A/N: It's been a while, sorry. I've been busy with classes and trying to finish up the next chapter in Magik. I think I've got it going and it should be up soon. So I got a really bad flame and that's not why I haven't updated. I'm going to see my stories through no matter what others think because for every person that doesn't like my story there's five that do. So, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

July 5, 2010

Lance Residence, Star City

12:36 PM

I pick at the blanket thrown across my lap and avoid my sister's eyes. After sticthing me up early this morning she sent me to shower and get some sleep. I only got a few hours though because she inists that I'm up before ten every day, even if I don't have school or training. Dinah let me eat and get my daily dose of coffee before finally setting me down to talk. So far I had just picked at my blanket.

"Vera," Dinah says softly from next to me. "I know it's hard, but you need to talk to me. You'll feel better afterwards and the healing will finally be able to start."

I shake my head as tears fall down my face. "I just don't understand. He knows what he means to me and I thought I meant the same to him." I let out a shakey laugh. "I was stupid to think he cared. I mean, I thought he loved me. We were fine. You saw us the night before! Everything was okay. Then I try to convience him to apologize and he just breaks up with me. He left me heartbroken in a crowd of tourists wanting answers and autographs." I look up at Dinah, barely seeing her through teary eyes. "The look he gave me. It was that of pure hatred. He hated me in that moment and I don't understand!"

Dinah pulls me into a hug and I sob into her chest. She holds me close and runs her hand through my hair, attempting to calm me. "Guys are hard to understand. And believe me, it doesn't get any easier from here. You and Roy have had an uncomplicated relationship. You hardly fought and when you did, you never left the room still upset with each other. You had spats. Just give Roy time to calm down and then you guys can talk it out."

I shake my head. "He hates me! Why would he want to talk it out?"

Dinah rubs calming circles on my back. "It's okay, Vera. I'm sure he doesn't hate you. I can't imagine a world where Roy hates you. Even as kids, you never hated each other. You merely were annoyed at each other. That's all that's happening now, I'm sure. Roy's just annoyed and upset that you couldn't understand what was going through his head. You know him. He jumps to the extremes first. He'll calm down in a few days and then he'll come back to talk."

I just can't believe what my sister said. She didn't see the look in Roy's eyes when he broke up with me. He's beyond mad at me and I'm sure we'll never return to what we had. The hate in his eyes stated that much. Even though I know all these things deep down, it doesn't numb the pain. I gave Roy everything. He was my boyfriend, confidant, and most of all my best friend. I feel as if I've lost everything. My heart literally feels broken. I think what hurts the most is that I never expected it. I never expected Roy to do this to me, to cause me this much pain.

I pull away from Dinah. "I just want to be alone," I whisper.

Dinah says nothing as I make my way up to my room. Once there I look at my dirty and ripped uniform. I had just thrown it in a pile at the foot of my bed last night. With a sigh, I grab my utility belt and start emptying it's pockets. I pull out several of my criers, most of which are damaged. I find some earplugs, a rebreather, and a spare trigger that I made incase the one in my glove malfunctioned or got destroyed while I was out. When I reach my last pocket, I pull out the flashdrive with the Cadmus files on it and Roy's Speedy hat.

I sit the hat on my bed and stare at it for a while. I hate it. I hate the hat that used to belong to him. I'm not sure why I hate the hat but I do. As for Roy, I can't seem to find it in me to hate him right now. He's broken my heart but I can't hate him. He meant too much for me to hate him. I grab the stupid hat and stuff it into a drawer of my nightstand.

I'm tired of feeling heart broken right now. I'm tired of wanting to hate Roy but not being able to. I want to stop feeling these conflicting feelings.

I grab my laptop from my desk and stick the flashdrive into it. I hope that unencypting Superboy's file will help me get my mind off of my feelings.

July 6, 2010

Lance Residence, Star City

11:33 AM

I type away at my laptop and bite my lip in frustration when I come across a particular file that's particularly hard to uncrypt. It's titled Project Match and it's got a heavier encrytion than Superboy's. I've gotten the first few pages available but I'm waiting until I have all 137 pages finished before reading it. I've also unencrypted a few minor ones on some of the genomorphs.

