#BUT IT IS NOT PAIN THAT WIDENS AQUALAD'S EYES...

[donnatroyyyy]

The annoyance and anger I feel when Garth’s relationship to Arthur or Ollie’s relationship to Roy is described as anything BUT a father and son relationship is the kind of anger and annoyance that makes me want to claw my eyes out.

[butwhyduh]

Night Swim

Garth of Shayeris/Tempest x batsis!reader

Summary: pinning over him. I know like 7 people will read it but he’s too cute. Canon has no home here and timelines don’t matter.

Warning: dash of innuendos.

The apprentice of a justice league member that went on his own. That could describe almost all of your brothers but it also described the beautiful man standing before you. That currently didn’t even notice you were staring at him puppy dog eyed.

“So, are you ever going to do anything about it or just stare at him until he jumps back in the sea again,” Kori said beside you. You jumped and gave her a look. “Noise cancelling glass. He can’t hear us and no one is looking over here,” she reassured you.

“That obvious,” you asked turning to face her. She nodded with a little smile. Of course she thought it was cute. She had told Dick the first time she knew she was attracted to him. That’s how she was raised. No fear of rejection or shame in sexual attraction. You were raised by batman and had a healthy dose of both.

“There’s not like it would do any good. He’s never given me a second thought and I don’t even think he likes surface walkers anyways,” you deflected. She snorted.

“He dated Donna.”

“That shouldn’t count. She’s Themyscirian. They’re like perfect,” you rolled your eyes.

“I don’t know. I find Dick very appealing and he is human. Is his powers what attracts you to him?” She asked leaning on a desk. Her long curly red hair flowed over her shoulder in a way that only Kori could.

“No, of course not. I mean, they’re cool for sure. But it’s.. he’s nice and honorable and funny,” you said and she grinned almost proudly.

“And you can be nice and honorable and funny without any meta powers. Don’t put yourself down. And if you need help..” she started.

“No no no. No wing woman,” you said quickly.

“What do you need a wing woman for?” Dick asked behind you. Your eyes widened before you turned around.

“Nothing. Just some guy from college. That I don’t like,” you said in possibly the worst lie of your life. Dick narrowed his eyes at you.

“I can tell you’re lying but if I don’t know the truth, I can’t lie to Bruce about what you’re doing so don’t tell me,” Dick said. Wally, Donna, and Garth walked in the room.

“Wait, did I hear that Nightwing’s little sister is seeing someone? Is he ready to die,” Wally laughed clapping Dick on the shoulder.

“I’m not having this conversation,” you squeaked out before squeezing between the heroes, feeling yourself far too close to Garth for just a moment. Thank goodness M’gann wasn’t there to read your thoughts or feelings. Kori stayed mum on the subject and concentrated on the mission that Dick was prepping the team for.

You didn’t go on missions now. An injury that put an end to that. You just couldn’t maintain the level a vigilante needed. Sometimes you’d help with the computers but mainly you worked at Wayne Enterprise with Tim. You were just visiting on this trip and wasn’t involved in the mission.

“Wish us luck,” Kori said giving you a hug. You couldn’t help but watch Garth in his new blue suit that fit perfectly as the rest of the team walked by.

“Woah,” you said barely above silent but Kori hugging you caught it all and giggled quietly. You flushed and tried to stutter out some excuse.

“He is very handsome. Wish him luck,” she whispered in your ear. You made a little noise to disagree and she simply grinned at you while walking away.

“What was that,” Dick asked, suspicious.

“Nothing, just a joke. Good luck. Be safe,” you said to him and Dick didn’t argue but definitely didn’t believe you before joining his team.

As they left, your mind wandered to the first time you met Garth. It was a mission in a warehouse fire that had homeless people camping out on the second story. You walked carefully to the back office through dense fog with flames threatening any moment to see if there was anyone in there. The fire was getting really close and it was kinda dicey. But it was your first job away from Gotham and you were 14 and you felt the need to prove yourself.

You entered the room bent low with smoke overhead. You saw something move in the back of the room and you made your way towards it. But just as you crossed to the back half of the room, part of the ceiling collapsed, trapping you in the room and knocking you to the floor. You jumped back against the wall. There wasn’t a window and the movement? A toy.

You shrank against the wall and pushed your panic button. The fire was hot and you cursed wearing shorts. “Shit,” you breathed as it started moving closer. The air was starting to get thick. The flames jumped and you pressed against the wall with your eyes covered, expecting flames to hit you.

But instead you felt cool wet air and you opened your eyes to see water surrounding you. It appeared to float in air and you reached a hand out to touch it, confused. As soon as you felt the tips of your fingers dampened, the water crashed to the floor causing you to jump.

In there place was a teenage boy only a few years older than you, grinning. You stared at him in silence. He had just saved your life.

“Did you- how did you-“ you stuttered and his smile grew even wider.

“Aqualad, at your service. You wanna leave before it crashes on us?” He said and you took a step to wince in pain. Oh yeah, when you jumped you twisted your ankle. Your plan, like all the other bats, was to suck it up and hobble out. But Garth had other plans and he quickly scooped you up bridal style as soon as he noticed you couldn’t walk.

“Just hold on. I’ll carry you,” he said walked down the charred stairs carefully. You couldn’t take your eyes off his handsome face the whole time. Your heart pounded and your lack of experience with dating or liking anyone had you completely dumbfounded. “You can let go,” he said with a little smile.

You were out of the warehouse clinging to him past the time necessary and quickly moved away from him, feeling your skin flush. Dick gave you a look over before give Garth with a look you couldn’t recognize.

——————————————

“She’s catatonic, Bro.”

“Feed her something.”

“Wally, food isn’t always the answer,” Dick said giving your shoulder a shake. You jumped and knocked over a glass of water.

“Sorry!” You yelped reaching over to grab a towel.

“I’ve got it,” Garth said and with a flick of his wrist the water started to pour in the sink rather than off the counter. As you watched the water jumped before flowing down the drain. You laughed a little and looked up to see Garth grinning at you. Dick stared suspiciously at you both before being pulled somewhere by another Titan.

“So was the mission okay?” You asked, not knowing what to say. Your crush was more ‘stare across the room’ rather than do anything about it.

“It went well,” he answered grabbing a water bottle and chugging it. You tried not to stare.

“Cool suit,” you said and immediately felt stupid. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Thanks,” he said without adding anything else, leaving an awkward air to hang.

“Damn, you might be from the sea but are soo dry, Garth,” Roy said clapping him on the back on his way to his room. Garth looked at you confused.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve been land side. Is being dry an insult now?” He asked.

“I mean, kinda. It just means boring,” you answered with a shrug. “You know Roy.”

“But you are dry. I mean, you live on land. Not that you’re boring,” he said with an awkward laugh. You smiled back at him before taking a sip of your drink nervously. “Does that mean you want to be wet?”

You coughed as you choked on the liquid. He tapped you on the back. “You okay?” He asked concerned. Donna walked by with a raised eyebrow but said nothing.

“I’m fine. No, that’s not how that works. It’s just we aren’t really dry. We’re like 80 percent water. Dry means like sand or something. Too dry,” you said and he nodded humoring you.

“It seems pretty dry here,” he said playfully.

“I can knock over more glasses. Get this place all wet again,” you quipped.

“Tempting. Or you can go swimming with me,” he answered back.

“Haha or I could- what? It’s nighttime,” you answered. “And doesn’t that do something to the currents or something?”

