Like an Acorn

Five let out a sigh of contentment as she briskly dried her long brown hair with a fluffy towel. The shower had been long overdue in her opinion. “We’ll get you some of your own clothes soon,” Megan laughed as Five pulled on one of Conner’s oversize sweatshirts, while the shorts Babs had brought fit like a glove, the T-shirt had been too tight for her comfort.

“Oh! That would be nice,” Five had only one suit in the lab, and the idea of owning more than one thing was exciting. “How would we pay for it?” she asked her hopes faltering as her rational side started to pick at her feelings. The seriousness which had kept the clone alive in the lab didn’t seem to have a place here. They had assured her she was safe, well safe enough, but it was hard for her to not worry about things and even harder to allow herself to accept help. In Five’s experience things were traded for and in the back of her mind, Five wondered what the price would be when they eventually came calling. What was her safety, her comfort, worth to them?

“Technically you’re a Gotham kid, and Bats has this thing assured up-ta 50k,” Batgirl grinned, flipping out a small rectangular card. Even though Five had never seen a credit card before in her life she knew how they worked, for the most part. “A Gotham kid?” Five questioned her words barely a whisper as she watched Bab’s face carefully. Five doubted the serious man from the interrogation room would agree with that statement. She was with the Team, yet she wasn’t one of them. She certainly wasn’t a Gotham kid, even if her DNA came from that city, she wasn’t. She wasn’t cloned from a Robin, or Batgirl, she was cloned from an enemy. How was she entitled to anything?

Five felt her stomach twist as she remembered begging him. That was what she had done wasn’t it? Begged someone she didn’t know, someone who had no ties to her, for safety. Perhaps that’s why he’d left her here, because she didn’t belong in Gotham? Dumping Project Cadmus’ trash onto the sidekicks. Did they even want her here? Conner surely didn’t. Everything he’d done so far made it clear if he was truly in charge she’d be out on the streets.

Babs and Megan seemed nice enough, but Five had the feeling they were nice to everyone. For a second Five envied Megan’s powers, being able to read minds would have made it so much easier to figure out her moves. Instead she was stuck with practically useless things; useless for a good guy at least. Pheromones were tricky but had their perks when she was lucky, while on the other hand her poison was impossible, scary even, so she never used it, she never wanted to use it. She didn’t even want to get started on the problems of nature control in a subterranean concrete box. For a brief moment Five wondered if she wasn’t meant to belong here, maybe Ivy had been right.

“Listen, some of the greatest heroes come from the darkest places, you aren’t your parents.” Megan reassured giving Five a pat on the arm. She obviously had read her mind; this time Five didn’t even register it. “I was born in a pod I don’t have parents,” she stated dryly hiding the thoughts she perceived weak behind a mask of indifference before handing the towel she’d used to dry her hair over to Megan. She was more embarrassed than angry Megan had heard her thoughts. Her mood dampened as she pushed open the locker room door heading back into the training room.

The girl who’d been using the glowing floor plates was no longer practicing, but the boy from earlier was still going at the flying disks. Conner was also there, of course he was, his scowl forever stitched into his strong jaw line, as he waited to no doubt, chew into the other clone again. Leaning against the wall he seemed to be watching the boy practice. Five wondered if that was his natural position, he was always leaning against something. He was a big guy though, she wondered if he was top heavy at all. Maybe that was the reason he was always using something to stay upright, the very thought brought a secretive grin to her face as it crossed her mind.

Batgirl and Megan quickly followed Five out of the locker room, neither bringing up the past conversation all three stood watching the boy with the fascinating hair hit another target perfectly. The electricity erupted in colorful blasts from his fingertips, before slicing through the breakable disks with an auditory sizzle. His movements enthralling to the clone who’d rarely seen other metahuman powers in simulation, let alone real life. It went on like this for a few minutes, the silence, the watching, until a bell rang over his center and the disks stopped flying. Five rolled back on her bare heels fixated upon his movements she hadn’t realized she’d practically been standing on her tippy-toes to gain a better view until the disks were no longer being flung through the air, and Five felt the awkward numbness of her toes against the cold floor. Everyone watching as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

A wicked grin formed on his lips when he turned around and saw all four of them staring, “Black Lightning’s training is totally tight huh?!” He laughed rubbing the back of his head before shooting a smile Five’s way. “Hey, you don’t look like Superboy hit you with the Bio-Ship, anymore,” he chuckled, this shocked Five, sputtering she paused, the words she’d intended to say now lost. It took a moment to realize he must have listened to them talk in the hallway.

“For your information, I’m an excellent driver!” Conner growled tipping out of his leaning position before storming to the door, “Sure you are sweety,” Miss Martian validated although once he had his back to her, Megan’s face said otherwise.

