Capturing a Dream
Chapter 1 - Meeting the Team
This was it. She was excited. No excited wasn’t the word. Terrified? Yeah, that was closer. Marinette was about to step into the Young Justice base for the first time and meet her new teammates. What if they don’t like her? What if they don’t let her join the team? What if they let her join the team but they exclude her? What if they get mad at her because she won’t expose her identity and they think she doesn’t trust them? What if she messes up and she ends up getting someone killed? What if she gets one of her teammates killed? What if she gets someone else killed? What if… No!
She wasn’t going to do that. She wasn’t the same 14 year old girl who spiraled into anxiety-induced, worst-case-scenario, death spirals. She was 17 now. She was in her final year of school before college, nearly an adult, legally, she was an adult. She was the Guardian. She was a hero. She was already in a prestigious internship with one of the biggest names in fashion. She was working with the Justice League, well Young Justice, but that was better because there wasn’t as much of a time commitment, which was really good because she didn’t have much to spare… where was she going with this? Right! She was smart. She was competent. She was confident(ish). She was… standing outside the zeta tube opening staring at it like an idiot, and she was going to be late.
She took a deep breath and ran her free hand over the costume she wasn’t quite used to yet, trying to find comfort in the feeling and focus her mind. She could do this. She may no longer be able to be Ladybug for secrecy reasons, but Ladybug wasn’t her only option. She was Chimera now and Chimera was not linked back to the miraculous. So this new and completely un-miraculous affiliated hero definitely wasn’t unifying the fox and horse miraculous. Chimera was a separate and unmiraculous hero. She was a new heroic entity; a powerful amalgamation of divergent parts; an illusion, who uses illusions; a dream that can never be captured. Chimera was just another magical hero working in the background.
Gone was the flashy, bright suit of a central hero. She was a shadow now and her suit reflected her new role. The base of the suit was a brown so dark, it almost looked black. Her knee-high boots and gloves that reached to midway up her bicep were both black, meeting with the brown core of the suit with a strip of deep orange. Her mask was the same dark brown color with deep orange at the corners. She no longer had her yoyo, but in its place was a rope that responded to her like her yoyo did. Her flute across her back completed her weaponry.
She was still a hero, just not a miraculous one, as far as anyone else knew. She was still protecting people for now, she just wasn’t on the front lines anymore. She was still protecting the miraculous and would for the rest of her life. And she was still… standing outside the Zeta tube opening, staring.
She closed her eyes, and walked through the portal. Before she let out her breath, she could feel a difference in the air around her. She heard a digital voice say “Recognize Chimera B12.” She opened one eye tentatively and jumped back with a quiet squeak when she saw Batman standing on the other side giving her an amused smile next to Black Canary and a red figure.
Black Canary stepped forward, “Welcome to Mount Justice, Chimera. You’ve already met Batman. This is Red Tornado. He supervises the cave here.” Chimera nodded to him but before she could say anything Black Canary continued speaking. “We are very excited to have you here. While you are training and on missions, this will be your home. I know you have an apartment near your internship, but if you ever want to get away, you are always welcome to stay here whenever and however long you want to.” Her voice was warm and welcoming. She leaned over and lowered her voice, “lead lined walls and no bugs or cameras allowed in the personal rooms in case you want to drop your transformation while you are here.” She gave her a nod and started walking, motioning to Chimera to follow her.
“As discussed before, your team knows nothing about you. What you choose to disclose is your decision. Only Batman and I know anything more. The team is used to people hiding their identities so there is no pressure to give your personal identity. I mean, there might be teasing, but you are under absolutely no obligation to divulge and they will respect that. Especially since Robin is under the same requirement.”
They entered into a small sitting area that appeared to be their common room. The first thing she noticed was a kitchen that was almost as nice as her parents’ kitchen in the bakery and significantly bigger. She let out a quiet “Wow” without even noticing she had done it. She would have to try that out as soon as she was able to get back to it.
“Pretty nice, huh?” She heard from behind her. She whirled around and finally noticed the other half of the room were a few couches and chairs were clustered in front of a television. More significantly, there was a red headed boy talking to her, standing in front of four other teens. They were looking at her with uncertainty and a slight bit of curiosity except the red headed boy who looked excited to meet her, and the larger black haired boy who looked a bit hostile.
“Uh, yeah. It’s… um, a really nice kitchen. It looks… really professional.” She stammered, trying to keep the nerves out of her voice.