He gave you a dry look. “The currents come in at night? Yep. You’d be the safest person in the water swimming with me. I could navigate night swimming as a squirt. Come with?” Garth asked.

“I-“ you stared before mumbling.

“You what? I didn’t hear the last part,” he said.

“I... can’t swim,” you said and he stared at you and you felt like sliding under the counter and through the floor. Then Garth’s lips curled into a smile and he laughed a little. You looked down awkwardly.

“Oh you’re serious?”

“Yeah...”

“I’m sorry. I forget that swimming is learned skill here. I apologize,” he started.

“It’s okay. Really,” you insisted.

“Come with me. We’ll stay shallow,” he offered. You looked at him before nodding.

“This is a bad idea but let’s go,” you said pulling him along. Garth laughed as you pulled him out the back door towards the beach. “I forgot a bathing suit,” you admitted.

“I guess you could go insi-“ he trailed off as you pulled your shirt off and shorts to swim in your underwear and bra. He quickly looked away as you ran in the water to your waist.

“Coming in? Can’t believe I have to ask, merman” you said and he pulled off his shirt to quickly join you. You splashed him with water which quickly turned into a splashing war.

“Okay, you win!” You yelped as he bombarded you with water. He splashed you one last time and you turned away. Garth grabbed you by the waist as a wave splashed over you. You simply watched each other for a moment. You noticed your feet didn’t touch the ground anymore. You clung to him.

“I can’t touch,” you said a little panicky. He held on to you.

“Don’t worry. I’m right here. I won’t let you drown. It’s my job, remember?” Garth smiled. “Look around. Look at the moon.”

You looked up to see the luminous globe hanging above the sea. It lit a silvery path through the water, highlighting waves crashing. The beach seemed far away. The only sounds were the sea and a few night birds as well as Garth’s breath from being so close. You looked back at him and almost froze. He was gorgeous. The water truly was his element. His dark hair curled in the water and the moon glow highlighted his nose and collarbones. His purple eyes looked almost black in the darkness but the way he looked at you said a ton.

He looked down at your lips and you couldn’t help but lick them, tasting salt water. Garth bent a little and you turned your head up to touch lips softly. His arms wrapped closer around you as you kissed. Garth easily kept you above the water. Your brain was broken. You were kissing Garth, who you’ve had a crush on for a long time.

Suddenly water splashed over your head as a wave crashed on you both. You leaned away with a cough as water invaded your mouth and nose. Your eyes stung and watered a little.

“Sorry, I forgot to pay attention,” Garth admitted sheepishly.

“It’s okay,” you said with only a little cough. “Can we?”

“Get you on land? Yeah. You’re getting cold anyways,” Garth said before swimming towards the shore. It wasn’t a rough choppy swim the way people did. He seemed to simply glide through the water gracefully. So beautifully. Which was broken when he fell over on the beach.

“You’re the most graceful swimmer and trip on your feet when you hit ground,” you said with a laugh as you attempted to help him up. He was far too heavy to lift but appreciated the effort.

“Atlantean,” he shrugged. “Don’t make fun of me too much. You can’t even swim.”

“Yeah? You wanna take a dip in Gotham Harbor?” You asked and he laughed.

“Absolutely not. I don’t want to get some unknown cancer from whatever pollution they have. Or whatever rouge is living there,” he added.

“That’s why I can’t swim,” you answered. It really was cool in the wind and you quickly pulled on your clothing.

“But doesn’t batman have like multiple pools?”

“Yeah but I never used them. I was 15 when he took me in. Too old to learn,” you shrugged.

“You’re never to old to learn to swim. It’s important for safety,” Garth said. “Especially here,” he motioned at the beach.

“Especially if I keep kissing Tempest in the water?” You quipped.

“That’s just a bonus,” he said pulling you close by the hips. You grinned up at him and wrapped your arms around his shoulders.

And a spotlight shined glaringly at you both. You covered your eyes and looked away.

“Come inside,” boomed the voice of your brother. “Now.”

And that’s how you got a 20 minute lectures on the danger of night swimming and risk of hypothermia and Garth got the shovel talk. But despite the fact that Dick was really angry, you didn’t regret a thing and went to bed with wet hair and smile on your face.

[shadowsndaisies]

codename: nightingale - fireworks

Reference: Young Justice Season 1 Episode 2

WC: 3.7k

synopsis: we’ve got a bunch of injured and angsty teenagers who just wanna be recognized tbh

main masterlist

codename: nightingale series masterlist

CADMUS LABS, WASHINGTON D.C. July 4, 00:01 EDT

“Time runs short. You must awaken. You must awaken now!” you heard a voice in your head, and suddenly your eyes snapped open.

“What? What do you want? Quit staring!” KF wailed. “You're creeping me out,” he groaned as you blinked a couple of times, trying to shake off the sleepy feeling. 

“Uh, KF, how about we not tick off the guy who can fry us with a look?” you offer, your voice raspy, due to the pain and remaining grogginess.

“We only sought to help you,” Aqualad told the clone, sagely.

“Yeah! We free you, and you turn on us. How's that for great-” KF continued.

“Kid, please, be quiet now,” Aqualad objected. “I do not believe our new friend is in full control of his actions.”

“What...what if I… What if I wasn’t?” the clone asked, and your gaze softened. 

“He can talk!” KF exclaimed, and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes.

“Yes! He can!” Superboy shot back, fists clenching. 

As Aqualad and KF talk to the super clone, you try to access your lock pick. You let out another quiet groan when you realize you couldn’t, due to the position of your arms. Looking over to Robin, you notice he seems to be having more luck, as he slowly worked the lock pick on his cuffs. He raises his eyebrow at you questioningly, but you shook your head discreetly.

“Not like I said, it,” Wally muttered, catching the small glares we sent him. 

“The Genomorphs, they taught you?” Aqualad asked. 

“They taught me much,” he admitted. “I can read, write, and I know the names of things,” Superboy’s words were encouraging, but his tone held an air of desperation to it.

“But have you seen them?” you interrupted, pulling the clone’s eyes to you. “Have they ever actually let you see the sky? Or the sun?” you shifted slightly in your restraints, wincing as you took in the state of your body. There were little cuts scattered all over the glass, and you could feel where bruises would be forming over the next few days.

“Images are implanted in my mind, but no. I have not seen them," Superboy admits.

“Do you know what you are? Who you are?” Kaldur questions.

“I am the Superboy, a genomorph, a clone made from DNA of the Superman. Created to replace him should he perish, or to destroy him should he turn from the light," Superboy explains.

“To be like Superman is a worthy aspiration, but like Superman, you deserve a life of your own beyond that solar suit, beyond your pod, beyond Cadmus," Aqualad tries to reason.

“I live because of Cadmus! It is my home!” Superboy yells angrily.

“Your home is a test tube," Robin explains.

“We can show you the sun," you add, doing your best to keep your voice as gentle as possible. 

“Uh, pretty sure it's after midnight, NG, but we can show you the moon," Wally chimed.

“We can show you, introduce you, to Superman," Aqualad coaxed, and for a moment, it looked like it was working.

“No, they can't. They'll be otherwise occupied. Activate the cloning process," a man in a lab coat and glasses ordered while walking into the room.

“Pass. I’m one of a kind, I’d like to remain that way," you mused with faux humor, and the best smile you could manage, it was the same one you wore at all the fancy events Oliver forced you to attend. 

