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

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Chapter 8-Truths

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I SAT IN MY ROOM STARING AT MY CEILING. It was 11:36 PM according to the clock on my nightstand. We had returned from our mission to Lex Corp. two hours ago. Since then, I had showered, said goodbye to the rest of the team, and retired to my room.

Reaching over to my nightstand, I slid open the drawer and pulled out my phone. It was low on battery, but that was why I grabbed the charger.

"Miss (Y/n)," ALICE spoke, "Is that an authorized piece of technology."

"Totally," I walked towards the camouflaged panel near the doorway. Digging my nails under the edges, I tore it off the wall. Peering inside, I clenched my fist, "Find the control panel and bring it to me."

"This is against nearly every rule Miss (Y/n), I must inform the league."

The shadows came back with the panel. I pulled it towards me, pressing a few of the buttons near the top. Mainframe. The lower they went the less important they were.

"E-error. Systems restarting," ALICE silenced for a few seconds, "Awaiting a command."

"Whenever I say so, you'll do what I command. Besides that, continue following your previous programming."

"Yes, Miss (Y/n)."

"Good."

Replacing the cover, I laid on my bed with my phone over my face. The first thing I did was text Harley to assure her I was okay. She would spread the word to the rest of the villains. The next thing I did was start my research. Robin was sketchy, and the first step to unravelling that string was to find out his true identity.

"Robin and Batman would have to live together, but they have different facial structures so they aren't directly related. Adopted then, or a ward."

Hacking into a Gotham adoption list, the phone was 'upgraded' thanks to Lex, I went back to the year before Robin first appeared. Enough time for Batman to train him. After scrolling through hundreds of unlikely candidates, my eyes landed on one lucky pair.

Bruce Wayne adopted Richard Grayson after both his parents were killed in an accident during their performance at Haly's Circus.

Bruce Wayne disappeared for years before reappearing a month before Batman's first appearance. Those years could have been spent travelling and training to become the man behind the mask. He had the money and the connections.

Richard Grayson came from the circus, a family of acrobats. And if you listened close enough, you could hear the hint of an accent. From training sessions, it was easy to see how flexible Robin was.

Searching the two up, I stared at a picture of them at a charity benefit. Their physical structures matched Robin and Batman's perfectly, the bone structure, the body shape, all of it. I smirked triumphantly. Years and people couldn't figure out who the dynamic duo was. I figured it out in twenty minutes.

~*~

I woke up the next morning excited. The despair of my situation was diluted compared to the knowledge of who Batman and Robin were. I couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces when I said their real names to them.

Quickly changing out of my second pair of borrowed pajamas, into yet another borrowed outfit, I jogged to the uniform room to change into mine. The team would be training at the cave for the day, meaning uniform time.

Walking to the sim room I met the rest of the team. They were chatting happily, like friends would. Stepping onto the floor the room around us shifted. A sickeningly sweet laughter sounded from behind us.

"Ivy?"

She cackled, sending plants towards the team. After breaking through, we advanced. Ivy clenched her fist, and thick, thorny plants wrapped themselves around each member of the team.

"(Y/n)," Wally groaned, reaching out for me. I was the only one left alone, "Help."

"I-I can't. This is my family, sim or not," it was similar to the day I let Wally's sim pass through me. It was too fresh, too real to face.

The plants disappeared, as did the surrounding scenery. We were back in the sim room., Batman walking swiftly towards us. The team looked down at their feet, ready for a lecture. Only, Batman didn't give them one.

"(Y/n), come with me."

I gave the team a nervous glance before following. He led me into a room with a large computer, the recon room. Unlike the library, this room held all known information about any villain/criminal out there.

Batman held up a flash drive. The same color and shape of the one Robin had at Lex Corp. It could have been a coincidence, but it was unlikely.

"This was recovered from Lex Corp last night. You should watch what's on it and rethink your loyalties."

Sticking the drive into the computer, a video file popped up. Batman clicked on it, playing it. It was Lex, younger with more hair. He was excited.

"Day one of the Shadow Project. Subject, (Y/n) (L/n) has been placed in a stable environment. We'll raise her like family, convince her we mean her no harm, care for her, and focus her mind. She will go through training to 'control' her extraordinary powers. This will make her an extraordinary weapon, only a weapon."

The video cut and another one appeared over it. Lex was a bit older, less hair, determination in his eyes.