The red head smiled brightly at her. “Only the best for the Justice League.”
“Alright team, it’s nice to see your smiling faces.” Black Canary started with more than a hint of sarcasm. “I would like to introduce you to your new team member. This is Chimera.” Chimera gave an awkward wave to the Young Justice members. “She was recruited by the Justice League. Her identity is secret and will stay that way, am I clear?” She stared at each of the team members one at a time. “Good. She is here under an outside deal so she may not always be available for missions, but she will be here whenever she can be.”
The red head raised his hand. “Wally, you don’t have to raise your hand.” Batman said tiredly.
“What is the outside deal? What does that even mean?”
“It means something else brought her to our vicinity and she is only available to us because of that. The details of the deal are not important. Only that she is a hero on your team and every bit as dedicated to the team as the rest of you.”
“How is she as dedicated if she can’t commit to being here?” Artemis snarked quietly to Superboy.
“We all have outside lives that demand our attention. There are times I can’t go out with the Justice League. One of the others cover for me. Are you suggesting I am not committed to the Justice League?” Batman stared harshly at her.
“No, sir.” Artemis shrunk back.
“I’m sorry, I have school and… other obligations, but I promise I will give you as much time and attention as I can spare without going insane. Learned that the hard way.” She looked down as she muttered the last part under her breath. She quickly looked back up hoping nobody heard her. Everyone seemed to have the same expressions on their faces except Superboy who was giving her a quizzical look. “I am committed to the team. I want to be here, I promise. Um… here, I brought macarons!” She said with forced cheeriness, attempting to placate their suspicions and hostility. She opened the lid to the box of macarons she had brought with her.
Chimera’s hair blew back as Wally rushed forward. He had already grabbed three macarons before she even saw him move. “These are delicious! Where did you get them?”
“Thank you. I made them. I like to bake.” She smiled broadly at him.
Wally stared at her with his jaw open, the macaron close to falling out of his mouth. “Marry me.” He said dreamily.
Chimera giggled at him. “How about I use the only-the-best kitchen to make something else for you a bit later instead?”
Wally gave her a bright grin. “That will work.” He looked at the rest of the macarons longingly then back at his teammates. “Uh…. These are absolutely terrible and you shouldn’t have to be subjected to them. I’ll just finish these off so you don’t have to.” He reached back toward the box but Chimera closed the lid and raised an amused brow at him.
“Move over,” Robin pushed Wally to the side. “Thank you Chimera. That was sweet of you.” He took a bite and looked back up at her with a smile. “Hey, Wally was right. These are delicious. Artemis, Kaldur, Superboy, get over here and try these.”
Kaldur and Artemis came over, Artemis shoving Wally again for no apparent reason. Superboy stayed where he had been and continued to eye her suspiciously. Wally looked at them with a pout. “Hey! Leave some for me.”
“You’ve already had a bunch. The rest of us get some too.” Artemis rolled her eyes.
“Hey, I have a fast metabolism. I need to eat.” Wally whined.
“Thank you… I’m sorry, I didn’t get any of your names.” Chimera said apologetically.
“Tall, blonde, and hostile is Artemis. Tall, blonde, and aloof is Kaldur. Tall, dark, and broody back there is Superboy. You already met Wally, aka Kid Flash. And I’m Robin.” Robin gave her a charming smile and shook her hand.
She gave them all a brilliant smile. “It is nice to meet you all. I’m really excited to work with you.” Wally smiled broadly at her and gave a lovesick sigh. Artemis groaned and turned away.
Kaldur moved forward and extended his hand to her, “Welcome to the team.”
She shook his hand and gave him a warm smile. “Thank you.”
“Okay, now that everyone has introduced themselves, let’s get to the training area. I’m interested to see how Chimera’s powers work with the rest of yours.” Black Canary announced.
“The training area is just this way,” Robin said with a suave smile, sweeping his arm out toward the direction they were supposed to move.
“Thanks,” Chimera smiled anxiously at him.
Wally came up on the other side of her and bumped his shoulder gently into hers. “Don’t worry, we’ll take it easy on you.” He said with a wink.
Chimera looked at him blank faced for a few seconds before throwing him a sassy grin. “It’s not me I’m worried about, speedy.”
“Oh no, Speedy was someone else.” Artemis threw in, moving past the group.
“You’re kidding.” Chimera stared at her.
“Nope.” Artemis responded popping the p. “A whole different hero. Not even fast either. Makes no sense.”