“Same, Batcave is crowded enough," Robin agreed, matching your tone.

“And get the weapon back in its pod!” the man shouted, clearly frustrated while referring to Superboy, rudely.

“Hey! How come he gets to call Supey an ‘it’?” Wally mocked, and your eyes widened when Guardian walked up to Superboy, pulling him towards the exit. 

“Help us," you pleaded, and his blue eyes stayed on yours. 

Superboy pushed Guardian’s hand off of him, standing firm.

“Don't start thinking now,” Lab Coat sneered, and the genomorph on his shoulder jumped to Superboy’s, its horns glowing red. “See, you're not a real boy. You're a weapon, and you belong to me! Well, to Cadmus. Same thing. Now get back to your pod!” the scientist commands, and superboy, who now seemed to be in a trance.

The man hit a button, and suddenly sets of needles appeared in front of you all. Your eyes were wide as you shook your head, you could deal with any ice freak in the world, but as Dinah could attest, you were not a fan of needles. 

“I hate needles," the comment was through gritted teeth as the needles were plunged into you. They started crackling with electricity, grunts of pain could be heard along with your scream as they drained some of your blood. Your arm jerked roughly against the cuffs, and the small cut on your arm that had scabbed over earlier split open once more.

“Superboy, you live," you gasped, hoping that he could hear you between your screams. “That gives you the right to follow your path. A weapon or a person, the choice is yours, but ask yourself, what would Superman do?" 

Suddenly the door was ripped off its hinges, and the needles stopped.

“Are you here to help us or fry us?” KF questioned as the boy of steel walked up to the redhead’s pod. 

Superboy stopped for a second, squinting at KF, “Huh. I don't seem to have heat vision, so I suppose helping is my only option." 

You couldn’t help but let out a small but pained laugh, but that quickly turned into another painful groan.

“Ahh," Robin exclaimed as he finally was able to pick his lock. “Finally! Lucky Batman isn't here. He'd have my head for taking so long," you raised your eyebrow at him tiredly, and he shrugged.

“Seriously, that's what you're worried about? The whole League will have our heads after tonight," KF responded.

“Free Nightingale and Aqualad. I'll get kid mouth," Robin instructs.

“Don't you give me orders either," Superboy grumbled before leaping up to break the door to the pod, letting Aqualad free. Once Aqualad was down, Superboy came to your pod, breaking your shackles and catching you. He let you down carefully before helping you stand, as strong as he was, his handling had become gentle. “Thank you," you whispered in appreciation meeting his eyes, he gave you a small nod as he helped you stabilize. Your body felt like it was still buzzing from the electric shock and plunging of needles.

“You….you'll never get out of here! I'll have you back in pods before morning," the man in the lab coat shrieked.

“That guy is not whelmed,” you note, now standing on your own, though the pain had yet to subside.

“Not whelmed at all,” Robin affirmed before throwing an exploding Batarang at the four containers with your blood.

“What is it with you two and this whelmed thing?” KF asked rhetorically as you all ran out; all you could offer your speedster friend was a shrug of your shoulders. 

“We are still 42 levels below ground,” Aqualad stated, leading you all forwards, “but if we can make the elevator..."

The loud growl that cut him off was enough to keep your heart pounding, “or not,” you add, as you spotted the genomorphs that were appearing in front of you. 

Turning back, you noticed that the same large genomorphs were now blockading your path.  The five of you skidded to a stop as more and more genomorphs began to appear. 

The minute one went to attack, you all took evasive maneuvers, well, almost all. Superboy decided to attack them instead. He began wrestling with the genomorphs that were three times your size as the rest of you stood back. While he seemed to be making an impact, he was beginning to bring the house down with him, literally.

“Superboy, the goal is to escape, not to bury ourselves here!" Aqualad shouted.

“You want to escape? Aah!” the super clone let out a yell, clearing a path through his rage.

Using the given space, you all make a break for the elevators. Aqualad pried them open before letting us all through. Wally jumps to the side and uses his super-speed to quickly jump from floor to floor, using the metal ledges like stairs. Robin grabbed you by the waist once more before using his grappling gun to pull us up. Looking up, you noticed Superboy and Kaldur. The clone had jumped, probably intending to fly, but you saw as their faces faltered. 

“I- I’m falling,” Superboy’s voice came as a distracted mutter, but you wasted no time. 

Grabbing one of Robin's batarangs, you threw it upwards, creating a handhold for Aqualad to hold onto. The Atlantian had a sturdy grip, catching onto the handhold and keeping both of them from falling back down. 

“Superman can fly. Why can't I fly?” Superboy questioned as they found their footing on the metal ledges.

“Don't know, but it looks like you can leap tall buildings in a single bound. Still cool," KF points out, helping them. 

“Thank you," you heard the clone mutter to Aqualad, who then sent you an appreciative look; you nodded, black lips in a thin line.

“Guys, this will have to be our exit," Robin shouts, pulling everyone’s attention to the elevator that was beginning to approach us.

Together Superboy and Aqualad kicked the elevator doors open, and you broke into a sprint. As you run, the aftershocks of the electric pulses start to wear you down while the short burst of adrenaline fades. You become painstakingly aware of the pulling in your ankle. Taking a glance as you turn left (per Superboys request), you notice the swelling. You also see that you’re lagging behind the boys now too. You take a right and come face to face with a wall. 

“Great direction, Supey! You trying to get us re-podded?” KF shot off, turning to the clone. 

“No, I- I don’t understand,” superboy backtracked. 

The first thing you noticed was the vent. Nudging the Boy Wonder beside you, you weakly nod to it. Allowing your stiff neck to add to the parts of your body currently in pain. 

“Don't apologize. This is perfect!” Rob exclaims. “Birdy, you first,” he says, nudging you forward.

The boys hoist you up, allowing you to pull the vent cover off. You let it fall to the floor, before pulling yourself entirely through the vent. As you begin to crawl, Kaldur comes up next, behind you, then Wally, Superboy, and finally, Robin brings up the rear. 

“At this rate, we'll never get out," KF groans.

“Anyone ever tell you, you’re a pessimistic person, KF?” you shoot back with an eye roll. 

“Shh. Listen," Superboy shushed.

You could vaguely hear a crackling sound, and when a shriek followed, your eyes blew wide. You all sped to the next exit. Once out, Robin started to do something on his wrist computer.

“I hacked the motion sensors,” he bragged.

“Sweet," Wally cheered as you took a moment to inspect your ankle further. 

“Still plenty of them between us and out," you mumbled, attempting to roll your ankle in a circle, checking it’s mobility. You had to stop the action when you winced from the sharp pain it was causing. 

“But I've finally got room to move," KF smirked, pulling his goggles over his eyes and zooming off through the stairwell.

You started following him as he knocked all the genomorphs in his way down.

“More behind us," Robin alerts us.

Looking back, you nodded, “I got this,” you assure the rest. 

You turned around full and hit the button on your choker. You took in a deep breath before screaming, “AHHH!” 

It was your canary cry. The force of the sonic waves pushed the genomorphs back allowing Superboy to kick the staircase down. The power behind his kick was enough to create a giant gap between you and them. You click the button on your choker once more, turning off the sonic device before spinning around and continuing up the stairs. 

Dinah had given you the choker the day she finally let you patrol on your own. It was also the day you got my codename, Nightingale or NG for short. Before people used to call you Birdy, some still do.

