The screaming was becoming unbearable as they watched the girl scream and cry. It had been two hours now and she kept on screaming in pain. After all that was the only thing she could do since her body kept growing rapidly. "Found a match!" Tim and Barbara yelled at the same time. Roquette was running some blood tests before and found out that there was a drug in her system. It was Tim and Barbara's job to narrow down what drug it was. The large computer screen had a name and attached code in bold words.

Tim turned around with a proud smirk on his face. "Its Amzius-871; a rare drug that effects the human body making it age rapidly until death. But with Mar'i it's effects are slower and I still don't know why" Tim said as sighs of relief filled the room. At least they knew what was affecting the girl now. "Wally you're a science geek got any Intel?" Dick asked looking over at the red head who was sitting on the floor scribbling stuff down onto a note pad. "I have a theory but I don't know if its correct" he said now chewing on the back of the pencil.

Artemis had dozed off sitting next to him with her head resting against his shoulder. How she could sleep through these agonizingly painful screams they didn't want to know. "If she was effected with this right away she would be dead already. But what if Kori was effected with it while she was pregnant. The drug would've faltered and been brought down to the baby. So Mar'i would've been affected and its just now being registered through her body" he said as everyone gave him confused looks.

Tim's eyes lit up before he turned around and began typing things into the computer as many files began popping up. "Theory correct now how do we fix it?" Tim asked as the room fell silent. All eyes fell onto Roquette as she scanned her medical textbook. She was into her second year of medical school so she was way passed the basics. "Um well for a rare drug like this I would need to know how to cure it before properly getting the right tools and immunizations" she said as Tim and Barbara nodded.

     Since the red head had access to military files she could find anything she wanted. Looking up at the screen she began to quickly scribble things down on a piece of paper. "Get these and she'll be good" Barbara said handing the paper to Roquette as her eyes scanned over it. "What? I can't possibly get these I'm not even a qualified nurse yet!" She yelled as Barbara grabbed her badge and flipped it open. "I'm apart of the U.S military I can get anything" Barbara said as they all looked back to Roquette.

     An annoyed sigh escaped her lips as she walked over to Mar'i and kneeled down. Tears were streaming down the girls face as she whimpered. "We're going to help you I can promise you that" Roquette said brushing the now extremely long dark hair from her face. Standing up she walked over to Barbara and narrowed her eyes. "You better hope I don't lose my scholarship for pulling shit like this" she growled as the two walked to the elevator and went down.

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     The room fell silent before another painful scream escaped the child's lips. Artemis's eyes shot open as she gasped. "Jade!" She yelled before looking around at her surroundings. "Arty are you okay?" Wally asked as they all glanced over to the two. She nodded before standing up and walking over to Zatanna who was leaning against the wall. "You okay?" She asked as Zatanna looked over at her and shrugged. She had spent more time with the little girl than Dick had.

     These screams were getting to her as another one echoed around the room. "It just kills me" Zatanna said sliding down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. "Artemis she called me mommy earlier as if I could help her somehow. That look she gave me was full of pure terror and pain" she said as the blonde nodded pulling her knees to her chest. All they could do was sit and wait for Barbara and Roquette to come back. "Dick's struggling I can see it" she continued as they both glanced over to him.

     Sitting on the couch with Mar'i now sitting in his lap sobbing into his chest. "He tries you know" she said as her voice cracked feeling tears brim her blue eyes. "Awe Zee don't cry she will be fine" Artemis said lying through her teeth. She honestly didn't know if the little girl was going to be okay or not. "Sometimes things get hard and you don't think that there will be light in the end. But trust me there is, there always is" She said glancing over to Wally who was chatting with Cassie.

     After all Cassie was best friends with Bart and he wanted to know what was up with his 'cousin'. The screams weren't as loud as they were now muffled by her screaming into Dick's shirt. The two sat there in silence just thinking. Hours going by agonizingly slow until the elevator dinged. Roquette came running in as she put the medication on the table. Barbara came rolling in as she sighed. "Took you long enough" Artemis said as her and Zatanna stood up. "Tim did you bring what I told you to bring?" Barbara asked as they all raised their eyebrows.

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     He ran a hand through his hair looking around before grabbing his bag and unzipping it. "Yeah I had trouble sneaking down but Lucius let me take it" he said handing a small gun looking thing to Barbara. "Does Bruce know you took it?" Dick asked as Tim looked down at his feet for a moment. "Well not exactly but he probably won't care about this weird gun thing anyways. It was like down beneath Wayne Enterprises in that restricted area" Cassie said before Tim placed his hand over her mouth.

