Black Canary's fist cut the air inches from Elias's cheek.
He jerked back, staggered right, stepped on his own foot, and fell spectacularly onto the mat.
"Okay—ow—" Elias groaned.
Black Canary stood over him with that patient, deceptively gentle smile she used right before introducing someone to new kinds of pain.
"You're improving," she said.
Elias stared up at her. "I am?"
"Yes."She offered a hand.
He took it. She hauled him up like he weighed nothing.
"You lasted five minutes before falling this time," she added.
"…That's improvement?"
"For you? Absolutely."
Ouch.
She clapped his shoulder. "Good session. Go hydrate. Same time tomorrow."
Elias limped toward the exit.
His rib still stung from Superman's air-pressure test the day before.His head still buzzed faintly from removing the learning-rule imprint earlier this morning.His arms felt like wet spaghetti.
He wiped sweat from his forehead, shoved open the training room door—
And promptly walked into somebody.
"Ah—sorry—!"
He stumbled back.
The girl he bumped into blinked in surprise.
She was short, red-haired, wide green eyes, freckles dusting her cheeks. She wore a simple white and red suit with a blue cape.
Miss Martian.
M'gann M'orzz.
Elias froze.
Oh no.Oh NO.This was a Young Justice member.A real one.A sweet, bubbly, ridiculously powerful telepath alien girl.
He looked like a sweat-soaked mop with anxiety issues.
"Hi!" Miss Martian beamed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stand right in front of the doorway."
"N-no, totally my fault!" Elias stammered. "I—I exist aggressively sometimes."
She giggled. "You're funny."
Elias.exe stopped working.
Internal monologue activated:
Okay Elias stay calm.She is nice.She is friendly.She is literally the cutest mind-reading alien teenager in the universe.Do NOT screw this up.Do NOT panic.Do NOT—
Then he felt it:
A soft brush at the edge of his thoughts.
Like fingers gently brushing a curtain.
A telepathic instinct.Instinctive.Harmless.Accidental.
Miss Martian gasped softly as she realized she'd done it.
"Oh! Sorry—sometimes I— I read surface thoughts without thinking—"
But the moment her mind touched his—
Elias's power snapped.
Not violently.Not outwardly.
But inward.
A defense slammed up around his thoughts like a wall of reinforced steel.
A rule-construct formed automatically:
"No entry."
A metaphysical barricade.
Miss Martian stumbled back a half-step, eyes widening.
"O-oh! I'm sorry! I didn't— I can't— I can't read you!"
Elias panicked instantly.
"W-WAIT, THAT WASN'T ME! I mean— it was me, technically— but I didn't do it on purpose—my brain does things—NOT THOSE THINGS— regular things—normal—totally normal—"
He was spiraling.
Miss Martian held up both hands gently.
"It's okay! Really! I didn't mean to read you. And your mind blocked me so fast I didn't even… feel anything bad."
Her voice was warm and soft, like someone wrapping a blanket around a frightened puppy.
Elias swallowed hard.
"S-sorry. My power just… protects itself."
"I figured," she said kindly."It felt… automatic. Like a reflex. I didn't mean to invade."
"You didn't!" Elias blurted. "The invasion was pre-canceled."
Miss Martian giggled again.
God, she giggled.
Why did she giggle?
His heart did a backflip.
She stepped a little closer—not too close—keeping her posture open and friendly.
"You're Elias, right?" she asked.
"Uh—yeah. That's me. Elias. Reality hazard. Gotham tourist. Mentally on fire."
She smiled warmly.Not scared.Not wary.
Just… kind.
"I heard you've been training with the League," she said. "That's really impressive."
Elias blinked at her."Impressive? I've nearly died twice."
"Well," she said thoughtfully, "most of us nearly died at least twice our first week too."
"Seriously?"
"Oh, definitely."
She leaned in, whispering, "Superboy punched a robot so hard it exploded and knocked himself unconscious. Wally tripped at Mach 3 and went through a wall. Robin once—"
"Okay," Elias said, "I feel much better now."