When you stop at the top of the stairs, you find one last set of heavy doors, “We're cut off from the street," Superboy digresses as he and Aqualad move to pry the doors open with little luck.

“Thanks. My head hadn’t noticed," Wally stated sarcastically from the ground; he had fallen when he slammed into the door, not expecting it to stay shut.

“Can't hack this fast enough," Robin muttered, typing at his wrist computer. He looked up for a second, searching for another option. “This way!” he decided, grabbing your arm and pulling you through a side door, only to lead you into a circle of genomorphs and Guardian. Everything quickly became black as you collapsed to the ground.

When you woke up once more, your vision cleared, and you saw Robin offering you his hand to pull you up. You noticed Superboy facing one fo the Genormorphs, “I choose freedom,” he decided, and the genomorph nodded.

Guardian let out a groan, rubbing his head, as you roll your shoulders, scanning the room the best you could, “Feels like a fog lifting,” he admitted. 

“Guardian?” you called to the hero, gently. 

“Go. I’ll deal with Desmond,” Guardian nodded. 

“I think not!” Dr. Desmond interrupted. . “Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to Cadmus!" he uncapped a test tube and began chugging a neon blue liquid. 

Your eyes darted around trying to find a way out, suddenly, he was transforming into something else, and it was a bit frightening. You took a step back in a mix of surprise and horror. 

“Everyone back!” Guardian yelled out, charging the beast, only to be knocked aside. 

Next was Superboy; the two of them went at it, before going through the ceiling.

“Ok. That's one way to bust through the ceiling," Robin commentated, grabbing your waist and his grappling gun. 

“Do you think Lab Coat planned that?” Wally asked, and Robin aimed the gun. 

“I doubt he is planning anything anymore,” Kaldur countered, and Robin shot the hook, grappling you both up.

You all seemed to shift into fight mode, charging the thing. KF tripped it; Rob threw some bombs at it; you screamed, pushing it to turn toward Superboy, who once again began to fight it. Aqualad attempted to intervene but was pulled to the ground. When KF tried to help, he got pushed into the wall instead. Wincing, you began looking around frantically, trying to find a solution.

You watched as the structure began to shake with the blockbuster monster threw Kaldur into the pillars, and you had an epiphany. “Rob! The pillars,” you shouted over the commotion.

Robin’s eyes spotted the same thing I had before a look of surprise took his features, “Of course! KF, get over here!” he yelled, catching my drift.

Robin pulled up a schematic on his hologlove and showed it to both you and the speedster, “Got it?” he asked. 

“Got it," KF and you affirm simultaneously.

“Go!” Rob commences.

KF went to distract the creature as the rest of you began to bring down the building’s support pillars. You ran into the middle of the room and marked a large ‘X’ on the ground as everything else fell into place. More of the pillars were brought down, and water was sprayed over the X. Wally led blockbuster to the water allowing Aqualad to electrocute the beast. With blockbuster distracted, Robin hit a button on his glove before meeting your gaze.

“Move!” he yelled as his exploding batarangs began to go off, causing the building to collapse. The building was crashing down on all of you, but Superboy was able to move some debris away as everything settled.

“We did it," Aqualad panted.

“Was there… ever any doubt?” you smiled weekly from the ground. 

Robin and Wally high fived as you attempted to get up, tried, being the keyword. You would’ve fallen back down if the two boys hadn’t caught and stabilized you. Looking down, you knew it was a mix of your ankle and the exhaustion.

“See?” you swallowed, despite the pain. “The moon," you mused. By now, KF and Robin were supporting your weight. You had an arm around each of their necks while your bad foot stayed off the ground. 

“Oh, and Superman. Do we keep our promises or what?” Wally jokes as the big man himself landed in front of us, other league members trailing behind him. Including all of your mentors. 

Superboy was the first to step forward, showing off the symbol on his suit, startling not only Superman but the rest of the League as well. 

“Oh, boy,” you muttered under your breath. 

“Is that what I think it is?” Batman inquired, staring at Superboy.

“He doesn't like being called it," Wally hints.

“I'm Superman's clone," Superboy admits, and the shock is evident on all the leaguer’s faces. 

“Start talking," Batman glowered.

As we retell our adventure of the day, many of the Leaguers stay and listen. And when they concluded, most left, allowing the core members to remain. The ‘adults’ talked leaving us in a small circle of our own.

When Superman walks over, all of you are paying the red cape your full attention. 

“We’ll figure something out for you,” he sighed, staring at your new friend. “The league will, I mean. For now, I better make sure they get that blockbuster creature squared away.”

Superman seemed nervous and detached, and when he flew off again, you quirked a brow, “man of steel or man of ice,” you whispered to Wally, who shared a look with you.

Before he could respond, Batman approached you once more, “Cadmus will be investigated, all 52 levels,” he assures you, “but let's make one thing clear-”

“You should have called," Flash complained, interrupting the Dark Knight.

“End results aside, we are not happy. You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives. You will not be doing this again," Batman continued, and your nose twitched. 

“I am sorry, but we will," you spoke up, struggling as you let go of Wally and Robin and painfully stepped forward, in front of the four boys.

“Nightingale, stand down," Canary warned. 

“I’m sorry, Canary, but no," you negate. “We did good work here tonight, the work you all trained us to do," you remind her, eyes darting from one League member to the next.

“Together on our own, we forged something powerful, important," Kaldur added stepping up to stand in line beside you.

“If this is about your treatment at the hall, the four of you-” Flash tried to intervene, but he got cut off.

“The five of us, and it's not," KF interjected, moving to your left, supporting some of your weight.

“Batman, we're ready to use what you taught us, or...why teach us at all?” Robin continues stepping to your right and helping you stand once more.

“Why let them tell us what to do?” Superboy scoffed. “It's simple. Get on board or get out of the way," he concluded, stepping forward and joining you. 

Together the five of you made the team, and nobody, not even the league, would change that.

MOUNT JUSTICE July 8, 08:04 EDT

A few days past before you saw each other again. You had been put on crutches for a few weeks so that your ankle would heal quickly. It had been sprained, badly, on your expedition into Cadmus. Three days later, you all met at Mount Justice, dressed in your civilian attire around eight am. 

“This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League. We're calling it into service again. Since you five are determined to stay together and fight the good fight, you'll do it on League terms. Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor. Black Canary's in charge of training. I will deploy you on missions," Batman explained; you were standing with the boys, leaning against your crutches.

“Real missions?” Robin questioned.

“Yes, but convert," the Bat affirmed.

“The League will still handle the obvious stuff. There's a reason we have these big targets on our chests," The Flash points out to us. 

“But Cadmus proves the bad guys are getting smarter. Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly," Aquaman adds.

“The six of you will be that team," Batman continues.

“Cool! Wait, six?” Robin asked. Suddenly Martian Manhunter appears through the Zeta, he types something in and a girl appears behind him, only she’s green too.

“This is the Martian Manhunter's niece, Miss Martian," The bat completes.

“Hi," The girl says shyly.

“Liking this gig more every minute," Wally smirked, you rolled your eyes and elbowed him in the stomach, “umph," he groaned, shooting you a look as he turned toward Miss Martian.

“Welcome aboard,” he greeted, with a flirty smile. “I'm Kid Flash, that's Nightingale, Robin, Aqualad. It's cool if you forget their names," Wally explains, pointing to us respectively, smirk still on his lips.

