Rotkäppchen

by TwinEnigma

Standard Disclaimer - I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters therein. I do not do this for profit, but rather for fun and skills building.

NB: Futurefic, done as a fill for the YJ-anon-meme. De-anoning because of reasons.

Warnings: Spoilers for "Bloodlines" + Series 2, implied and mentioned character deaths.

Once upon a time, there was a sweet little girl.

Lian Harper remembers little of her early childhood, save that it was spent in the near constant company of her parents or her aunt and uncle. She thinks she was perhaps a happy baby, or certainly near enough, and her few memories of that time corroborate with the image of the smiling red-headed baby in the photos.

All who met her liked her, but none more so than her grandmother.

It's always been something disconcerting to look back on the footage from her aunt Artemis's jumps and see herself growing up, first as a shambling toddler in a pink tutu, beaning her uncle Wally on the head with a stuffed bunny, and then as a gap-toothed child blowing out candles on a cake. She remembers so little of it, of that time when the world was still bright and innocent, and most of the time she wishes she could go back to that. She misses aunt Artemis and uncle Wally, who practically raised her, and she misses her Grams, who encouraged her never to give up.

She gave her a red cap and the girl so liked it, she took to wearing it all the time.

Grams used to tell her stories when she was a baby, Lian remembers that much. Her favorites were the ones with action, where she could jump up and act them out, like she did with her mom and dad, before… And Gram Crock's specialty was Robin Hood – or rather the stunningly unique tale of Maid Marian being the fabulously cool ninja outlaw Robin Hood and saving the kingdom with her ex-crusader boyfriend from evil ninja. Nowadays, Lian only remembers bits and pieces and, if only, with a wry smile at knowing the story was very loosely about her mom and dad.

The name though, that stuck. And when it came her time to take a stand and join the good fight, she'd known what she wanted to be called:

Little Red Hood

It was fitting for an outlaw.

One day, she went to her grandmother's house and on the way she met a wolf, who asked her what path she would take to get there.

Lian's trained most of her life. She's a warrior born and bred – third generation, at that – and being a badass comes as natural as breathing. They may all be ash and dust in the wind now, but she's still here, still fighting. And as long as she still has the strength to fight, she'll honor their legacy with every step she takes, even if her path leads her straight into the wolf's den.

"I shall take the path of needles," she tells him.

She ignores the gunfire pelting the walls and dying bodies around her and narrows her eyes, reloading and firing her bow twice in rapid succession before dropping into a roll and relocating. Even as she rises, she's reloading and pulling the bowstring taut for another volley in order to clear the way for what remains of her teammates.

Damian surges forward on rocket powered boots, bullets bouncing off his heavy power armor suit. He digs his claws into the frame surrounding the blast door, crushing concrete and steel as he impacts. Already, their enemies are swarming him, tearing at his suit, looking for the meat below.

The wolf took the shorter path of pins, gobbled up her grandmother and waited there for her.

Lian curses under her breath and begins picking them off, mentally reciting the tale of little Red Riding Hood to herself to stay calm. There's no end to them, she's beginning to feel the exhaustion creeping up on her, and she knows it's just a matter of time before they'll outflank them. Worse, she's running out of arrows.

"I walk the path of needles," she whispers under her breath and fires, the explosives in the tip sending the enemy peeling off in flames.

Damian lets out an unholy roar as he tears the door free, flinging it to the side, his power armor straining audibly with the weight. "GO!" he shouts.

Bart is already moving, a wash of wind following in his wake, and disappears through the doorway. He returns half-a-heartbeat later, the flux capacitor that was their target cradled in his arms.

"Get out of here, kid," Lian says, firing another volley. "That's an order."

Bart shakes his head, his whole body vibrating in dread. He knows what's coming – they all do.

Stupid, stupid, stupid boy, she thinks, ignoring the heat building in her eyes and stands, drawing her bow taut again. She can feel Damian settling in to defend her blind spot, the strained power armor protesting each movement.

"Bart, go," Damian says, the deep growl reverberating with that natural authority she's always envied in him.

The boy runs – not as fast as uncle Wally used to, but fast enough – leaving only his tears to fall on the bloody facility ground.

Lian loads her last arrow.

It's an explosive round.

It seems fitting, somehow.

"Red Hood, it's been an honor," Damian states and she can almost see him smirking, that insufferable Bat Brat. Lighting crackles around his gauntlets.

"Likewise, Batman," she says.

Then, the wolf fell upon the girl and ate her all up.

AN: This fic wandered off at some point into something else and I'm not quite sure how I got there, but I'm pretty sure I wondered how Bart and Neutron whipped up that time-travel pod and suddenly badassery happened.