I move onto an easier encryption. I'm far to frustrated with Project Match to deal with something harder. I'm halfway through with one when the doorbell rings. I let out a huff before placing my laptop on the coffee table and going to answer the door.

Dinah's out with Oliver looking for Roy. Oliver's been looking since yesterday morning, but I'm sure they aren't going to find him until he wants to be found. That's just how Roy works. He comes to you, not the other way around.

I reach the front door and yank it open, not bothering to look through the peep hole. The person standing there is the last person I thought I'd ever see. He's standing with his hands stuffed into his pockets but his stance is one of purpose. He's giving me his shy look. If you didn't know him, you wouldn't be able to tell it's shy. I just stand frozen in the doorway, my hand gripping the doorknob. Tears start to stream down my face and I snap out ot it.

"Roy," I finally croak out.

Roy nods his head and gestures behind me. "Yeah. Mind if I come in?"

I don't respond to him but I move to let him in. Roy slides passed me and heads for the living room without a word. I close the door but don't head after him. I lean my head against the coolness of the door to gather my bearings. My mind runs a mile a minute trying to compredhend what's happening right now. I don't understand it. Why is he here? After taking a few deep breathes I follow after Roy to the living room. When I enter, I find Roy scrolling through the files on my laptop I've been decrypting.

I clear my throat and Roy snaps his head towards me. He slowly moves away from the laptop and back towards me.

With a shaky voice I ask Roy, "What do you want Roy? Why are you here?"

"Vera, I just needed to make sure you understood what happened the other night," he states.

My heart starts beating fast. "Understood what?" I ask softly.

Roy gestures between the two of us. "What happened. You know, between us."

I take a few seconds to process what he's saying. My hand tightens into a fist and I ask quietly, not letting my voice crack. "You mean you breaking up with me?"

Roy shrugs his shoulders and turns back to gaze at my laptop. "Yeah. I just want you to understand that it's not personal. At first I wanted you come with me. We could have struck out on our own and left our mentor's shadows. Now I've realized that I need to do this for me. I need to find who I am. The only way to do that is distance myself from Ollie. I've got to do this before I can even think about being in a relationship. You see where I'm coming from, don't you?"

I stand perfectly still. The mixed emotions from yesterday are still there. I want to hate Roy but I can't. He's being stupid and I just can't hate him for it. He's broken my heart and now he's come here to confirm that we are not together, which breaks it even further.

I breath in and out of my nose for a moment before closing my eyes and counting to ten. When they open I see Roy watching me. He's waiting for my reaction. Finally, after taking this time to calm down, I shake my head.

"Roy, you broke my heart. You broke my heart and then gave me a glare with eyes filled with so much hate and anger. You left me to fend for myself in a crowd of tourists with cameras to document my heartbroken face. Did you see the news yesterday? Because I did. Our breakup was all over the news. I watched you break up with me all over again. My heartbroken face has been all over every magazine and newspaper, not to mention all over the TV. I can't turn the TV on without hearing about you breaking up with me! Roy, I loved you! I gave you everything I had and you've just thrown it back at me like it meant nothing to you! How could you?!" My rant starts with me calm and collected but by the end, I'm in tears and shouting.

"Doll, I didn't mean-" Roy says coming towards me.

I cut him off and take several steps back. "Don't call me that! You lost that right," I snap. "I want to hate you. I want to hate you so badly but I can't. You meant and still mean so much to me. But Roy, think about what you've done. My heart is in shambles from what you've done!" I shout at him as more tears pour down my face.

"I didn't mean for it to happen like this. Vera I still care about you. Honestly I do, but I can't afford a relationship right now. I need to find myself and become my own person. You should understand that," Roy explains calmly.

I shake my head. Tears continue to fall and his figure becomes blurry. "You didn't mean for it to happen like this? You still care about me? You don't know what I'm feeling right now Roy! I've been humiliated as a hero! My heart has been broken by the only person that I've allowed to get close to me."

"I did what I needed to do, Vera!" Roy snaps, finally letting his temper flare.