“I'm honored to be included," Miss Martian says politely. 

“I like her,” you decide, as you all step forward to talk to the Martian girl. Turning back, you notice that one of the boys hadn’t moved. “Hey, Superboy. Come meet Miss M," you smile at the clone, as he walks over to us.

“I like your t-shirt," she compliments shyly, changing her shirt to look like Superboy’s, and you smirk knowingly. Looking around at the people surrounding you, you realize that this is exactly where you’re supposed to be. 

“Today is the day," Kaldur decides, and you can’t help but agree.

DC taglist: @grey-water-colors​

CN:NG taglist: @psych0crybaby​ @smile-more19​ @spiitfiires​ @crookedlyshamelessnacho​ @truly-dionysus​

[mochegato]

Capturing a Dream

Chapter 4 – Recovery

Chapter 1       Chapter 3

Conner’s fists were clenched so tightly they were past white, verging on translucent.  Everything about this day was terrible and it seemed to get worse with every passing hour. They had been invaded.  Their home had sustained significant damage and was no longer safe.  Red Tornado had betrayed them and the Justice League was cutting them out of the capture efforts.  Chimera had been hurt, she had almost died and he hadn’t been able to do anything about it.  

It had been hours since they had received an update on Chimera and she was alone in the Watchtower.  She was protected by the Justice League, but as they had just violently discovered, that didn’t mean she was safe.  Although one saving grace was that by being here, she had been saved experiencing the attack by Red Tornado.  From the description Aqualad had given on her status, he wasn’t sure she would have been able to survive it.

The Team needed to pull together right now.  They were the only ones they could trust and Chimera had been isolated from them. The rest of the Team had been busy freeing themselves, checking each other for injury, working with the Justice League to assess the damage to the Cave, figuring out how the Reds got into the Cave in the first place, figuring out where their security had let them down, and recovering from Red Tornado’s attack.  All of that meant that none of the Team had been able to be with her until now.  Kid Flash, Robin, and he had finally been able to come and check on Chimera and bring her back to the Cave with the rest of them, while Artemis and Aqualad stayed in the Cave and tried to figure out what needed to be done next.

Batman met the Team at the doors to the infirmary.  “I should warn you, I’ve given her quite a bit of pain medicine and I just woke her up for you so she could transform, so she’s a little out of it right now and honest… extremely honest.  Beware.”  Batman warned them wryly.

“Was she honest with you?” Robin asked with a smile.  He would pay to have heard what an unfiltered Chimera would say.

“Yes.” Batman answered, not looking at him.

“Care to share?” Kid Flash asked with a grin.

“No.” Batman responded turning to peek through the door to assure she was fully transformed before letting them in.

They made it through the door just in time to see Chimera fall as she tried to stand. Kid Flash was there to catch her before she hit the ground.  She looked at him slightly dazed, her movements sluggish.  “I know you, right?”  She concentrated harder on his face.  “Right?  We know each other.”

The Team gasped in fear and looked over to Batman for an explanation. Batman took a deep breath.  “She needs rest.  She doesn’t have a concussion, but her body has been through a lot.  Combined with the pain killers, like I said before, she’s a little out of it.  She should be fine after a rest.”

“No, it’s okay… it’s not… I just… I’m okay.  I just need to sleep… or to wake up… I’m not sure which.  This is… I’ve done this before… I think.” She slurred her words slightly as she tried to assure them.  She looked at Kid Flash with a guilty expression.  “I sometimes go too long without sleeping.”

Superboy moved over to her and picked her up, cradling her in his arms, holding her close enough to speak quietly to comfort her.  “Hey Chi, it’s okay.  We’ve got you.  You know us. You’re safe.  I won’t let anything happen to you.  You can sleep.”

She leaned her head back to study his face.  She smiled sleepily at him and ran her finger along his jaw.  “I definitely know you.”  Conner blushed deeply, but then balked at her next comment.  “You’re the flirty one.”

Robin came over to double check for signs of the concussion that Batman must have missed.  “Maybe she doesn’t recognize him after all.”

Chimera tried to turn over to him but stopped when she saw Kid Flash again. “No, wait… You’re the flirty one.” She tried to point in his direction.

“She may not recognize Superboy, but she definitely remembers Kid Flash.”  Robin smirked.

Chimera looked back and forth between the two boys a little too quickly and groaned in pain.  “You both are the flirty one.”  She pushed her head against Conner’s chest trying to alleviate the pain in her head and stop the spinning.

Batman nodded to someone behind them and stepped forward.  “Since you guys are here I’ll let you know now.  Green Arrow and Black Canary have already discussed this with Aqualad and Artemis while you have been here.  With Red Tornado… missing, the Team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors.  Captain Marvel has volunteered to take the first shift.”

Superboy turned around to see a man larger than Batman walking toward them next to Superman.  “I’m really looking forward to hanging with you guys.” Captain Marvel said with a smile.

Superboy scowled at them and adjusted Chimera slightly.  She turned to face the newcomers.  She quirked her head at Captain Marvel and concentrated on him for a few moments.  “Who’s the kid?”  Captain Marvel’s eyes widened in surprise.  “Oh no.  Do I know you too?  I’m sorry. It’s been a… day.  Night?  Day…  I think.”  She scrunched her face trying to figure out what general part of the day they were in.

“I’m not a kid!” Captain Marvel exclaimed a little too loudly.

Chimera snorted at him.  “Whatever you say, kid.” She settled her head back on Superboy’s shoulder and closed her eyes.  “It’s really bright in here.”

“We’re going home now, I promise.” Superboy said quietly.  She hummed in response and curled into him a bit more.

“It’s going to be a short visit.  I have a new mission for you.” Batman unceremoniously informed them.

“Chimera can’t go on a mission right now.” Superboy said lowly.  “And I’m not leaving her alone in the Cave.”

“Someone will be there to watch over her.” Batman assured him.

Kid Flash scoffed and shared a dubious look with Robin and Superboy.  “Another Justice League member?  No, thanks.” Superboy argued.

“It’s normal to be paranoid after an experience like this.  There’s a lot of new things you don’t know how to process yet.  Perhaps if you let her stay here in the Watchtower, you can feel more secure.” Superman offered awkwardly.  

“It isn’t the Cave I don’t trust.” Conner narrowed his eyes at Superman.

“I understand wanting to keep her close.  Your team means a lot to you and you guys weren’t able to keep her safe. It’s natural to overcorrect to overprotective and suspicious.  But I can assure you she would be safe here.”  Superman tried instead.

“Excuse me?” Kid Flash demanded angrily.  Robin and Superboy scowled in anger next to him.

“You all assured us we would be safe in the Cave as well, and that Red Tornado was trustworthy.  Your assurance doesn’t mean anything to us.” Superboy hissed at him.

“Black Canary will stay with her at the Cave while you guys are on the mission.” Batman assured him.  “She trusted Black Canary with her identity.  You should trust her too.”

“Did she trust her or did you tell Black Canary and Chimera had to accept it?” Robin asked skeptically.

“Regardless, she accepts it and trusts her.  Her identity is more important to her than almost anything else.  If she trusts Black Canary that much, you should too.” Batman answered coldly.

Superboy stared at him unsettled.  His whole body tensing.  They were trying to distract them from what was going on, from what they let happen. It had ripped the Team’s lives apart and the Justice League wasn’t going to let them react, was blaming them for allowing it to happen.