"Good!"
She straightened, cheeks puffing proudly.
"Oh! I almost forgot! I came to the training room early because I'm next for Black Canary."
Elias blinked."Oh, so we have the same trainer?"
"Yep!"She gave a bright smile. "She's amazing."
"Also terrifying," Elias said.
"Also that."
They both laughed.
The tension melted instantly.
Miss Martian tilted her head, studying him gently.
"I can't read your mind," she said softly, "but I can feel emotion a little. Just enough to tell when someone is scared."
Elias looked away.
"…I'm scared most of the time."
"That's okay," she said."Being scared doesn't mean you're weak. It means you care."
His eyes stung unexpectedly.
She stepped back slightly, letting him have space.
"I hope we get to train together sometime," she said. "Or just talk. If you ever want to talk without using… rules."
Elias let out a tiny, shaky laugh.
"Yeah. I'd like that."
She beamed.
"Well! Good luck with the rest of your training!" She waved and started toward the gym door."Oh— and Elias?"
"Y-yeah?"
"You don't have to be scared of me."
His heart stopped.
She smiled—bright and genuine.
"Have a good day."
She entered the gym, the door sliding shut behind her.
Elias stood alone in the hallway, hand over his pounding heart.
Internal monologue:
Oh god.She's nice.She's really nice.And pretty.And telepathic.And I'm going to die.I'm so doomed.I'm doomed in so many directions.
But for the first time all week—
The doom didn't feel bad.
It felt… warm.
Like maybe something good was finally happening.
.
.
.
.
M'gann floated a few inches off the floor as she changed out of her training cape in the locker alcove, the echo of her earlier encounter with Elias replaying in her mind like a melody she couldn't shake.
She hadn't meant to brush his thoughts.Surface-level telepathy was instinctive for her—like breathing in emotional color.
But his mind—
Blocked her.
Instantly.
Firmly.
Yet without violence.
"Like a shield comforting itself…" she whispered softly.
She hugged her cape to her chest.
His emotional state still lingered faintly in her empathic memory:
Nervous
Trying so hard
Embarrassed
And… lonely.
Lonely in a way she recognized deeply.
He was afraid of her at first.But when she smiled…
He had brightened, just a little.Just enough for her to feel warm.
She sat down on a bench, swinging her legs lightly.
Elias's face came back to her mind:gold-streaked hair, warm amber eyes, the kind that looked at everything like it might explode any second.
"Why couldn't I read him…?" she murmured.
She had read Kryptonians.Atlanteans.Even Wally, though his thoughts were like static at a thousand miles per hour.
But Elias?His mind reacted to her like a locked door that politely closed itself.
Protective.Reflexive.Intelligent.
And somehow…
sad.
She felt her chest tighten strangely.
"I hope he's okay," she whispered.
She already wanted to talk to him again.
Not as a telepath.But as a person.
Someone who knew what it felt like to be somewhere new… and scared… and trying to belong.
-----
Elias stumbled back to his Watchtower room, still flushed from talking to Miss Martian.
He shut the door quietly behind him and leaned his forehead against it.
"Oh god," he groaned."I talked to a girl. A Martian girl. A telepath Martian girl. And I didn't explode. That's progress, right? Emotional growth? Character development?"
He slid down onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
After a minute, he pushed himself up and walked to the small mirror mounted above the sink.
He stared.
Really stared.
The boy staring back at him looked like he hadn't slept well in weeks.
His hair was wild—naturally messy, half-fluffy, half-chaotic.Except for the streak of gold running through it like a lightning bolt.
His eyes—amber, sharp, too intense—looked doubly bright under the Watchtower's lights.
And weirdly…
He kind of looked cool?
He lifted a hand, running fingers through the gold streak.
"…Huh."
He tilted his head. The streak caught the light at an angle.Not dyed.Not artificial.Something his power had done to him on day one, stabilizing something in his body.
He stared at the reflection and whispered:
"I don't look like the useless guy I was back home."
He swallowed.
