parents behind, lost my friends. I left the one thing I was good at and look where I ended up?"

My hand brushed my calf again, "It was so real. I didn't understand anything up until now. I didn't get how life-threatening these missions truly were, I saw them as a game. But they're not a game, yesterday everyone almost died. I almost died. I felt pain I've never felt before. And it hurt. It hurt, a lot." My voice cracked, and I had to take a shaky breath. "I miss my mom, I miss my dad."

My confidant, who'd been silent until now, thought softly. 'You kept all of this, to yourself?'

"Well, it's not as if you'd understand it, Failsafe. Ah, no offense. Plus, it's kinda– uh, rude, for me to tell you all about that."

'But you did anyway.'

I shrugged, sniffling. "I wanted to be honest."

'Honesty... I will try harder to be honest too.'

"That's all I can ask." Though I wanted more than that, knew I should probably push for it. I didn't want to overwhelm her. I mean, she– she's using possessive pronouns. For me. I shouldn't push it. And, still, just because we were together in the same body doesn't mean I'm entitled to all her secrets. Just because I share doesn't mean she has to spill out everything. I can wait for when she's comfortable enough for that. She said she'd be more open, that's all I want.

For us to have the same level of trust in one another.

Breathing in and out, we, together, enjoyed a long moment of silence staring up at the sky and around at the deep forest. It was beautiful.

'...Now that we've had this talk, is it now a good time to re-engage with the Team and complete the mission? They're struggling just as we were, it seems.'

The mission..? Oh. Right. We were in the middle of a forest in India, far away from our Team, on a mission to find out about a killer gorilla.

Maybe not the best place for an argument, but I feel better now that it's off my chest. Or, more accurately, settled in my chest.

"Oh, uh, yeah! Sure." I mumbled, standing up and dusting myself off. I was covered in mud, so it didn't do much.

With everything beside us, I let everything drift away as the familiar sensation of Failsafe bubbled to the surface.
____________________
𝙽𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚊
𝚂𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟹𝚛𝚍, 𝟸𝟸:𝟹𝟸 𝙴𝙳𝚃

Our promise, our vow means more than (Y/n) will ever know. And we wished we could articulate that too (Y/n). But, the words and the thoughts will not come out. Too many things to say, too many things to get straight in our head.

But, one thing is for certain. It's September, already. And we've made little progress. Today helped, certainly helped. But instead of letting us move forward yesterday, we've taken a step back.

We hate that, (Y/n) being mad at us. It isn't right. Like some fold in the universe, we have to find and crease down, we cannot allow it to continue. We can't. Our promise means something, more than (Y/n) will ever know.

We need our hero, and (Y/n) is our only chance at the future we want to create. We wanted (Y/n) to see that, to believe in the heroism that flows through this body's veins naturally. And, moreover, why did it not come to the surface? It activates when in stress, does it not?

Is it not time, yet? But, surely it would be. Our memory could not be so false. It was correct about Tornado, and everything up until the water bearer's attack on Robin. So, what was missing? Or, rather, what was added? What changed?

We can't even tell, our memory is still foggy. We touched our chest, and when we closed our eyes we could still feel the very real effect of the crystal. Sadness and remorse coursed through us, and we weren't sure if it belong to (Y/n) or not. No, it had to.

We braced ourselves before softly launching into the air, hovering around the forest as we tried to remember the way to the Brain's lair. It was... We tried to recall... North.

We blinked, not used to uncertainty. It was unsettling. We didn't like it, not one bit.

We started the journey to the Brains layer, flying over the trees freely and staring up at the sky. Millions, billions of stars twinkled back at us, guiding the way. The pale moonlight kept our sights dead ahead but illuminated the trees and animals inside of them. We broke inhibitor collars as we went.

The universe is staring down at us. Relying on us. We will not let it down. The galaxies hidden behind the stars and planets will not fall. Our future is certain, a caretaker, a protector– a guardian will ensure that. For all eternity.