Chimera furrowed her brow sensing a shift in his body and temperament.  She looked up at Superboy and followed his eye line. She blinked a few times at Superman before speaking.  “Oh hey, it’s the Boy Scout.”  She turned back to look at Superboy.  “Look Conner, it’s the cold bastard.”  She leaned her head back on Superboy’s shoulder before realizing what she said. She popped her head back up once she realized.  “Oh my God! I remembered your name!”  She smiled at him, proud of her accomplishment. “I usually can’t remember names until after I sleep.”

Kid Flash and Robin started laughing hysterically.  She frowned at Kid Flash and tried vaguely to figure out where the rest of the laughter was coming from or was it just her ears playing tricks on her and figure out why he, or they, were laughing.  They only stopped laughing when Batman walked next to Superman and glared at them.  But the glare only reduced the laughter instead of eliminating it.

After a few moments Chimera’s eyes widened in mortification as she realized what she had said just after Conner’s name.  “Boy Scout!” she exclaimed loudly looking at Superman apologetically, or trying to, and trying to sit up straighter in Superboy’s arms.  “I meant to say the Boy Scout.” She cringed and tried to hide her face in Superboy’s neck, but still mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear, “I mean, not that I was wrong. I just didn’t mean to say it out loud.”

She looked up again when she heard raucous laughter coming from all around her. She looked slowly from Superboy to Kid Flash to Batman to Superman to Robin.  “Why are all the people I work with either incorrigible flirts or cold bastards?” she asked nobody in particular.  “At some point that says something about me, doesn’t it?  Is there something wrong with me?”  She looked up to Superboy as she said the last part.

Superboy smirked at Superman and held Chimera tighter against his chest as he turned and made his way with the Team to the zeta tubes.  She burrowed deeper into his arms and started to fall asleep to the rhythm of his walk.  Just before she fell asleep he leaned down to whisper into her ear.  “There is nothing wrong with you.  Other than working yourself so hard that you forgot our names, you are absolutely perfect.  You’re doing everything right.  I’m proud of you.”  She smiled peacefully as she fell asleep.

<><><><><> 

“So this is where you are.” Chimera called out to Conner after she finally found him sitting on the rocks outside the Cave.  He was staring out at the last bits of light reflecting off the ocean with an angry concentration.  “I don’t think I would have found you without this little chiot’s help.”  She smiled at the wolf and ran her hands through his fur. “I guess ‘little’ isn’t really accurate, is it?  He’s bigger than me.  How was the mission?”  He grunted but kept looking out at the water.  She gave him a concerned look and moved closer to him.  “Conner?” She asked carefully.

“You shouldn’t have gone in to wherever it is you go.  You’re still recovering.  It was stupid, Chimera.”  He growled at her, refusing to look at her.  “Stupid and dangerous.”

She looked at him in surprise at his tone.  “Ah.” She started delicately, looking around awkwardly trying to figure out if she should approach him or let him continue to brood alone.  Brooding is best done alone, after all.  

She hadn’t gotten a report on the mission they had just returned from yet, so she wasn’t sure how bad it had been.  She had rushed to find him as soon as she got back to the Cave after the showing and clean up.  She had stayed for enough of the celebrations to satisfy her supervisors then rushed home. But it appeared that whatever did happen on the mission, it had taken a severe toll on Conner.  He was in a significantly angrier mood than usual.  She wasn’t sure if he wanted to sit alone, sit quietly with someone, or talk through the anger.  

“What do you think, mon petit chiot?” she whispered barely loudly enough to be heard over the tide washing in.  “Stay or leave?  What should I do?”  Wolf whined and bumped gently into her.  She smiled gently at him and patted him reassuringly.  She turned back to Conner and approached him slowly like he might explode at any moment.  She decided to see if he wanted to talk.  If he didn’t, she could always back off.  She started by trying to lighten the suffocating, dark mood.  “Is it okay if I sit and glare at the sunset too?”

He sent her a devastating glare that caught her completely off guard.  She stumbled back a half step in surprise, backing into Wolf.  Conner stood up and stalked toward her as he roared in anger at her.  “Why did you bother coming back to the Cave to recover with people you trust, people who can keep you safe while you recover, if you were just going to leave immediately?  What is the point of helping you recover if you’re just going to go out immediately and make yourself worse?  Run yourself into the ground… again? And what happens if we get attacked again?  What happens if Red Tornado comes back and tries to finish the job his siblings started and you’re too tired to fight?  Then you die, or we die trying to save you.”

She reeled back like he struck her, staring in shock at the seething mass of teenage boy in front of her.  Wolf moved closer to her and angled himself so he was slightly in front of her, keeping his eyes on Conner.  

As soon as the words left his mouth, Conner wanted to take them back.  The look of betrayal and hurt in her eyes was heartbreaking.  She hadn’t even looked that betrayed when she found out Red Tornado actually did betray them. But now, at his words, she looked absolutely devastated.

Wolf nudged her lightly and whined quietly.  The nudge was enough to wake Chimera out of her stupor.  “Don’t. Do. That.” She scolded Conner suddenly, slapping his arms and chest punctuating each word.  “You. Are. Large. And. Intimidating. And. You. Scared. Me. You. Big. Broody. Jerk.” She huffed at him with one final slap.

He made a show of protecting himself from the hits that were barely hard enough to even gain his attention regularly.  He stared at her in shock, eyeing her cautiously, waiting for her to start up again.  When he decided she was done, he frowned guiltily and looked over to Wolf, scratching behind his ears to reassure him.  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” he said quietly, darting his eyes over to her.  The dejected frown she had didn’t suit her at all. He needed to figure out a way to put a smile back on her face.  He watched her quietly for a few moments while they both pet Wolf.  A smirk suddenly appeared on his face.  “I just forget how small you are sometimes.”

She glared at him, “That is not how you apologize!”  

He chuckled at the pout she sent him.  “Sorry.” He repeated more seriously this time.

She pet Wolf as well for a few moments.  “What is his name?  We haven’t been properly introduced yet.”  Her tone was still guarded, but soft.

“Wolf. It’s okay that I brought him home, isn’t it?” he suddenly realized he hadn’t asked her before bringing a new and massive creature into the home they shared.  “I should have asked before… but I thought you were sleeping.” There was a sharper edge to his last comment.

She looked at him with a touch of guilt.  “Yeah, it’s okay.  I’ve always wanted a pet but I was never allowed to have one before.” She answered quietly.  She looked down and pet Wolf quietly for a few moments, giving her anxiety something to focus on.  After a few moments she spoke up again, “I had to go today.  This is…”

“Yeah, yeah, an important time of year.  You said that already.”  He grumbled, glaring at Wolf’s fur as he pet it.  He didn’t want to look in her eyes and see the betrayed look again, but he also couldn’t stop from reprimanding her.  “You’re hurt.  You could have died in that attack.  You can skip a few days while you heal from almost dying, Chi.” He finally looked up to shoot a glare at Chimera who seemed to wilt under his glare.  “You didn’t even come home at all last night.  We got here this morning to check on you, to make sure you were okay, and you were gone.”  Wolf whimpered quietly at him and nudged against him.  Conner looked over to Wolf for a moment and frowned in annoyance at his interruption.  He looked over to Chimera and sighed at the conflicted, guilt-stricken look on her face.