"Day two thousand five hundred and five of the Shadow Project. The subject is now seven and brilliant for her age. Her control over her developing powers however, is questionable. The raw power we saw in her as a baby has mellowed out, hidden beneath her self control."

That video then cut out, and another showed up. Lex was even older, bald like he was when he started being a villain. Many of the same worry lines he had now. He was tired, but the childish excitement hadn't left.

"Day four thousand three hundred and eighty. The subject is twelve, yet passing high school level classes. She struggled with science, staying within her age group there. This is a setback I fear will affect her later development."

Ironic, that I was so awful at science. Something that Wally excelled at. The concept of cells and biology and the world connecting and creating this scientific concept was hard for me to grasp. If all of that was true, how did I have powers? Was it my parents? Radiation? What was going on?

"I don't believe you," I stated, making Batman pause the next video before it could start, "You could have edited any of those, or pieced together different clips to form those. This isn't enough to make me doubt my family. My family. Do you understand that?"

"A family that kept you in an apartment for sixteen years under the rouse of controlling your powers. You control your powers well enough for me. Members of the team have more trouble than you, despite your setbacks and obvious bumps in the road. This family made you fear yourself, they pitted you against hero simulators. Why that, out of all the options? Aren't there easier ways to teach control?" Batman's eyes narrowed.

"How do you know all that?" I asked lowly.

Batman pulled a stack of photos out of nowhere, holding them out to me. I slowly flipped through them, each one making me more nervous than the last.

"I sent Robin for the flash drive. Miss Martian and Aqualad got these. There were security cameras everywhere throughout your apartment, always on. Based on the footage, they knew you were meeting with Kid Flash."

The photos were various and numerous. One of me training nearly three years ago, me in the kitchen the year before, talking to Harley, me opening the bags of clothes Ivy got me, me after I woke up from my nightmare; And the icing on the cake, was a picture of me in front of the glass wall, Wally on the other side.

There was no way the heroes could have put cameras in my home to take these themselves, and Wally never entered my home before then. All the security systems in place or SASS would have informed me or Lex. These were already there.

"If Lex knew I was talking to Wally, he would have stopped it," I ripped the photos in half, burying myself in denial, "This is ridiculous, edited somehow."

"I did some investigating myself," Batman continued, "I was able to retrieve Luthor's phone, the night after you left. He was holding a charity banquet, and I had an ally find it and retrieve as much information as possible from it."

"What does you stealing have to do with the claim that they were using me?"

"This," Bruce pulled up an audio file, a phone call, on the computer.

"I was too late, she's already gone. The music box is gone as well. The security cameras show she was here with those young brats."

"Allowing her to continue contact with Kid Flash was a mistake," a sharp voice replied. Ivy, "You said it would be a good way to get information, by reviewing the cameras and seeing what he said. But he took her instead! She was important Lex. And now we lost her. We lost our weapon, and even worse, we lost our-"

The audio cut off. Batman stood in silence, staring me down. My heart was crumbling to dust. Why? Why did all the pieces have to fit together? Why were the heroes and villains both so hypocritical and willing to hurt? Why did I find so much good and hope in them both? Blinking back my tears, I cleared my throat.

"You were the one who stole Lex's phone at the party, weren't you Bruce?" I asked numbly, voice shaking more than I would have liked it to.

Bruce's face morphed into one of shock, before he smiled slightly, taking that statement as submission. In all honesty, it was the only thing I could think to say, "I guess you really are brilliant. Tell someone, and it will be the last thing you say."

"Don't worry, I... I don't know if I can trust the villains anymore. But that doesn't mean I trust you either." I remembered the day I had the nightmare. Lex knew my vitals spiked because he was having SASS track them. Not just for my health. Would the villains really-

"Villains will do anything if it means winning," Batman told me, interrupting my thoughts with a perfect segway, "They'll lie to anyone, take their time in their plans. You were supposed to be their greatest weapon. Now that you know the truth, you can be a hero for us."

"A hero for you?" I laughed in disbelief, "I joined training because I had to. But I'm not going to become a hero just because you show me some evidence that works against the villains. If all of that's true, if they used me, then you're just like them. God, you're just like them!"

Bruce sighed tiredly, punching the bridge of his nose through his cowl, "Fine. How about a trial mission, so you can experience hero work in real life? If you don't want to be a hero after that, we'll figure something else out."