Five watched as Conner stomped out of the room, something she assumed he did a lot, with Megan close on his tail.

There was something Five wanted to say, but she was lost for words as she watched his reaction. Five realized she had spoken more today than in all of her 16 weeks of existence put together. It was tiring coming up with the appropriate sentence structure. The girl didn’t know how these humans did it, and apparently from his childish arguments Conner didn’t either. "I gotta jet, when the Bat calls; see you tomorrow?" Batgirl shrugged, bopping her hip as if to draw attention to the small red buzzing bat signal beeper attached to her yellow utility belt. Waving a gloved hand in Five's direction Babs slipped through the door and out of sight, not waiting for Five’s socially obligated ‘goodbyes’. The clone blinked in confusion as she realized Nightwing had said almost the exact same thing only a few hours before. This made Five wonder if Batman was even more demanding than Conner.

For an awkward moment Five didn't know what to do, staring between the empty doorway and the dreadlock boy who stared awaiting at her as if it was her turn to speak. Five felt relief as Conner's gruff voice sounded from the hallway, "Come on," he demanded, giving the clone the direction she craved, and the knowledge of which words to speak next. Perhaps Conner’s grumpiness wasn’t all bad…

"Bye," she smiled waving halfheartedly towards the boy, "Static, the name's Static," he responded causing her to pause, "Bye then... Static," she answered, "See ya later Five," he chuckled turning back to his disks.

Walking out of the room, Five could see Conner standing a few feet away. His back facing the wall which signaled the end of the hallway, his lips sealed together like the edges of an air locked box. She could feel the frustration from his gaze, but no words bubbled to the surface. Five assumed Megan had said something to stifle his bite, but she had no clue what the Martian had threatened. Five doubted anything less than the most deadly of threats could have put an end to his bluntness.

“So, the only showers on this floor are in the locker rooms, but if you remember we passed the half-bath around the corner, it might be easier to use then going through the training room,” Miss Martian explained taking control of the situation again as she lightly tapped the green box on the door’s touch pad, the electronic metal door groaning as it sprung to life quickly pulling itself into a hatch on the left side of the hall.

A roll of moist heat blew past Five’s cheeks when she stepped towards the now open doorway. The rich smell of dirt permeated the air, making it obvious they’d reached their final stop on the tour. The room was not what she’d been expecting though. Greenhouses were supposed to be brimming with life, the one in front of her held only a small assortment of half dead plants in chipped terracotta pots. Not the futuristic wonder, the fancy door misled it to seem.

Heavy industrial lights hung from wires smothering the vegetation in unnatural light. The walls and floor of the medium sized room were constructed from rough concrete. There was no tropical paint to make the room seem more open, as there had been in the hallway. Five felt stupid for not guessing this, it’s not like they could put windows in a room on the second floor of a subterranean building.

Yet, there were real plants, and after a second Five was able to push away the initial disappointment. Her eyes drifted towards the ceiling, confusion present upon her face as she realized what she first assumed to be dark blue paint was in fact moving. "The headquarters is built into the cliff-side of Happy Harbor, this room was added on after the original hideout was destroyed last year, it pushes out into the ocean." Megan explained as if she was reading the clone's mind again, her hands pointing towards the rolling waves above. A deeper emotion tied into her voice than she gave away.

The building was so vast Five couldn't imagine that it was created in a year, but then again, she had been formed in less than 16 weeks. Five cringed as she looked at the suffering plants. The longer she stood in the room the stronger feelings became. It was as if the vegetation spoke to her, their individual needs nagged at the back of her mind. It was weird, like little whispers half lost upon the air. It was apparent no one else could hear them, if they did no one would dare leave the greenhouse this neglected; the shrill pained cries filled her with a nervous unease. Five swallowed back anxiety as she saw Megan glance out the door, Conner still resting against the wall one of his black combat boots the only thing in view.

Breaking the distance Megan lightly grasped one of Five’s forearms, instead of with words the Martian spoke with her thoughts. It has been a tough year… For all of us, things were in the air and when some secrets came out after the headquarters… After Wally—we lost a founding member, a-a close friend. Megan’s thoughts dropped for a moment as Five saw the obvious sickness dwelling in her heart, the once happy hero now looked intently at the floor. A large almost broken breath left her throat before she reconnected their mental attachment, Sorry… It’s still so hard to talk about him, you know like as if he could just zoom through the door at any second with that silly smile of his. We are all still mourning him, and being argumentative I think, is how Conner is dealing with the pain he’s feeling. Not that he’d admit it to anyone… He wasn’t good with people before, but now I think he uses his anger to push people away so he won’t have to feel anything if it happens again. So please, don’t take his words personal, he’ll come around, eventually.