“… the reason I can be here.  I couldn’t skip today.  Today was the culmination of months of work, not just mine.  I skip, I not only lose out on seeing everything come together, I let down that team, and I get fired.  I get fired, I go home.  I go home, I’m not only no longer part of the Team, I’ve lost my career.  The only reason I haven’t been fired already for missing two days ago is because Batman somehow talked Bruce Wayne into calling my boss and vouching for me personally and promising to appear at… and promising to give them some Wayne Enterprises support.  Apparently, it took promising to get Oliver Queen to agree to… to promise Queen Industries support as well in order to get them not to fire me.” She said defiantly but tears she refused to shed were still lining her eyes.  She subconsciously leaned into Wolf for support.

Conner huffed and looked down at his feet.  “It’s not worth your life.” He grumbled.  He wasn’t trying to make her feel worse but she needed to stop, to pull back, to heal.  She had pushed herself too hard because of them, for them.  And she was still pushing herself.  She was going to push herself into a grave because of him.  He couldn’t save her during the attack and clearly, he couldn’t save her from this either.

She followed his lead and looked down for a few moments as well trying to fight the tears that were threatening to fall.  She absentmindedly pet Wolf as she processed what was happening.  He wasn’t mad at her, not really.  She knew that.  He wasn’t mad, he was scared.  But it still hurt and that was worse.  Things were spiraling out of his control and he needed something he could rely on. She was only making things worse by having to leave.  She was hurting the Team by not being able to devote her full attention.  She was hurting him by splitting her focus.  She had stayed in the Cave so she could help him, give him someone who was there for him, but she wasn’t and she was hurting him instead.

“I’m sorry I scared you.  I wasn’t risking my life.  It’s chaotic, yes, but it’s a chaos I understand.  It’s a chaos that soothes me.  I know my place in that chaos.  But it’s over now.  I have the rest of the week off and I can stay in bed and relax.  Not even school.”  She gave him a strained smile.  “I’m sorry it was making things worse for you.  I’m sorry I’m making things worse for you.” Damn it, she berated herself.  That wasn’t what she wanted to say.  This wasn’t about her.  It was about him.

Conner’s heart dropped.  Damn it, he berated himself.  He made her think she was hurting him.  That wasn’t what he wanted to do.  He was making it about himself, but it wasn’t about him.  It was about her.  He reached out to comfort her but hesitated.  He didn’t know how welcome it would be.  After yelling at her just a minute ago, she might not feel comfortable with him hugging her.  He winced internally thinking about how he treated her as soon as he saw her tonight.  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.  I didn’t have the right to… I didn’t mean to make you feel like I was angry with you.  Like you were doing something wrong.  You’re not.  I mean, I do think you push yourself too hard, but you’re not making things worse. You make them better.  You’re amazing.” He blushed when he realized what he said and grasped for something to change the topic.  “I mean the way you talked to Superman was amazing.”

Chimera barked out a laugh and hid her face in her hands in embarrassment.  “I can’t believe I called Superman and Batman cold bastards.  Well, Superman more than Batman.  I’m sure Batman has heard it lots of times before… and I’m pretty sure I said more devastating things before I fell asleep in the infirmary.  But, it was probably new information for Superman.”

Conner hummed in agreement.  He sat down and leaned back against the cliff, looking out to the ocean, not wanting to discuss Superman anymore, despite him being the one to bring it up in the first place.  Chimera sat on the ground next to him, stretching out her legs and watching the tide wet the sand in front of her.  She burst out laughing when Wolf laid on her legs.  “Conner!  Help me!” she managed to squeak out between laughter.  “I can’t move.”  Conner laughed and gave Wolf a gentle shove to get him to move.  Wolf made a dissatisfied grunt but moved off of her and next to Conner.

They looked out to the ocean in a contented silence, watching the last bits of light glitter on the distant waves.  After a while Chimera spoke up, still keeping her eyes on the water. “Did you know Kaldur and I had to stop Superman from making the entire situation worse?  He wanted to rush into the Cave with no idea what to do then.  Like his very presence would be enough to end it.  All brawn and no plan.  Idiot.” She scoffed.  “Luckily, Batman backed us up or he would have rushed in and gotten you killed.”

Conner scowled and growled.  “He blamed us for what happened, like we didn’t react the way we should have, like I let it happen, and the whole time he would have made it worse.”  He balled his hands into fists, his hands shaking in anger. He turned to punch the cliff side then did it again and again.

“Conner!”  Chimera gently touched his arm, careful to stay out of the punch arc.  He turned to her with wild, angry eyes that softened as soon as he saw her.  “Please stop. You’re going to hurt your hand or cause a rockslide.”

He hung his head with a huff and sat back down.  “You’re lecturing me about doing things that hurt myself now?”

She shrugged taking his hand to examine it for injury.  “I guess there’s a reason we get along so well.  We can keep each other’s self-destructive tendencies in check.”

Chimera sat close enough that their bodies were touching, still holding his hand, running her thumb over his knuckles to soothe them.  After a few minutes she bumped her shoulder into his. “You know, if you ever want to talk, I’m here.  I have a few other good friends with terrible… authority figures in their lives. Authorities that barely acknowledge them let alone give them the respect and love they deserve.”

He considered her words for a while, keeping his eyes on the horizon.  “Must be nice for you… having authority figures that support you and don’t critique every move you make as a hero.” He said bitterly.  

She scoffed.  “I’d hardly call Batman supportive.  Plus, I’m pretty sure I told him I thought turning out like him was a fate worse than death.  So he’s probably even less likely to be supportive now.”

He raised an eyebrow at her.  “Interesting.  But I meant your parents.”

“Oh.”  Her smile faltered and she let go of his hand as she looked away and hummed in agreement.

“Chimera?” He prompted her.  He squeezed his now free hand.  It felt strange on its own.

“Yes?” She asked innocently.

“If you want me to talk, you have to too.”  He gave her a pointed look.

She scowled playfully at him and looked back out to the ocean.  “I don’t like your rules.”  He chuckled at her and stayed quiet, allowing her to get her thoughts in order.  “My parents are extremely supportive of me. Extremely.” She started tentatively.

“But…” He urged her.

“But they don’t know… about this.” She sighed. “They don’t know I’m a hero.  They don’t know I fight villains.  Nobody can know, remember?  That includes parents.”

“Your parents don’t know?” He furrowed his brow at the thought of her parents somehow not noticing her missing during crises and not having anyone to support her.  “Where do they think you go?”  He looked at her incredulously.

“They don’t.  They think I’m in my room, or hiding during attacks.  Right now they think I’m at an internship in America, which I am, that’s why I can’t always be here, that and school, but...”  She turned away with a guilty look.  “God, I hate lying to them.”

He furrowed his brow and frowned at her. “So who supports you?”

She smiled up at him with a coy glint in her eyes, like he had fallen into a trap.  “My team did, as much as they could without knowing my identity.  That’s what teams are for, supporting each other, helping each other.  You’re on my team, so I’m here to support you, if you want.”

He narrowed his eyes at her and looked away. “I see what you did there.”  He looked out over the water again, watching the tide ebbing and flowing.  “I was right there with you… all, the Team, and let you get captured.  I couldn’t save you or the team.  I wasn’t good enough to.  I’m not good enough.  What am I even doing here?”  

“Hey,” she chided him gently, “Wally didn’t save me either.  Do you think he’s not good enough?  That he doesn’t belong here?  Kaldur didn’t save me.  He helped me but he didn’t stop it either.  Is he not good enough to be here?  Do only Artemis and Robin deserve to be here?”