“Good to know.” Chimera nodded absentmindedly.
“Oh, she can never meet Speedy.” Wally looked at the other heroes with wide eyes.
“Is he that bad?” Chimera asked, concern seeping into her eyes.
Artemis turned back to her and grinned wickedly, “No, he’s afraid you’ll start dating him.”
“Ahh. I don’t date teammates so, don’t worry.” Chimera reassured Wally with a clap on his back. Artemis barely contained the chuckles that were fighting to spill out.
Wally gave her a distressed look, “But, teammates are great. They are supportive and understand you… They’re… They’re the ideal dating material.”
“You make some interesting points.” She nodded as though contemplating his words. “Luckily, you have very pretty and interesting teammates, four at least from what I can see. So you have a wealth of dating material at your disposal.” Chimera gave him a wink and walked ahead of him. Artemis cackled loudly and threw her arm over Chimera’s shoulders, walking along with her. “I think I’m going to like having you here.”
Chimera smiled at her. “Good. I hope so.”
Black Canary gave them a serious look and stood in the middle of the sparring area as the team lined up around the edges. “Let’s get started. This is an exhibition sparring match. We want to see what you can do and what your teammates can do and see how you can mesh.”
“You don’t know what she can do?” Kaldur asked.
“I know. It’s you I’m concerned about. You’re going to be working with her and leading her. You need to know what she can do. So, Chimera? Go full force. We want to know what to plan for in the field.” Black Canary commanded.
Chimera looked at her unsure. “Full force? Are you sure? I don’t want to… That can be really dangerous.”
Black Canary nodded in understanding. “I get that, but I assure you it will be fine. We just need to see where you are in your skills, so we need you to give it your all.”
Chimera eyes got even bigger, “I’m not going to kill someone to prove a point. I can do a demonstration instead.”
The rest of the team looked at her insulted. Robin finally spoke up to scoff at her. “We can take it. We’ve dealt with worse. Don’t worry.”
Ladybug looked back at him with wide eyes. “It isn’t… I don’t think I’m a better fighter than you. I’m positive you all have better training than I do, especially since I don’t have any, it’s just… I’ve brought down the Eiffel Tower with one hit before. Thank god for miraculous ladybugs. But you all look a bit more…” she struggled for an appropriate word to finish her thought, “…vulnerable. I really don’t want to hurt any of you.” She shot him a pleading look.
Superboy stepped forward with a determined look on his face. “Then try me. I’m less…” he paused as if thinking, “what was that word you used… Vulnerable.”
She looked at him uncertain then looked over to Black Canary, taking note of her stern expression. She nodded and stepped onto the mat. “I’ll make it work.” Chimera offered uncertainly.
They faced each other for a few moments before settling into a fighting stance. When she was ready, Chimera nodded to Superboy. He rushed at her and extended his arm at the last second to deliver a haymaker punch. Chimera bent backwards and twirled in a semi-circle so she was standing behind him and kicked him in the butt, sending him sprawling on the floor. He got up and glared at her. He rushed her again, this time aiming for her waist so she couldn’t duck under him. She stared at him coming at her like a deer in headlights. Superboy got a smug glint in his eye as he closed in on her. At the last second, Chimera jumped up and rolled down his back, landing on her feet behind him, the wide eyed expression long gone.
“We need you to try, Chimera. We need you to actually fight, not just dodge.” Batman stated sternly.
Chimera looked over to him to nod at the instruction. The momentary distraction was enough for Superboy to land a hard hit to her stomach. The force of the impact sent her flying across the mat. The team winced and groaned in sympathy as she hit a wall with a hard thump. Superboy moved over to her to check on her but stopped half way to her. Chimera stood up and cocked her head to the side, examining Superboy. She raised her brow and asked calmly, “So… super strength. Invulnerability?”
He nodded at her. “Okay then.” She smirked at him, walking back to the central area of the room. “Let’s do this.” He smiled slightly and nodded. She immediately launched herself at him, catching him by surprise. She punched him hard enough to send him across the room in the opposite direction. He slid toward the wall but was able to regain enough control to use the wall as a springboard to launch himself back at her. She saw him coming and twisted at the last second, using his momentum against him to push him off balance. He recovered quicker than she expected and swept her legs out from under her. She used her momentum to turn the fall into a flip, leading to a series of flips and twists taking her away from him, giving her some space to think.