"Maybe… maybe that's a good thing."
He rubbed at a smudge on his cheek, straightened his shirt, pushed his hair back into a slightly better shape, and blinked in surprise.
He looked kind of—
presentable.
And for some reason, the first person who came to mind was:
M'gann.
He blushed hard enough to heat a small room.
"Nope. Nope nope nope. We are NOT activating teenage hormones while also being a reality hazard."
But he kept fixing his hair.
Just a little.
Just enough to look like he wasn't surviving on fear and medical beds.
He glanced at his reflection again.
"…Okay. Not bad."
He wasn't that handsome.
But he wasn't nobody either.
Maybe that meant something.
Hours later, when the Watchtower dimmed to its "night mode," Elias couldn't sleep.
His mind kept replaying everything:
Batman's intensity
Superman catching him
Removing the rule imprint
Miss Martian smiling at him
And the foreign rule J'onn sensed (though Elias still didn't know the truth)
He stepped out onto one of the dimly lit observation decks.
And there, standing perfectly still toward the far wall, was Red Tornado.
Watching Earth.
Elias hesitated before approaching.
Red Tornado didn't turn, but said:
"You are restless."
Elias stood beside him.
"…You can tell?"
"I can hear your footsteps. You drag your left heel when anxious."
Elias blinked. "Huh. Did not know that."
For a moment, they simply watched the planet rotating slowly below them.Earth looked peaceful from up here.Like a marble floating in black velvet.
Red Tornado spoke first.
"You performed well today."
Elias snorted. "I coughed blood."
"That is correct."
"Not reassuring."
"Incorrect. It means you exceeded expected thresholds."
Elias frowned. "Expected… thresholds?"
"Yes."Red Tornado turned slightly toward him."You are adapting faster than anyone anticipated. Even with the risks."
Elias wrapped his arms around himself.
"I feel like I'm always one mistake away from breaking something. Or hurting someone. Or hurting myself."
"You are afraid," Red Tornado said simply.
Elias nodded silently.
"That is human."
"What if I can't control it?"
Red Tornado paused, then spoke like he was reciting an internal definition.
"Control is not the absence of instability. It is the act of choosing your direction despite instability."
Elias blinked.
"…That's actually really good."
"I analyzed Zen philosophy for seventy-three hours to find it."
Elias snorted a laugh.
Red Tornado tilted his head. "Humor response detected."
"Yeah," Elias said softly. "You made me laugh."
He leaned on the railing.
"I met Miss Martian today."
"I am aware. Black Canary mentioned it."
"Oh god, did she say anything embarrassing?!"
"No."
"Okay. Good."
"However, she did say you were 'very flustered.'"
Elias groaned into his hands. "Oh my god."
Red Tornado looked down at him.
"You care about your appearance," he observed.
Elias's face flushed again.
"I—yeah. I mean… I never cared before. Back home I just wanted to blend in. But here I feel like… I should try."
"To impress Miss Martian?"
Elias choked. "WHAT—no—maybe—NO—"
Red Tornado blinked.
"Your heart rate suggests uncertainty."
Elias grabbed the railing harder. "Please stop reading me like a lie detector!"
Red Tornado nodded. "Understood."
Another pause.
Then he spoke, softer than Elias had ever heard:
"You are allowed to want to be seen, Elias."
Elias froze.
Red Tornado continued.
"You are allowed to want friendships.
Connection.Recognition.
You are allowed to want to matter."
The words hit harder than any training session.
Elias swallowed, voice small.
"…Do you think I matter?"
Red Tornado answered without hesitation:
"Yes."
Elias felt something warm build behind his eyes.
So he looked away, pretending to stare at Earth.
"…Thanks."
"You are welcome."
They stood together in silence for another long moment.
Elias finally exhaled the breath he'd been holding.
"Red Tornado?"
"Yes, Elias?"
"…Will it get easier?"
Red Tornado looked down at him.
"Not at first," he said."But it will."
Elias nodded slowly.
And for the first time that day—
He believed it.