After spending those two weeks in the hospital, and missing both Christmas and New Years, Aspen was finally out and back home at the Queen Mansion.

Aspen smiled as she walked into her room, which had stayed the same after four years. When Ollie adopted Aspen, he wanted to give her the second biggest bedroom in the mansion, which Aspen flat out turned down. She’d never had a big room, and she opted for one of the smaller guest rooms.

Her bed was still pushed into the corner, and a small desk in another. Multiple pictures and pieces of artwork decorated the lilac walls. A small bookshelf sat next to the desk, overflowing with books ranging from various fictional books to nonfiction ones.

She was happy that Ollie and Dinah didn’t change anything, but she knew it probably caused them more grief while she was missing.

Roy and Artemis were supposed to take over the explanations when they got back, seeing as the only thing left to explain was more about the Team, which they knew more about than Dinah or Oliver. However, Roy only told her a couple of things and didn’t stay for long, much to Aspen’s dismay, mumbling something about ‘going back out to find him’ under his breath when he hugged her goodbye.

“What was that all about?” she asked Artemis after he left, still not knowing who ‘he’ was. The two girls were sitting in Aspens’ room, Aspen laying on the bed and Artemis leaning against the wall.

“Which part?” Artemis jokingly asked, looking up at Aspen. “Roy’s always in a rush to get somewhere else, most of the time somewhere I’m not.”

“The thing he said about ‘going to find him’. He said something about it when you guys visited me at the hospital the other day—pausing his search for ‘him’, I think?” The archer’s face turned more serious.

“Oh, that.” She rubbed the back of her neck nervously. “I don’t know if he really wants me to—”

“Come on!” Aspen interrupted. “ I’m sure others know about it! How bad could it be?”

And then Artemis told her everything about it. How Roy—the real Roy—was abducted during a mission and cloned, and that the Roy that Aspen saw today was the clone. She told her how he was a sleeper agent and unknowingly was a mole and was programmed to try to join the League at any cost. And how now, his only focus was on finding the real Roy Harper, whom Aspen apparently only knew for a year before he went missing.

“Oh. That’s what that was about,” Aspen said. “But to be honest, and I know this is going to sound really bad,” she continued, holding her hands up defensively, “But I called it!”

Artemis’s mouth fell open and she gave Aspen a look of shock. “What do you mean you called it?”

“Hello? I imitate others almost daily. I notice a lot about how people react to different things and how their moods change. I thought something was up as soon as Ollie found him.” When Artemis still gave Aspen a shocked expression, she elaborated. “All he ever talked about was joining the League—which to be fair, he did talk about a lot before the whole cloning incident, but by that point, it was getting excessive. Also, his mood sucked when he didn’t get his way. At first, I wrote it off as a result of being abducted, but after a while…” she trailed off figuring Artemis would understand what she meant.

Apart from Artemis giving Aspen super in-depth breakdowns on The Team, the two girls soon found themselves straying from the topic. Artemis ended up joining Aspen on the bed and the two girls talked about their personal lives.

Aspen found out that Artemis joined the Team after secretly helping them on a mission, and pretended to be Olivers niece for a couple of months.

“Wait, but Ollie doesn’t even have siblings,” Aspen laughed, shaking her head.

“Yeah, but the Team didn’t know that,” Artemis replied, also laughing. She looked over at the clock on Aspen’s desk and saw the time. “I better get going,” she said, sliding off the bed and picking up her bag from the floor. “It was really nice getting to know you, Aspen,” she said, standing in the doorframe.