We landed down at the forest's edge. Taking in the destroyed security around the base, monkeys scattered over the terrain, having been knocked out. Broken inhibitor collars lay shattered across the open plain.

Superboy jumped into the clearing, and a crater was created underneath him as a shockwave rang out. Trailing behind him, still in the cover of the forest, for the most part, was a wolf with a uniquely brilliant white coat. Strange for the middle of a large forest like this. It was striking and wouldn't do the wolf well for hiding to hunt, in fact, it stood out.

A smile graced our face, Wolf. We recall him. He was of use, and very fluffy.

We landed beside our dark-haired comrade. "Superboy, have you been lost as well?"

He huffed, and we noticed there was a giant hole ripped out of the collar and shoulder of his shirt. Teeth marks and claw tracks were deep in his skin.

We stepped forward and reached out our hand, the material of his shirt repaired perfectly. As if nothing had ever happened to it.

"Thanks." He muttered as he touched the new fabric. We nodded. "It's your favorite shirt. We wouldn't want it ruined, right?"

"Yeah," a hint of a smile made its way onto his stressed face, his body language was clearly still tense. And we think we might've accomplished at least some good today.

There was a large explosion on the other side of the building, smoke, and debris steaming out from the large mass of concrete and up into the starry sky.

"Come on," the taller boy said, "Aqualad wants us over there, now."

We nodded, and Superboy jumped toward the building, we followed, floating in the air behind him as he smashed through the wall. The Gorilla, clad in a red beret and carrying a machine gun was caught off balance by the blast. The monkey tried to stand up, but the white wolf from earlier had followed both Superboy and us and knocked his oppressor to the ground, while he was subdued we knocked him out. We wouldn't want him harming anyone if awake. A gun like that could do some serious damage to all of them.

Wolf turned to us, and the mutated dog seemed to nod at us. We felt... for lack of a better word, kinship with it. The memories we're desperately trying to keep tight in our mind gave us a view of our new, valuable team member.

By the time we'd done that, Aqualad had broken Captain Marvel out of his restraints, and the man did the same for his tiger companion.

"This will not be our waterloo." The Brain spoke calmly as the machinery that kept the brilliant, and evil, mind going turned to its unconscious monkey guard. It spoke in french, and despite our best efforts, it was not a language we understood.

Kid Flash yelled out to the room as the machine expanded to have arms and press a button concealed inside of it. "Get down!"

It was rather instinctual, the shield we created, despite knowing the Brain was just activating a light switch and escape mechanism. But still, we found our body creating the incandescent form of defense and crouching lower to the ground, making ourself smaller.

When the lights fizzled on a few moments later, we felt like a fool. Prior knowledge should have overwritten such base impulse.

"Wait. That big weapon thing was... A light switch?" Kid Flash said, confused. The lead-up to the switch was that of mechanical genius and must've been hard to do without a body and only a gorilla to help. It only made sense for it to be... More spectacular. But, when remembering whom exactly we were talking about, the Brain, it made sense with an afterthought.

We brought ourself up silently, brushing off our clothes and clearing our throat. "Is everyone alright?" Besides Superboy, no one seemed to have any wounds.

"Everyone's fine, I think." Miss Martian exhaled, breath uneven.

"I'm concerted." Robin said aloud, going to check the scene.

Aqualad walked up to us, "Failsafe, are you unharmed? Where did you go? To be outside of Miss Martians range you must've traveled quite the distance."

'Now that I think about it, Failsafe, why didn't you just teleport here?'

'Not enough energy to do so, and this wasn't necessary. I'm trying to save up... For later.' We cringed, "I got lost and ran into a mutated reptilian."

The Atlantean's eyebrows went up, and Superboy turned his head toward us in confusion.

"Well, that's new."

Kid Flash paused and looked over at us, "(Y/N)? When did you and Failsafe," He made a motion with his hands, pointing out his index fingers and crossing his wrists in an effort to say the word 'twist' without actually saying it. As if we were two people.