I let out a shaky laugh. "What you needed to do? I would have understood you needing to find yourself. I would have let you go and do what you needed to do."

Roy laughs this time. "You would have understood? Vera you weren't very understanding the other night when it happened!"

I point at him and shout, "You were angry! You were upset! I was trying to stop you from doing something you regretted! If you had calmly told me after we left the room that you just had to go and find yourself I would have let you go! No, instead you start spouting nonsense and trying to get me to leave my sister! What was I supposed to do? Just drop everything for you? You were asking me to choose between Dinah and you!"

"What should I have done then? You were pleading with me to apologize and just spouting nonsense about trusting them. You wouldn't understand and wouldn't let me explain!" Roy shouts back at me, moving towards me again.

This time I don't back away. I stand my ground. "You were being stupid! You are still being stupid-"

The front door bangs open and two figures appear in the doorway. "Supey, you can't just barge in! You've gotta knock first!" I hear Wally protesting. "Vera! Supey and I decided to stop by! What are you up-oh. Hey, Roy. What are you doing here?"

Wally stops in the doorway of the living room with Superboy beside him. I let out a frustrated sigh and head into the kitchen as Roy speaks with Wally. In the kitchen, I yank the fridge open and grab a can of soda. I pop the top and chug it in seconds. As I shut the fridge I feel a presence behind me.

Turning I find Superboy standing awkwardly behind me. I realize that Wally's gone and got him some actual clothes. Anyone looking at him would think he's a normal teenager. He's wearing, ironically enough, the S shield on a t-shirt. He's got cargo pants that are tucked into combat boots and a brown leather jacket. His stance is awkward with his hands stuffed into his jacket.

"Uh, I just wanted to apologize for barging in and interrupting," Superboy apologizes.

I shrug my shoulder. "It's fine. Roy and I were arguing. Pretty sure if you hadn't barged in one of us would have slugged the other soon enough." I grab the jar of cookies that Dinah keeps hidden above the fridge. "Want some? Dinah's boyfriend practically inhales them so we have to keep them hidden." I set the jar on the counter and after grabbing a few for myself, push the jar towards him.

After a few seconds, Superboy moves forward and grabs two cookies. He takes a tentative bite before gesturing towards me. "I, uh, heard the yelling which was why I barged in."

I give Superboy a slight smile. "You thought Roy might be hurting me, didn't you?" I ask.

Superboy shrugs his shoulders before taking another bite. I finish off one of my own before speaking up again.

"Back at Cadmus, you were constantly pulling me behind you. It was like you were trying to protect me. Why?" I question.

Superboy glances back towards the doorway before answering. "I don't know. You were just the first person who cared about me as a person and not a weapon. I just thought I would return the favor by keeping you safe."

I give him a small smile. "I wasn't doing you a favor by caring about you. I was being a decent human being. I don't need protecting. I can handle myself. I have been keeping my own in fights against guys as big as you for years. I'll be okay. I appreciate it, I really do. It's good to know someone cares, but worry about you from now on, okay? I've been in the game longer than you."

Superboy turns red. "I didn't mean...I don't mean...I just..."

I wave him off. "Don't worry about it. It's settled now and that's all that matters. So, how's it been at Wally's."

Superboy grunts, "Loud."

I release a loud laugh. "That's to be expected."

Roy stomps into the room and stops a few feet away from me. Wally trails behind him and immediately sets his eyes on the jar of cookies.

"Who are you again?" Roy asks Superboy, his voice full of venom and eyes full of suspicion.

Wally snorts. "I've already told you. This is Superboy," Wally introduces him before shoving a cookie into his mouth.

Roy nods but doesn't take his eyes off of Superboy. "That's right. You're Superman's clone. You'd think he'd have you in Metropolis with him or off in a lab somewhere being studied."

I turn to Roy and see him smirking at Superboy. He glances down at me and just from the look in his eyes makes me snap.

"Out! Get out!" I start shouting.

"Why should I leave? I don't know stable that thing is. He could attack you and Wally the moment I'm out of sight," Roy argues.

I start shoving against him. "I said out! Get out! NOW!" I continue shouting.