"Fine," I rolled my eyes, breathing heavily in anger. There was no way I could get out of dealing with one stupid mission.

Bruce nodded, before taking out the flash drive, grabbing the other one and pocketing them. I slowly turned around, taking my chance and sprinting out of the room. I didn't want to think about this, I just wanted to forget everything, to have a moment of peace.

While running from my thoughts and emotions, there were no heroes and villains. I wasn't lost in trying to figure out who I was, or who I could trust. There was nothing, and that was what I felt I needed.

Running through the halls I was so busy trying to escape my thoughts that I didn't notice a yellow blur speeding right towards me.

"Ooff!"

I fell back to the floor, groaning at the pain spreading through my tailbone. A few shadows moved from the walls and pushed my off of the ground to my feet.

"(Y/n), I'm so sorry! I was looking for you actually," rubbing my eyes again I looked up, meeting Wally's happy green eyes. The happiness turned to worry when he noticed the lost look on my face. "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

I stood up and moved past him, taking the last few steps to my room and locking the door behind me. I moved towards the music box sitting on my nightstand, a fresh wave of misplaced anger washing over me at the sight of it. A family heirloom just for me? To show how much Lex loved me like a daughter? Bullshit. I picked the box up, reeling my arm back to throw it across the room.

"Miss. (Y/n)!"

Pausing at ALICE's stern tone, I looked at my raised arm. I was about to destroy the one thing that could calm me down after a shadow accident. Mad at Lex and the villains or not, I couldn't get rid of it. Setting the music box back on my nightstand, I put the key necklace on top. I crawled onto the bed and buried my head into my knees.

Shadows danced on the wall across from me. Lifting my hand up I pulled them towards me, morphing them into different shapes. I settled on a small bird, with flapping wings and a beak mimicking birdsong. Its feathers were silky, moving like sand under my fingertips as I pet its mock feather.

Swish. The door slid open, and a yellow blur stopped at my bedside.

"Thanks ALICE."

Refusing to look up from the animal I spoke, "Beautiful isn't she? I made her. Birds are so simple. They eat when they want, sleep when they want, and they can enjoy freedom by flying."

"What's wrong?" Wally sat down next to me, ignoring my pointless rambling.

"Batman told me they never cared. He showed me pictures and a video, and a phone call," I whispered, eyes tearing up again. It was setting in. The situation, the proof. Did I really have Stockholm Syndrome to be able to deny everything that was right in front of me for so long? "He said it was all an experiment, I was going to be their weapon. But they raised me when no one else would. Why would they do that? It doesn't make sense."

Wally wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close.

"Forget them, they're villains. They don't care about anything but world domination."

"That's not true," I snapped, defensive, "Villains don't all care about world domination."

"I didn't mean to upset you, it's just-"

"Wally, what you're doing as a hero, you think it's the right thing?"

"Well yeah, of course I do. I save the world, I help people, I'm-"

"Doing what society wants you to," I cut him off, "Because you have powers they expect you to do what they need you to, to help them. That's what all the heroes do. Someone once told me that villains were normal once. But they, all of us, were and are put into a world where things are decided for us. The villains wanted to make their own choices in life, they wanted to rebel from what society labeled them as, but society labeled them again, this time as villains. They do what they think is right too."

"I never thought about it that way," Wally said thoughtfully.

"Bats thinks I might have Stockholm syndrome," I laughed humorlessly, "Because I don't want to become a hero, because I didn't believe him when he showed me the evidence. But I really don't want to... I don't know what's wrong with me. Heroes and villains, all of it is so confusing but it makes sense. People don't understand the concept of being in the middle in books and movies. It's bipolar."

"I don't think Bats would lie to you about something like this," Wally pointed out, "I know that you're skeptical about it, but he had his case. Being a hero isn't so bad. I know this is hard, and I'm not going to try to give you advice thinking I know more. But understand that all of this is something only you can figure out for yourself."

"I need time," I sighed, grateful he wasn't doing everything he could to push me towards the hero side, "Time to think, time to figure out everything."

"So..." Wally trailed off, the happy spark returning to his eyes, "When you go shopping for more clothes, will you get something Kid Flash related? I think you'd look cute in it."

I genuinely laughed, resting my head on his shoulder, "Sure, mine as well. I don't really have a choice in staying here it seems."