We're not. We're just us.

We shift our weight onto one foot, the other coming to scratch at our ankle through our boot. Suddenly, our sense of comfort feels off-kilter and a perceived feeling of inevitability came crashing down on our body. Immobility seemed to take its place, like we were waiting for something to happen and it's coming, soon. But nothing will, nothing we're not prepared for.

Not again, at least.

"...It's still me... I... am trying to be better." A hand made its way to our chest, and our mouth became so dry we had to swallow. A dread and we discerned a sort of insincerity from us. The words coming out of our mouth weren't the problem. Was it the belief? No, we can comply with things we don't give credence to.

A webbed hand placed itself on our shoulder, and warm grey eyes gazed down at me. A comforting smile placed on the taller male's lips, "Your growing, Failsafe, I'm proud of you."

Elation came in a wild high over our body like a wave before it crashed down and loss created a hole in our heart, a little itch that we couldn't get rid of in the back of our mind made its home.

We smiled, "Thank you, Aqualad."

Wiping our hands on our pants we looked over as Kid Flash picked up the beret Mallah dropped. It was red and stretched, clearly loved and seen many battles. Survived without a scratch, no less.

For some reason, we couldn't help but think about how Aqualad's pride in us was... Incorrect. Of course, he should be proud of us, we do our job. But it felt illegitimate, incorrect, like we've done something wrong not to have it. And lastly, it didn't feel gratifying to have his pride, as if there was something or someone else we wanted it from.

To (Y/n)? No, no, we already have that. And yet, we don't. Because we have no pride in ourself. No pride, not anything. No emotions to tie us down, nothing to create bias and stray from impartiality.

But then again, that's what... We want, isn't it?

We can't recall.

Wolf filed out of the building first, seeming to know the exit. The tiger Captain Marvel had kinned as his own following suit, causing the adult to fly after it in a single-minded curiosity. Kid Flash and Artemis walked out of the hole while Robin seemed to survey the scene a little more before Miss Martian turned him toward the exit, she whispered something to him and he nodded, yawning.

We found that strange, doesn't he stay up with Batman all night? We would have thought a human like him wouldn't get sleepy this early. Aqualad waited until we were ready, and along with Superboy, we walked out of the hole we created in the wall together.

Looking at the full, pale moon, we yawned as well, and couldn't help but agree it's been a long night. Just at ease knowing we're once again strong, as one.

Another pang in our heart, and we wondered if the crystal in our chest was reacting. But there was only a slightly worse, but still dull, pain. It spread across our entire chest, creating an uncomfortable sense instead of the searing pain of one concentrated spot.

"What are you grinning about?" We heard Artemis and Kid Flash start a conversation as we all started our trek to the bioship. Something bubbled to the surface of our skin but dissipated on its own. (Y/n) said goodnight. Too tired to care even though the mission was over.

"One word: Souvenir." The ginger enunciated, waving the beret in her face.

She scoffed, batting it away and walking in front of him, getting the last word. "Two words: Gorilla lice."

"Huh?" Green eyes peered down at the worn fabric. "Oh, man." The teen held the hat at a distance and groaned in disgust.

Robin looked to see the destroyed remnants of our forest sweep, "That's the last of the collars?"

We nodded, "Should be." he nodded too and crouched down to pick one up, intending to take it home with us.

Captain Marvel released the tiger from its collar, smiling all the while. "And I can count on you to keep the other animals out of trouble?" The tiger grunted, which seemed to be a good enough response for the red-clad hero.

"Good. I'll be back for a visit. I promise." As the tiger walked away apathetically, he mumbled to himself. "I think I'll call him Mr. Tawny."

Silently, Aqualad walked passed us and to the bioship, not stopping to correlate with anyone else. Ah, yes, we were so caught up in our own conflict we neglected to remember the external fighting of our Team.