“Goodbye!”

~~~

After yet another week, Aspen was finally allowed to leave the mansion, specifically to go meet the Team and to see if Martian Manhunter could help her with her memory problem.

‘At least this past week wasn’t spent in another hospital bed’ Aspen thought to herself. She stood next to Artemis, absentmindedly playing with the black ring on her middle finger—which she should have taken off, but forgot to earlier.

“Nervous?” Artemis asked, smiling as she watched the other girl fidget.

“A little,” Aspen admitted, looking up. Oliver and Dinah were on the other side of the Arrowcave, setting coordinates for Mount Justice, and giving Aspen a designation so she could go through with them. “I mean, from what you and Roy told me, I only know two of the members, and it’s been four years since I’ve seen either of them. I’m still on little-to-no power usage while my body recovers and—”

“Aspen,” Artemis said, stopping her from saying anything else. “Breathe. You need to relax.” She put a hand on Aspens’ shoulder. “You’ll be fine.”

Aspen took a deep breath and pushed her ring back down to the base of her finger. Faking a smile, she replied, “Right, I’ll be perfectly fine.”

“Okay,” Oliver said, and the two girls looked at him and Dinah. “We’re ready.” Artemis and Aspen walked over and joined the two Leaguers on the Zeta Platform. A light scanned each of them and then a computerized voice read their designations aloud.

“Recognized: Green Arrow, 08. Black Canary, 13. Artemis, B07. Enigma, A06.” As each of the heroes names was called, they walked through the beam and came out in Mount Justice.

Her first impression of the headquarters was amazement. The inside of the mountain had been hollowed out and was full of high-tech computers and equipment. The ceiling was at least fifteen—if not more—feet above her, and she saw a ton of other hallways branching off from this room.

Aspen looked around more and noticed two people sparring on a lighted platform. As each of them landed a hit on the other, a small holographic screen popped up above them, showing points.

Aspen’s minds raced as she watched the holograms pop up and quickly fade away. She wanted to know how it worked, what powered it, who made it, and if she could get her hands on it, maybe make something with it?

The platform they were standing on powered down and they walked over to the group. Aspen soon recognized both of them as they got closer: Aqualad and Rob—wait, no, Nightwing. He was Nightwing now, and there was a new Robin. One of the few things Roy explained before he left.

She had never met Aqualad in person before, but Roy talked about him a lot. He had a lot of respect for the Atlantean.

Aspen had known Ro—Nightwing ever since Oliver and Dinah introduced her and Roy to him. She also noticed that he was wearing sunglasses, though how he kept them on even after flipping around the platform was beyond her.

“Aspen!” Nightwing grinned when he recognized her and the two embraced. When they moved back, Nightwing noticed an inquisitive look on Aspen’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m just trying to figure out how you keep those glasses on while doing all those acrobatics,” she laughed and he smirked. “Also, how does that platform thing work? What powers it? How—”

She was cut off when Oliver cleared his throat loudly and gave Aspen a look that meant something along the lines of ‘manners’.

“Oops, manners, right.” She looked over at Aqualad and extended her hand. “Hello, Aqualad, it’s nice to finally meet you. Roy told me a lot about you.”

“Hello, Enigma, it’s nice to meet you as well. And please, call me Kaldur.” Aspen nodded and smiled.  “What brings you to Mount Justice?” he asked.

“We’re supposed to be meeting Martian Manhunter here to find some missing memories,” she explained.

“Missing memories?” Nightwing questioned, looking between Aspen and Artemis.

“It’s a long story,” Artemis said, shaking her head.

She was about to ask more questions about the computer when Dinah and Oliver got a call from the League. “Excuse us,” Oliver said as he pressed the comm hidden in his ear. He and Dinah walked away from the group to talk privately. Aspen hoped they would leave her here for a while.

“So,” Kaldur started, pulling Aspen out of her thoughts. “Nightwing tells me you can shapeshift, is that true?”

“Yeah. I’m not really supposed to use them right now, but…” she trailed off looking over at Ollie and Dinah, who were still in conversation. “A little bit wouldn’t hurt anyone, right?”

Aspen held out her hand in front of her and took a deep breath, concentrating on changing the color of her hand. She looked down and saw the skin changing seamlessly to multiple different colors instead of the purple. Looking up from her hand, she saw both Kaldur and Artemis watching with awe written all over their faces.

“Woah,” Artemis breathed, eyes wide open as she between Aspen’s face and her hand. She blushed and stopped the rainbow, changing her skin back to its natural purple hue.

“My cousin used to love watching me do this,” Aspen explained. “It got me into trouble by his mother a couple of times, but it was worth it. He would get so excited…” she trailed off, remembering that she still hadn’t talked to Jason since… four years ago. She needed to find time and call him.

“Does he know that you are a hero, your cousin?” Aqualad asked and Aspen shook her head.

“I never told him outright, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he figured it out. Jay was pretty observant.”

A loud cough erupted from Nightwing as the group turned and looked at him. His eyes widened under his mask and he grasped for something to say. “Uh… sorry, I...uh…” He was saved from an explanation when Ollie and Dinah walked back from their call.

“Our meeting with Martian Manhunter is going to have to wait. We have League business to attend t—” Dinah said before Aspen cut her off.

“And you’re going to let me stay here?” she asked through a smile. Noticing the looks that Ollie and Dinah were giving each other, Aspen quickly added, “C’mon, I’ll be perfectly fine. 1, I’m 19—”

“And when you walked into my office three weeks ago, you thought you were still 15,” Oliver cut in, crossing his arms over his chest and tilting his head.

“And 2,” Aspen continued, ignoring her adoptive fathers’ comment, “I’m with a group of very dependable people,” she said, looking around at the others. “Right?” she added as she saw that the looks on their faces said otherwise.