They circled around each other trying to plan their next move. Suddenly Chimera stopped and looked like she just realized something. “Oh I forgot. I’m supposed to be showing my skills…” she started innocently. Superboy took advantage of her apparent distraction to jump at her again but that was the moment she had been waiting for. “Voyage” she whispered and created a portal behind her. She stepped out of the way at the last possible second, sending Superboy through the portal at full speed. The portal ended close to the rock wall on the other side of the room. Superboy almost slammed into the wall with his full force but she had left him enough room to bounce back off the wall and launch himself back through the portal and back in front of her, throwing a punch toward her sternum that she was just barely able to twist away from, rolling along his arm until she was in the perfect position to elbow him in the back of his head. He grunted and turned back toward her, circling around her again.
“Full force, Chimera,” Black Canary chastised her.
“Not going to make him bleed on purpose for a game, Ms. Canary.” Chimera responded, still focused on Superboy. “Besides, we’re not done yet.” She turned to Superboy, “Right?” He nodded at her, an amused glint in his eyes. “I haven’t even showed off all my skills yet.”
“Well, let’s see those skills you keep talking about.” Superboy taunted her.
“If you say so Superboy.” She smirked at him then frowned. “I don’t appreciate that your actual name is the name I would have called you to taunt you. You’re making my job harder.”
He frowned at her, the amused look that had been in his eyes dropping. “So sorry my name is an inconvenience. You can call me The Weapon like my makers did if you prefer.”
Chimera stood up straight, fidgeting and frowning at him. “That’s… really?” She looked around to the other heroes. They all nodded solemnly.
She looked back at him with softer eyes. “What do you want to be called?” She asked in a kind tone.
“I… Superboy.” He said stiffly, not exactly sure how to respond to the shift in atmosphere.
Chimera nodded and gave him a warm smile. “Superboy it is. No nicknames unless you approve of them.”
“As heartwarming as this is, you are supposed to be sparring.” Black Canary reminded them.
“Right,” Chimera said shook her head to refocus herself. “Sorry.” She whispered “Mirage,” bringing her flute up to her lips. As soon as the notes were heard, a dozen replicas of her appeared and began running around the circle. Superboy tried to scan them but they all looked identical even with his infrared vision. He stilled to listen for a heartbeat or breathing, but he couldn’t detect it in any of them. He looked around wildly. It was a sea of dark brown and bright orange. He nodded to himself calculating the possibilities. Most likely she managed to split herself. So either they are all fully sentient or there is a central figure controlling them. He’d have to hope for the latter.
His eyes flicked to one of the figures running at him. The figure jumped into a flying kick. He dodged out of the way and rolled to his feet, looking around again for the next attack. He didn’t wait long. Another figure ducked low to sweep his feet. He jumped over her but felt a sharp pain in his side as one of the replicas body checked him with enough force to knock him into the far wall.
Superboy shook his head to clear it. When he took more than a few seconds to recover, the replicas looked at him concerned. One of them finally moved forward and asked “Are you okay to continue?”
He stared at the replica for a few moments before nodding. “We’re not done yet.” All the replicas smiled at him and moved into new positions, waiting for him to indicate he was ready. As soon as he nodded two replicas moved to attack him, one went high, one went for his legs. He lunged for the one going high, jumping over the one going for his legs. As soon as he reached her, she disappeared. Not meeting the resistance he had expected, the force of the lunge caused him to lay out flat on the floor. He grunted and jumped up before any of the replicas could attack again.
As soon as he was up he looked around with a grin. “Mirage,” he repeated. They were all an illusion. He just had to find the real one. Two attacked him again. He hit one causing it to disappear but the other one hit him with her flute, knocking him to the side. He shook his head again and turned back to them and backed away, giving himself space. He just had to find the one. There had to be an indication of which one was the real one. He couldn’t use his infrared vision or hearing. Maybe there was something about them. He stared at them as they circled around each other. There! There was one with a different shade of orange, the shade Chimera had before the match. All the replicas had bright orange but the real Chimera had deep orange accents.
He kept his eyes moving so she wouldn’t know he’d made her. He moved forward toward one of the replicas moving to punch her. Chimera attacked from the side again, coming at him before he could touch the replica and make it disappear. He grinned to himself. At the last second, he changed his trajectory and sent another haymaker toward her. He jerked back in pain as the replica he had been moving toward originally made contact, knocking the air out of his lungs. He grunted in anger and confusion as a rope was tied around him, pinning down his arms. His legs were swept out from under him causing him to land hard. He trashed with all his strength as he felt her tying his legs too. He kept thrashing against the rope, but no matter how hard he pushed and pulled, the rope showed no indication of weakening.