Wally stands frozen with a mouth full of cookie in his mouth. He looks torn between defending Roy and staying out of my way. Superboy watches me kick Roy out as if it's entertaining to him.

Roy grabs both my arms and holds me away from him. "Calm down, Vera! I don't want to hurt you!"

"It's to late for that!" Hot, angry tears start falling down my face as I pull away from him. "Leave now! Don't make me use force!"

Roy turns to look at Wally and Superboy before looking down at me again. "I'll leave. But we aren't through talking yet."

I take a deep breath before speaking as evenly as I can. "You made it perfectly clear Roy. We're through. Now leave."

Roy throws his hands up and looks at me with determination in his eyes. "Fine then. Whatever."

With that Roy turns and leaves. Moments later the front door slams and I just close my eyes. A hand touches my shoulder and I turn to meet Wally's green eyes. He gives me a soft look before gesturing for Superboy to follow him.

"We're gonna head to Central City Mall. You wanna come with?" Wally asks softly.

"Thanks, but I need to call Ollie and Dinah to tell them Roy stopped by." I turn around and grab the now empty cookie jar.

"I've left my cell number on the fridge. Just call if you need someone to hang out with," Wally tells me.

I nod my head before placing the cookie jar back where it goes. "I will. You two stay out of trouble will you?"

Wally flashes me a grin, "Always beautiful. Come on Supey."

Superboy gives me a small smile and a shy wave before following after the speedster. Once the door has closed, I collapse to the floor and start sobbing. It's been one heck of an emotional roller coaster ride today. I know its only going to get worse before it gets better though.

July 8, 2010

Lance Residence, Star City

7:13 AM

Following the smell of food, I stumble into the kitchen fully dressed but with sleep still clouding my head. I grab a cup of coffee and slump down in my usual seat.

"Morning. You were up late last night," Dinah greets getting right to the point.

I shrug in response before sipping my coffee. I pull the plate of French toast towards me and drown it in syrup.

Dinah grabs my plate and pulls it away. "We need to talk, Vera. All you said about yesterday was that Roy stopped by, you two argued, and then Wally showed up with Superboy in tow."

"What do you want me to say? Roy and I argued. Wally and Superboy showed up. Roy left. Then they left. That's it," I state evenly.

Dinah moves from around the counter and turns me to look at her. "Vera. You know that you need to talk about things. If you won't talk with me then will you at least talk to someone else? What if I had Diana stop by to talk with you? Or perhaps Shayera?"

I pull away from my sister. "I don't want to talk! Can't I just have something to figure out on my own? You've always been in my ear whispering to me about how I should take care of something! I just want to do something on my own!"

Dinah sighs. She runs a hand through her hair. "Fine. You figure this out on your own then." She turns around and pushes my plate back to my seat. "Eat. We're leaving soon."

"I wasn't aware we were going anywhere today," I say surprised.

Dinah gives me a smirk. "Eat up. Batman has a surprise for all the proteges."

My eyes widen. "He's made his decision already?"

Dinah nods with a grin on her face. "The faster you eat the sooner we can leave," she informs me in a teasing tone.

I scarf down the French Toast and run back upstairs. I dig through my closet to find matching shoes and pull my hair up messily with a hair clip. Finishing up my hair, I grab my dufflebag that holds my uniform and rush downstairs. Dinah's waiting by the doors with her car keys.

"Where are we going? Why's it a surprise? Are all the proteges going to be there?" I bombard her with questions as she locks up the house.

With a chuckle, she leads me to the car. We climb in and I slip my shades over my eyes. Dinah starts the car and starts towards the city.

"So are you going to tell me where we are going?" I ask.

Dinah doesn't take her eyes off the road. "You know, for someone who didn't want to talk earlier you sure are talking alot right now."

I send her a glare from behind my shades. "It's pertaining to something completely different. That was something I wanted to figure out on my own. This is information that I need to know."

"You don't need to know where we are going. You'll see for yourself soon enough," Dinah points out.

I sigh and nod my head. "Fine," I mumble.