“Last time I promised someone that the members of this team were good kids, they kidnapped his daughter and snuck out on a mission without telling any of us,” Dinah replied as she raised an eyebrow, and Aspen heard awkward coughs coming from behind her. Aspen made a mental note to ask about that later.

“That was one time, Canary,” Nightwing said as he put his hands on Aspen’s shoulders, flashing a cheesy smile at Dinah. She and Oliver exchanged one last glance before she said anything else.

“Fine, but if either of us finds out that you left this mountain without us knowing—”

“I’ll never be allowed to leave your sight,” Aspen finished for her. “I know, we’ve had this discussion multiple other times throughout the week.” Specifically when she convinced Ollie and Dinah to let her go out with Artemis earlier in the week. Oliver walked over and gave her a hug before walking with Dinah to the Zeta Beam platform.

“Recognized,” came the Computers’ voice, “Green Arrow, 08. Black Canary, 13.” Aspen watched as the two disappeared into the beam of light and let out a sigh of relief.

“Finally,” she sighed. “I thought they would never leave.”

“What, they have you on lockdown since you got back from the hospital last week?” Nightwing smirked as the group began to walk away from the entrance.

“You have no idea. I’ve been on monitor duty since I got discharged from the hospital.” She paused. “So, about the platform thing...” she trailed off raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

“We can check that out later. For now, let’s see who’s still here and get introductions done,” Nightwing said, motioning for Aspen to follow him further into the giant cave.

“Yeah, you said that most of the Team was still out, right?” Aspen looked over at Artemis for confirmation.

“Most of them,” Nightwing said. “School already started back up for Wally, M’gann, Conner, and Raene, so they won’t be arriving until later. But the rest should be around here somewhere,” he explained. “Speaking of which,” he added, motioning to the group of people that were entering the main room. The group consisted of three girls and two boys.

“We thought we heard people talking in here,” one girl said. She had medium-length black hair and wore a black blazer over a white shirt and a yellow vest.

“Hey guys” Nightwing addressed as they all walked closer. “I want you to meet Enigma, Black Canary’s protege,” he introduced while panning his hand towards Aspen.

“Um, hello,” she waved shyly, a small blush crawling across her cheeks. She really hated having all the attention on her. Especially when it was with new people.

“Enigma?” Robin asked, raising his eyebrows and crossing his arms. Aspen noticed the small differences in his costume compared to the old one, now that he was closer. His version had long sleeves, and his mask was thicker than Nightwing’s original. “Like the code?”

“Yeah,” Aspen said. “The Enigma code was infamous for changing completely every twenty-four hours, and I thought it kinda made sense with my powers allowing me to shift into whoever I want or can create,” she rambled, her eyes moving around the room and not looking at the other heroes. An awkward pause ensued, most likely because the Team was not expecting an explanation or one at that length. ‘Why are you like this, Aspen?’

“Wait,” another girl said. She had short black hair and was wearing a jumpsuit. “So you can shapeshift?” Aspen nodded her head in response. Her eyes widened in excitement as she yelled, “That’s so cool!”

“Thanks.” A huge weight lifted off of Aspen’s chest, and she let out a breath.

“I used to know someone who was obsessed with that code” Robin started, a faint smile appearing on his face. “S—Uh, They’d—stay up all night telling me random facts about it.”

“Woah, did the Boy Wonder just smile?” one of the girls jabbed, raising an eyebrow at the young Robin. His face immediately fell back to a frown.

“Robin,” Nightwing said, motioning for him to follow. They both walked out of the room.

“Um, what was that about?” Aspen asked, looking around the room. Everyone looked at each other before Artemis spoke up.

“Let’s just say that Robin doesn’t… It’s… unusual for him to smile,” she explained, putting heavy emphasis on ‘unusual’.

“Or show any emotion for that matter,” the girl with the pixie cut mumbled. The third girl, who had short, red hair, elbowed her in the side and gave her a disapproving look.

“Anyways,” Artemis said, trying to get the conversation back on track. “Aspen, why don’t we fully introduce you to everyone.” Aspen nodded, and soon she was shaking everyone’s hands and learning their names, both real and alias, all at once.

“I am Aquagirl, but you may also call me Tula,” the red-head told her. “And this is Tempest or Garth,” she added pointing at one of the boys. Aspen nodded and smiled at them, noting that their uniforms were similar to Kaldurs’.

“Rocket,” the girl with short black hair said, smiling at Aspen. “Or Raquel. And you met Robin already.”

“I’m Zatanna, Zatanna Zatara,” the girl with shoulder-length hair said, holding out her hand.

“Zatara? As in the Justice League member Zatara?” Aspen asked as she shook her hand, tilting her head to the side. She immediately regretted asking the question, as Zatanna’s face instantly fell. “Oh my god! What did I say?”

“It’s fine. It’s not your fault, you didn’t know,” Zatanna answered sadly. She took a breath before continuing. “Yes, my father is—was—Zatara, but two years ago he sacrificed himself to Dr. Fate so I could live my life.”

“I’m so sorry,” Aspen replied somberly. The air went quiet for a couple of minutes before Rocket spoke up.

“So, Enigma,” she started, “Are you going to tell us your real name? Or are you pulling the secret identity card?” Aspen let out a chuckle.

“Oops, sorry. My real name’s Aspen, Aspen LaFont.”

* * * * * *

OMG THIS IS THE LONGEST CHAPTER YET!!!!! It was really fun to write this one, but also really time consuming. I had already written out this chapter before I started publishing to Wattpad, but it still took me a week to edit and make sure it fit with the storyline😂😂

But, if you hadn't already guessed, I did decide to add another original character: Raene, aka Echo. She'll appear more in the next couple of chapters, and it will add an interesting twist to the plot!

Also! Anybody know what the black ring means? Props to you if you do, but I'll let you guess and tell you in the next chapter😁😈

So tell me what you thought! Anything confusing? Something surprise you?

Tell me in the comments and don't forget to vote!

Thanks for reading!!