Superboy crouched down, ignoring the sea-dweller that walked passed him as he smiled at his furry friend. "'Rest of the pack has gone. What are you still doing here?"

"I think he wants to stay with you." Miss Martian crouched beside him, petting the wolf. The dark-haired male looked at his significant other, and there was a specific twinkle in his eyes we couldn't name.

He asked a question in a manner reminiscent of a child, "Can I keep him?"

Kid Flash leaned over, creating a place in their conversation. "Heh. First the Sphere, now this beast? Dude, you sure make a habit of collecting strays." He joked, ever oblivious to the two's feelings.

"Maybe because he's such a stray himself." Miss Martian practically swooned, and still, Kid Flash either chose to ignore it or was too dense to see it. "Aren't you?"

"Yeah." The Kryptonian-human hybrid returned the Martian love-struck gaze with one of his own.

"Well, he's gonna need a name." Miss Martian pet the wolf all along the side and gave the wolf a warm smile. Its eyes, in kind, were kind to her. The wolf seemed to like her. Maybe she was reading its thoughts because she knew just where to scratch.

"Uh, how's about Krypto?" The ginger offered, causing the wolf to snarl at him.

With a scoff, Superboy declared passively, "Pass."

"Besides, isn't that taken?" Miss Martian added on, trying to be a little kinder to her friend's suggestion.

They chuckled, and we nodded our head at the happy scene. It wasn't until Robin spoke up that the atmosphere broke in two. Directed at the person all were holding in disdain at the moment. "Look, I need to know. Why did you keep the mole intel a secret?"

Aqualad sighed, lowering his head in condemnation. "The source of the tip was Sportsmaster."

Incredulous over the news, our resident blonde archer cried, "What? You can't trust him!"

"I do not. It seemed possible, even likely..." He took in another breath. Maybe he was happy to get it out, or maybe he thought it would hurt more if he told, either way, there was no preventing it now. "That he was attempting to divide the team with false information."

"...And given how this mission went, he nearly succeeded." Robin caught on to Aqualad's message, holding his chin in his hand as he thought. "But you had to consider it might be true."

"Yes. As leader, I did. In which case, I did not wish to alert the traitor." He surveyed us for a reaction, but the Team as a whole had a feeling of understanding wash over them, like a wave.

"Hate to say it, but makes sense." Robin laughed in relief, happy to know his friend's offense wasn't as bad as he'd made it seem as he cultivated it in his head.

(Y/n) would call this a classic case of misunderstanding. Equating it to one of the books she reads.

"I am still prepared to step down," Aqualad spoke up, not wanting to lose the Teams trust now that he had it again. And we could see in his eyes the complete, absolute, and utter truth.

Robin looked around at us all, and with a smile held up his hand, "All in favor of keeping Aqualad as leader?"

Around us, the Team rose their hands, so we did the same. The Gotham wonder boy turned back to our leader, and with a happy shrug stated, "Guess it's unanimous."

Seeing Kaldur'ahm smile gave us the sense of joy his pride had given, though this time it didn't seem to disappear. We smiled as well, looking down at our hands. Human emotion really is infectious, (Y/n)'s asleep, and yet we are still experiencing this body's emotions at full scale. Truly, this species is something else.

Captain Marvel looked up into the sky, electing to let us solve our problems ourselves he'd stayed out of it. But now it was time for us to return back to the cave. "See you tomorrow."

"You're not coming back with us?" Kaldur'ahm turned to the hero, befuddled.

The hero smiled and shook his head, "No. Gotta fly."

And that was his goodbye, as he leaped into the starry sky and took off at a menacing speed, back towards his own home.

We wondered when we would join him, as we caught sight of a particular formation of stars in the sky. The Zodiac as they're called. Behind them shone a glittering red dust field, far off into space.

It twinkled in the night sky, illuminating the galaxy it came from. And as we turned our back to it, a sensation came over us we'd only felt second-handedly before.

It hurt.