The rest of the ride is in silence. After about fifteen minutes, Dinah parks in the parking garage a few blocks down from the nearest Zeta beam platform. I follow silently behind her as she leads the way to the platform and types in the destination and authorizes me to travel ahead of her.

I slip into the platform disguised as a rundown photo booth. In a flash of light and a computer recognizing me as a guest, I arrive in a huge cave like place. I step forward off a large Zeta beam platform and look around in awe. A few minutes later Dinah appears in her Black Canary uniform. She walks forward and grabs my shoulders.

"Welcome to Mount Justice, Vera," she whispers in my ear.

I grin ear to ear as I take it all it. The place is breathtaking even with all the Leaguers fixing things all over the place. I never thought I'd actually get to stand in Mount Justice in my lifetime. Dinah told me about it being compromised in it's early years and the League traded it in for the Hall of Justice/Watchtower.

"It's overwhelming, isn't it?" a new voice suddenly asks from beside me.

The new voice causes me to jump slightly. With a sigh I turn to find Robin smirking from beside me. I give him a smile back.

"Yeah. I just can't believe I'm here." I pause for a second before asking, "Wait, do you know why we're here? All Dinah told me was that were we were going was a surprise and that Batman made up his mind."

Robin shrugs. "That's about what I know. Bats only told me an hour ago to get ready in civilian wear. We got here fifteen minutes ago and he disappeared on me. Haven't seen him since."

"What about the others? Are they here yet?" I question.

Robin shakes his head. "Nope. I know that Aquaman and Aqualad are coming straight from Atlantis though. Statistically, Wally, Superboy, and Flash will be late."

I snort, getting what he means. Wally and his uncle are never on time anywhere so naturally Superboy will be late since he's staying with the younger speedster.

The Zeta beam goes off and the computer recognizes them as the light starts to fade. Robin and I turn to watch Aqualad move towards us and his mentor/king moves off to the side to speak with Dinah who wondered off when Robin appeared.

"Robin. Red Canary. It is a pleasure to see you again. How are your wounds healing?" Aqualad asks politely.

I hold up my hand to show him the bandage still wrapped around it. "This one is pretty much healed but my side is still healing."

Robin shrugs in response. "I've had worse, so no big."

"What about you?" I ask Aqualad.

"They are in the last stage of healing. Atlantean medicine has helped my injuries greatly," he answers formally.

The Zeta beam goes off again and the three of us turn to see three figures get recognized as the light fades. Two of the figures make their way to us as the other speeds down the hallway. Wally and Superboy stop in front of us, Wally with a grin and Superboy with his slight frown.

"How's it going, guys?" Wally asks, tossing an arm around my shoulder.

I can tell he's asking more about me than the others since his gaze is focused on me. I never really called him back after him and Superboy walking in on Roy and I arguing. I just holed myself up in my room occupying myself with trying to decrypt the files from Cadmus. I had gotten several more done but I was still barely making a dent in Superboy's file, along with the Match file I found.

"I've been good. What about you two?" I turn to Superboy. "I'm sure Wally's drove you up the wall by now."

Superboy merely shrugs before turning his attention past me. I turn my head to find all the mentors and a few other Leaguers headed towards us. The five of us straighten out into a line and Wally drops his arm from around my shoulder. Dinah stands off to the side with Red Tornado while Flash speeds to stand behind his nephew. Batman and Aquaman stand before us.

We watch silently as Batman starts pacing, speaking as he does so. "This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League. We are calling it into service again. Since the five of you are determined to stay together and fight the good fight, you'll do it on league terms." He stops pacing and turns to stare at us. "Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor. Black Canary is in charge of training. I will deploy you on missions."

"Real missions?" Robin questions.

Batman gives a sharp nod. "Yes, but covert."

"The league will handle the obvious stuff," Flash speaks up from behind Wally. "There's a reason we have the big targets on our chests."

"Cadmus proves the bad guys are getting smarter," Aquaman speaks up. "Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly."

"The six of you will be that team," Batman states.

"Cool," Robin says excitedly.

I narrow my eyes in confusion. "You said six of us. There are only five proteges," I point out.