After a few moments of him pointlessly struggling, Black Canary walked over and declared Chimera the winner. She smiled excitedly at Chimera. “Now we know what we’re working with and we can plan how to incorporate your skills into missions and approaches to your training.”
Chimera nodded in understanding and looked over to the team who were still watching her in various degrees of surprise. Kaldur nodded in approval. Wally and Artemis stared at her in shock. Robin was pointing and laughing at Superboy. Chimera glowered at him and turned back to Superboy, releasing the rope so he could get up.
As soon as he was freed, Superboy jumped up and rubbed his arms, glaring at the floor. Chimera smiled nervously in his direction, but he refused to look at her and had turned his body away from her. She sighed and looked down too, shifting nervously. After a few moments, she started gathering up the rope to tie it back around her waist. She furrowed her brows at the sound of Robin still laughing, which seemed to upset Superboy even more. She narrowed her eyes at him and whipped the rope out in his direction. It snapped a few inches away from his face with a crack so loud it reverberated throughout the cave. Robin jumped away awkwardly and fell backwards, landing on his butt.
Superboy looked from Robin to her. He let out a small laugh and gave her a smile. Chimera took it as a good sign and smiled back at him. “That was a lot of fun. You are really good at picking up on details, otherwise that color trick wouldn’t have worked.” Her voice was soft, like she was addressing a scared child.
He nodded at her and quietly said, “Thanks. It was fun.”
“Does that mean we can do it again sometime? I need practice sparring and I’m usually afraid I’ll hurt someone when I’m in the suit and when I’m not, it isn’t as effective. I mean, helpful still, but not as effective.” He stared at her for a few seconds but finally nodded at her.
“That was a pretty good introduction but it’s getting late now. I think it’s time to call it a night. Red Tornado, can you take Chimera to the room she will be using so she can recharge?” Black Canary asked.
When Chimera returned a few minutes later, the group smiled at her and gave their goodbyes. They made plans for everyone to return the next day for more training. One by one, they all left through the Zeta tubes except for Superboy. Chimera looked at him confused. “Are you not leaving too?”
“No.” He stated coldly.
“Why not? I mean… if you don’t mind me asking.” She stammered out.
“Because I live here.” He grumbled back at her.
“Alone?” She gasped.
“With Red Tornado.” He corrected defiantly.
“But no other… people? In this big, empty, cold place?” She looked out over the cave, the empty, cold, inhospitable place he was going to call home.
“I like being alone.” He stated in an annoyed voice.
Something that looked like anger flashed across her face transforming into a determined look before she smoothed it out and gave him a cheeky grin. “That’s a shame.”
He narrowed his eyes looking at her suspiciously, “Why is that?”
“I’m moving in.” Her smile grew bigger.
He furrowed his brow and frowned, “What?”
“I’m moving in. I have school and, uh… stuff during the day, but I’ll be here in the mornings and at night, most weekends.” She nodded at him. “It will be like a sleepover every night… except we’ll be sleeping in separate rooms.”
He stared at her for a few seconds, unsure how to react. “Whatever,” he grunted walking back toward the residence area. “Dinner is usually in like 30 minutes.” He called over his shoulder. She smiled in his direction. It wasn’t a warm welcome but it was better than nothing.
“Are you sure about this? It isn’t required for you to live here. Most of the members don’t.” Black Canary reassured her.
“That’s why I’m doing it. I’ve already had one teammate who had to live essentially alone and isolated in a big, empty space. He hated it. It messes with your self-worth and your ability to interact with other people, no matter how badly you want to. It scrapes away at your humanity. I couldn’t really do anything for his living situation, but I can do something for Superboy.”
“It will make keeping your identity more difficult.” Batman warned her softly.
“I know, but he’s my teammate. I won’t abandon him. And I need a friend here too. I’ll be all alone otherwise, so… it will be mutually beneficial… I hope.” She added tentatively.
Batman and Black Canary shared an approving look with each other and turned back to her. “Okay. Let us or Red Tornado know if you need anything. We really think you are going to fit in amazingly with this team.”
Chimera smiled at them and shifted slightly to look out over the rest of the cave. “I think so, too.”
Chapter 2