     Dick shot him a glare as Roquette and Barbara began fiddling with the weird gadget. "Now this is going to hurt a lot" Roquette said approaching Dick slowly as he held Mar'i tighter. "What's it going to do?" He asked skeptically as the girl screamed in pain again. "I'm injecting this into her neck and it will fight off the drug now let me cure her" she said as Tim walked over and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Dick just let her do it" he said as Dick growled. Standing up he let Mar'i rest on the couch once again.

     Everyone winced as Roquette administered the medication as Mar'i let out an ear piercing scream. After that she was immediately silent as her eyes fell closed. "What happened?" Cassie asked in a worried tone. Slipping her hand into his, intertwining their fingers. "The shock from it just made her faint" he said looking over and kissing the top of her head. That's when the entire room fell into a dead silence. "I know what you're all thinking but she's not dead. There's an anesthetic laced in it so she'll be sleeping for awhile" Roquette said putting everyone to ease.

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     Soon everyone left until it was just Dick, Zatanna, Barbara and Mar'i. "Thanks for the help" she said as the red head nodded with a bright smile. "As a part of the military that is my job" Barbara said as they both looked over to Dick who was combing his fingers through the sleeping girls hair. "Is she okay now?" He asked as his voice cracked a bit. "Yeah she has the full healthy body of a ten year old little girl" Barbara said as he smiled. A smile that was so glad and hopeful it just made the two of them smile themselves.

     It was just past lunch time as they took the elevator down from the clock tower. Mar'i had been given some of Barbara's clothes since she couldn't walk around outside in just a blanket. After all baby clothes didn't fit anymore for her. They were in the car as Mar'i sat in the back being awfully silent. "Are we going home?" She asked as she looked up. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she quickly wiped them. "Yeah we are" Zatanna answered with a smile on her face.

     The apartment was silent as they walked in and sighed. "Well this was definitely not an asterous day" Dick said as Zatanna and Mar'i giggled. "Why do you use such silly words Daddy?" Mar'i asked still giggling and blowing a piece of hair from her eyes. "We'll have to cut this because you're looking like Rupunzel" Zatanna said ruffling the girls hair and flashing her a bright smile. "Oh shit I forgot about telling the-"

"Don't worry I handled it" Zatanna said.

"Daddy that's a swear" Mar'i said with her arms crossed.

     Rolling his eyes they walked into the living room and fell onto the couch. Mar'i was wedged in between Zatanna and Dick as he flipped through the television channels. "What's for lunch?" She asked as the two adults groaned.

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     Conner had been avoiding her which was making her feel rather down lately. Walking down the hallway she saw him as her eyes lit up. "Conner!" She yelled running and grabbing his arm. Eyes filled with joy when she saw him as he frowned. That's when her face fell into a frown as she let her hand drop from his arm. "Is everything alright? You've been avoiding me all day" she said as he rolled his blue eyes at her. "We need to talk Megan" he said as her heart dropped to her stomach.

     They walked outside through the little park area and took a seat on a bench. "M'gann I can't do this anymore" he said looking away from her. She just stared at him and listened to his explanation. "I'm sorry M'gann but I can't keep being your caretaker" he said before standing up and walking away. All of Megan's classes were over for the day which made it easier for her to run. Tears spilled from her eyes as she stood up and ran to her dorm room. Throwing her books to the ground she fell onto her bed.

     The tears kept spilling from her eyes as she sobbed into her pillows. Heart torn in two the amount of pain she felt was unbearable. It felt like forever until there was a knock at her door. Wiping the stray tears she opened the door to see no one there. Looking down there was a bouquet of red roses on the floor. Picking them up she walked back inside and shut the door. Sitting on the pink bed she looked at the little card attached to it. "If it makes you feel better someone still loves you Angelfish -Love La'gann" the note said as she shook her head.

     Oddly enough she wasn't revolted by the note left from him. She felt flattered that someone still liked her. Gently placing the bouquet on her bedside table she fell back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. The sound of her cellphone ringing filled her ears as she looked at the screen. Garfield's face popped up as a small smile crept its way onto her face. "Hey Gar!" She exclaimed in a fake tone. A smile plastered to her face as she tried to ignore the aching pain in her heart. "Hey, M'gann are you okay?" He asked.

     Garfield knew when his sister was upset. That's when her lip started to tremble as fresh tears spilled from her eyes. "No Gar I'm not" she said in a shaky voice as she gripped her phone. Without Conner she had no family here in Gotham. Everyone else was off doing their own thing so they only hung out once in awhile. "I-Its okay M'gann I'll get Uncle J'ohhn to take the weekend off so we can come and visit you!" He quickly said trying to make her feel better as she nodded.

     Right now she just wanted to hug him and cry her eyes out. "Thanks Gar you're the best" she said before laughing and wiping her tears. Everything would be okay if she let it. After a long conversation he had to go which made her frown. Now she was alone and left to do whatever she wanted to.

Again thank you lunainuyasha for giving me name ideas for the drug!!!!

Skycrystal23  ;)