“I-Uh,” Five swallowed hard, her eyes closed as she tried to push away the growing sounds of the plants from her mind, all the while trying to process Megan’s words. What was she supposed to say in this situation? Her stomach dropping as she saw flashes of blood behind her eyelids. Maybe she didn’t know the G-Gnomes or the Scientists the same way this girl knew her friend but she understood what it felt to have her heart break with the raw desire that this world was really the simulation, wanting the whole thing to go away and for the past to come back.

There were no words to express this though, so instead the clone did something much stranger. Turning towards Megan, Five wrapped her arms tightly around the Martian’s neck giving her a rare hug. Neither of them spoke, they didn’t need to. The clone was happy Conner did not walk in, and was quick to pull away as the sound of laughter penetrated the air. Five realized the room connected to the other side of the medium size greenhouse was not empty. Five considered Megan’s mental words may not have been because she was afraid only Conner would hear.

She could hear the sound of laughter in the adjacent room. Five’s head tilted to the side as she looked through the archway at the other end of the greenhouse. Curiosity trickled into her body as she headed towards the foreign sound, and away from the low rumble of complaints coming from the plants. Her eyes flashing back with deep compassion, “It’ll be alright,” she said only blinking with mild surprise as Megan thanked her. She thought better then to correct the other girl as she continued forward. Five's feet practically gliding across the floor as she crossed the distance, her fingers wrapping around the rough opening which connected both rooms. The girl’s head peaked around the corner, like a curious kitten tentatively checking out its environment before making a move.

This room was far smaller but much more pleasant than the greenhouse. There were no demanding plants in sight, only a far wall made up of the same glass as the ceiling. Even though the water was dark she could clearly see a few different kinds of fish swim by the completely submerged structure. She noticed nothing else, and easily forgot the sounds which had tempted her towards the room in the first place.

This was the magical room she’d expected behind the main door! Like a giant aquarium, all to herself. She had never seen anything quite like it before, there could be no simulation for that sight; obviously the sheltered girl was entirely bewitched. Her tentative thoughts lost as her long legs flew across the room, making it only two strides before tripping over an awkward folding chair which had been lying haphazardly in the middle of the room’s floor. She wouldn’t have noticed it at all if the cheep folded rusted metal hadn’t sent her flying into the thick glass wall.

If her wounded shoulder hurt when she hit, Five didn’t notice, her face pressed to the clear glass as she stared out in pure amazement at the ocean. Her fingers curling against the cool surface as she slid down the wall content with sitting Indian-style on cold concrete floor transfixed with the sight in front of her. The inky blue water swirling in front of her eyes looked like pure magic, the kind she had hardly imagined to be real.

“Cuidado Airvent Girl,” the familiar accent stirred around in Five’s mind like the tossing waves outside of the window. Leaning up on her knees Five pressed her palms against the glass not even turning, she felt the familiar boy approach, perhaps if she wasn’t mesmerized she would have felt embarrassed about attacking him earlier?

“Have you ever seen something so wondrous?” She whispered, her eyes locked on a small fish swimming past her face, the silver scales flashing in the room’s light.

Five couldn’t help but stare at his reflection in the glass, the familiar voice with the unfamiliar body. She almost flinched as he plopped down inches away from her right. The bright blue suit now changed out for a pair of washed out jeans and gray hoodie. Even with the quick shift of her eyes in his direction she decided he was attractive.

At least, his features were appealing to her, or what she would assume was appealing if she found people appealing. Five wasn’t attracted to people; people were attracted to Five… That was the way it worked (at least this was what she told herself). Almost all of the heroes she’d met so far were pleasant looking in their own way. This was no different.

The boy had not replied to her comment, only sat next to her and watched. She wanted to say something, but he didn’t, and she wasn’t sure why it bothered her. For the next second she stared at the glass and contemplated the idea that superheroes were attractive because it would make injuring or killing them more difficult. That brought another question as to why the boy wore a full bodysuit when his full lips and high cheekbones should have been on display. Rocking back on her heels Five turned towards the boy as if to ask this very question when a red and yellow blob knocked her back against the glass.

Five gritted her teeth as she found herself almost doing a 180 because of the wave of wind which hit her face, her back smacking against the glass wall as her head turned right and left anxiously. “Wha-,” She blinked stopping as she noticed the yellow shoes and red legs inches from her face. Her heart beat thumped crazily in her chest.

Before she could react to the person in front of her she felt her hand ripped from her side and was shaken wildly, recognition forming on her face as the surprise wore off. “Totally crash digs huh?!” The boy laughed waving around hyperactively, Five felt whiplashed as she tried to follow his movements. A grin bubbling under the surface as she finally looked around her room. The only thing crash about it was the view. The area was smaller than the room her pod had been in. Dirt clung to the grooves in the floor, even though it looked like the filthy broom in the corner had been used quite a bit. A single bed with crumpled bedding was half pushed against the far right wall, a corner pulled out had it placed at an awkward angle as if the work was only half-done. The discarded folding chair Five had tripped on and a large empty wooden crate against the cement wall, which separated the room from the greenhouse, was the only other furniture.