Batman stares past us and we all turn to see what-or who-he's looking at. Emerging from the shadows are two green figures. One is Martian Manhunter and the other is what appears to be a younger Martian. She looks about my age and has medium length red hair.

"This is Martian Manhunter's neice, Miss Martian," Batman introduces.

Miss Martian shyly raises a hand to wave. "Hi," she speaks timidly.

Wally immediately smiles. "I'm liking this gig more and more every minute, " he mutters to Robin.

I smack him lightly on the arm before stepping forward. "I'm happy you'll be joining us on the team. I don't know what I would do stuck with a bunch of boys all the time. I'm Red Canary, by the way."

Wally pushes me out of the way and into Superboy. He grabs my arms to settle me but takes a few seconds before releasing me. I mutter a thanks as Wally goes around introducing himself and the rest of the team to Miss Martian. I roll my eyes at his antics.

"I am honored to be included," Miss Martian states happily, clasping her hands together.

Aqualad, Wally, and Robin move forward to speak further with her but Superboy lags behind. I look up at him with a small smirk.

"I'm pretty sure she doesn't bite, "I inform him.

The corner of his mouth twitches upward a bit before following me over to the Martian.

Miss Martian looks me up and down before looking back at Superboy. With a timid look she morphs her top from white with a blue cape to black.

"I like your shirt," she says quietly, looking down at the ground.

Wally speeds around to sling an arm around Superboy's shoulder and gives Miss Martian a flirty smile. I roll my eyes and give her a friendly smile.

Aqualad looks between us and says, "Today is the day."

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it. Loving the ship names so far. I'm glad you all are enjoying my decision to include Vic in this story. Not sure when I'll be able to update next but know that I'm always working on my stories in some shape or fashion. It was a filler chapter but it addressed some things that needed to be addressed. Next chap will have action and will have more Miss Martian.

I'd also like to thank you guys for all the love. I've gotten a lot of reviews in such a short amount of time.

AmayaTaisho19: She didn't exactly snap at him. But she might if he keeps it up...I'm glad you thing her and Cyborg will work out.

Tundra: I'm sorry that you think Vera is a Mary Sue in the sense that she steals Kaldur's role in talking Conner down in Cadmus. If you think me doing that is showing that I'm lazy and uncreative, that's your opinion. But let me just ask, where's the story that you have written? I'm trying to write a story and I'm not going to let you or anyone else like you get me down.

TheAsterousArthur: I'm glad you like the idea of Vic and Megan. I like your ship names for them as well. I know. Roy/Vera was kinda cute but you're going to love Conner and Vera. I also like your ship names for those two as well. Roy was in this chapter. He might have been a bit of a butthole but all guys can be. And I'll see about that thing at the end of your review.

PrettyKitty Luvs U: I'm glad you think it's awesome. I'm glad your liking everything so far. And I'm excited to write Vic and Megan as well. It's gonna be great.

TurtleLynn: Thanks, I'm glad you like the chapters. As for moving so fast, I'm trying to get across that they both are physically attracted to each other. And it's supposed to be fluffy:) I hope this clears up the moving to fast stuff.

Anime hotty lover.18: I'm glad you think so. And just thinking about Supey blushing is adorable! I'm glad you like the whole Vic and Megan thing.

Conner K: I'm glad you're enjoying everything so far. As for the way Conner's treated Vera, I hope it was addressed in this chapter. If not shoot me a PM and I can explain it further if you'd like. I think Vic and Megan's going to be a big hit. And I agree with the whole fantasy thing. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

AgentCoCo: I updated! Hope it was worth the wait!

Shorte-J: I updated! Glad you love it and hope this chap was worth the wait!

TheFoolishDreamer: I'm glad you're liking my writing. I've seen your other reviews as well. I'll update Magik soon-I hope. And I'm glad it's making you want to write! We could always use more writers!

hikari: I'm glad you're liking it. I'm glad you like the Cyborg idea.

anata: I've updated! I'm glad you're liking it so far!

That's it with my responses to reviews. There's a whole bunch of them now. If I start getting more every chapter I'm gonna have half an update being responses(haha). Review on how you liked the chapter. I'll update again as soon as I can.

Signing off for now,

dorkmaster42