“Totally,” she smiled shaking back, because it was still better than a pod. “My name's Bart Allen, futuristic grandson of Ba- Oh no! totally not crash, mode really... Past heroes and secret identities.” Bart let out a huff and a roll of the eyes which happened so fast Five almost missed it. “Anyways, Bart, Impulse… Technically I’m KidFlash now too. That’s a super mode story, so call me Bart.” The boy explained waving his hands now as he spoke, his body moving with each word. It was like he couldn’t stand still; far different from Conner’s almost sluggish movements. The clone opened her mouth as if to speak when he continued on, “You were totally crash! At the lab? Remember, when we were there? You, me, Blue...Totally crash, you bruised his ribs! Great times, Robin took it way mode though, you aren’t evil, right? Right! So what’s your name? Have you tried freeze-dried chicken whizees? Let me tell you totally crash!” The speedster rambled on-and-on, making Five’s head spin. She found it impossible to have time to think of what to say back to the boy let alone say it.

“Hermano, give her a second, por favor,” Blue laughed, Five’s head turning back towards him as she watched him relax. His back leaning against the glass as his legs crossed at the ankles, an amused look upon his face.

“Oh. Right. Sorry,” Bart apologized plopping down onto the hard ground with a thump. Words lost on Five’s breath as another voice cut into the conversation.

“Good you guys are… You’ve been here an hour and this is the best you can do?” Leave it to Conner to break into the conversation. Five was starting to secretly like his rudeness, especially when it saved her from her own stressed words.

“Blue’s a total slacker,” spouted out Bart quickly in mock seriousness, gaining a playful glare from the other boy.

“Me? Hermano, you must be joking! Seriously Conner, Bart just got here like ten seconds ago, I had to do the entire thing myself,” the boy complained as he tried to redirect Conner’s anger, although his voice stayed relatively calm—Blue knew there were worse punishments than being assigned to Gamma.

“Dude, it’s called an Xbox break,” Bart huffed shaking his head as if Blue had betrayed his greatest trust.

“You said you were getting snacks,” Blue asked with a raised brow, his dark brown eyes staring with amusement up at the younger boy.

“I’m a speedster, I did both,” the boy in red explained his head no longer turned in Conner’s direction as he focused on the other boy. Five just watched as the boy sitting in front of her and to the right had a conversation as if neither Conner nor she were there.

“You were supposed to bring me something,” Blue gruffed, crossing his arms against his chest.

“I did… But, WG challenged me to a rematch at Call of Duty and you know it takes a lot of energy to crash the mode,” Bart justified nodding his head at hyper speed.

“Did you at least win?” the boy next to Five asked a wicked grin on his face, as he stared hopefully at his friend. The clone just wished she knew what WG and Call of Duty were.

“No... Cassie put the mode on,” Bart answered the slowest Five had heard so far, his teeth gritting as if his failure to win was a big deal.

“Amazons--” Blue started only to stop midsentence, the strange silence lasted a few seconds before he continued on, “Who knew?” he added answering some unheard question. “Hermano, she’s not even an Amazon, guess you can’t use that excuse anymore…” he laughed rubbing the back of his head, Five could see a small blush rise to the surface as he realized everyone was staring at him. The girl wondered if she'd kicked him a little harder in the head than she'd first thought.

“Are you both done yet?” Conner asked agitation apparent with his twitching eyebrow. Neither boy having the chance to defend themselves before Megan entered the room and heroically saved the day.

“Conner, Aqualad just beeped me, we’re needed for briefing,” the Martian interrupted as she jogged into the room, her finger pressed to a small circular earpiece while waving at her friend.

“Briefing…” He let the words fall off his lips as if he didn’t believe her, until seconds later a small disk attached to his belt started to vibrate angrily; not too unlike his personality, the clone observed. “Great.” His words almost spat, Five felt lucky for both boys he had to leave, for some reason she felt he would enjoy digging in.

“Just stay in the base, finish the room, Blue’s in charge,” Miss Martian instructed to the boys before turning to leave, only pausing at the doorway for a moment to address Five as if it was an afterthought, “Don’t worry about it,” she smiled softly reading the girl’s now frantic thoughts about being left with the strangers. The dizzying effect of the water wearing off in her mind as rationalities kicked in.

Conner's last words weren't so kind, "don't lose her," he commanded before slipping out of the archway after the Alien. Sweaty panic turned away in Five’s stomach as the proximity to the two strange boys became apparent. The one who never shut his mouth and the one she’d possibly hit too hard.