“No,” he grumbled.

“You need to give yourself a break.  You are amazing.  You can do amazing things.  But we’re a team.  We rely on each other sometimes.”  She gave him a soft smile.  “Sometimes you have to just let us save you and not take that as a fault.”

He turned away, blushing slightly.  After a few moments in silence he punched the ground in front of him.  “What does it matter?  He’s never going to accept me or treat me as an equal anyway.”

She paused while she thought about it.  “I think he will.  He’s scared and unsure right now but he will eventually get over himself.  But however long it takes, it’s on him.  It is a sign of his inability to process his emotions in a healthy way.  It has absolutely nothing to do with your worth or skills. It says nothing about your value.”

“That’s not how it seems.” He grumbled into the sand.

“Yeah.  I get that.” She nodded in agreement.  “The downside of being the offspring of an idiot.”

He laughed at that and leaned in conspiratorially. “I believe the official term is ‘cold bastard’.”

She groaned and hid her face in his shoulder. She turned her head to rest it on his shoulder and look out at the crests of the waves in the moonlight.  “What people say about us can affect us.  It can hurt, especially family because we’re supposed to have a stronger connection to them than anyone else.  But he doesn’t.  He doesn’t know you better than we do.  He doesn’t have better insights.  He isn’t your family.  We are. And we say you are more than enough. You are amazing.”  She hugged his arm.

“You’re my family?” Look at her hesitantly.

“Found Family, baby.  One of the best tropes.” She grinned widely at him.

“Tropes?” He looked at her questioningly.

“Found family, friends to lovers, hurt/comfort, and they were roommates. All good.”  She nodded with a smile.  “I highly recommend them… well maybe not to you.  But to other members of our family.”

Conner slung his arm over her shoulders and pulled her into a side hug.  “I like this family.”  He gave a small smile as he leaned his head on hers.  He frowned suddenly when a thought occurred to him.  “But, found family rules aren’t the same as regular family are they?  Because I don’t think… Wally wouldn’t appreciate that.”

Chimera giggled at the thought.  “No, no he wouldn’t.  How long do you think before he and Artemis start dating?”

“You think they’ll date?”  He pulled back and looked at her like she was crazy.  “They hate each other.”

“Oh God, yes they will.  That tension has nowhere to go but on a date.  I give it a month.”  She laughed. Her laughter quieted after a few moments and she moved further into Conner’s embrace.  “Found family is about loving and supporting each other no matter what.  Understanding we all have problems and helping each other deal with them and loving each other in spite of them.  You can definitely date within a group that offers you that.” She confirmed, circling back to his original question.  “Most people do.” She added quietly.

He looked at her softly and laid his head back on hers watching the stars twinkle on the ocean surface like a distant, enticing dream.  “Good to know.”

 Tags:

@mickylikesstuff​ @mystery-5-5​ @roguishredaxion​ @vroomtaka​ @laurcad123 ​​ @just-an-observer-ignore-me​ @emimar7​ @moonlightstar64​  @maribat-writing-and-prompts​ @aespades​ @yokomisaki​ @glastwime859​ @mysticknown​ @fan-written @stackofrandomstuff @jalaluvsu @ultimatetornshipper @charme-de-malchan @lozzybowe @kaithehero

[a-square-minus-one]

Honey 9

Well well well this series of disconnected one shots is getting a little meat to it lol

Raven tries running a million solutions in her head as she flies quickly to her teammates. 

She could teleport the sparring pairs to different locations but her brothers could always teleport back.

She could form a solid dome around the sparring pairs but holding an impenetrable barrier that wide for too long would leave her incapable of doing anything else to help the situation.

She could try to come up with a spell to counteract Malchior’s spell but that could take hours and they didn’t have the time.

She could-

Her thoughts are cut short when one of Starfire’s light beams zaps a couple inches in front of her nose and knocks down a tree several feet away. She curses. Barrier it is.

She plants both her feet on the ground and closes her eyes.

“Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos!”

The barrier isn’t the strongest, and she’s pretty sure she sees one of Starfire’s light beams break through just as she erects it but it’s better than nothing.

“Titans, the park’s not empty!” she barks out through gritted teeth, stretching the barrier as Wrath tumbles away from Starfire. She would have thought they didn’t hear her seeing as they didn’t pause at her announcement but Starfire immediately stops using light beams and Cyborg retracts his cannons back into his body. They were clearly trying to revert to hand to hand which would slow the damage made to the park. But this also made them vulnerable to her brother’s energy blasts.

“Terra,” Raven calls through gritted teeth . 

“On it,” Terra responds, already working to block off any energy blasts with mounds of Earth. Raven puts her whole body into maintaining a solid dome. The energy blasts that Terra doesn’t have time to block keep hitting her barrier. She feels like a rope that’s slowly being pulled apart string by string.

“Beast Boy?” Terra gasps when she finally finds herself close enough to Raven to ask. Raven, who was working on making the barrier around the group tighter, tries to determine whether soothing Terra’s concerns is worth the momentary lapse in concentration. She digs her heels harder into the ground.

“With Aqualad,” she finally responds, the muscles in her neck tense with the strain. She doesn’t have time to interpret the look Terra shoots her as Wrath’s giant body bulldozes into her force field. The dark energy vibrates around the whole team like a thin piece of metal. Raven bends her knees, clenches her eyes shut and pushes her hands out in front of her. She’s biting down so hard that she’s sure her teeth were going to sink into her gums. 

“Agh!” she cries out, feeling as her energy is strained out of her through her skin. She knows she’s going to collapse but usually during battles she can measure the exact moment it will happen. This time it comes to her abruptly. Something breaks through her shield and instead of straining to fill the gap, all that black energy just collapses back into itself. It’s sucked back into her body all at once. She imagines this is what throwing up backwards would feel like. She falls into the ground, scrapping her palms with pebbles as she tries to soften her sudden descent. Her skin feels paper thin. See-through. Her insides exposed. She gasps for breath, bringing her knees to her chest. She gasps again, trying to clear the black spots from her vision. Her teammates are a blur of colors forcing her to close her eyes.

She feels a stabbing pain sprouting from her ribs; the pressure makes her cough and gasp. She rolls over on her back hoping to get more air in her lungs, only to have someone sit their full weight on her stomach, pinning her elbows with their knees.

“Charming little makeshift amulets you made for your little friends,” Malchior hisses, tapping the jewel on her forehead. She turns away from his touch so abruptly that her world spins. Where’s Garfield? She tries to move her head to look for him but Malchior grabs her chin roughly. She wiggles beneath him.

“It’s something I would have thought of myself in my beginning years of mystical practice. Of course I probably would have noticed how ill equipped those charmed amulets would be to protect my nonhuman friends. Cruel of you to leave the green one so exposed to your brothers’ manipulation.”

Raven stills.

“Changeling is human,” she mumbles mostly to herself. Her amulets would protect him. Malchior grins, his eyes squinting with incredible mirth for such a dark soul. 

“Is he always dear?” 

Raven clenches her fist so hard that she’s sure she breaks skin. Her throat is tight with the urge to punch the “dear” right out of his mouth.

“Yes,” she bites out. Malchior sucks his teeth, looking at the sun above them. He looks back down at her and her stomach turns.

“You’re still so naive. It makes me want to devour you,” Malchior says, running a finger down her neck. She wiggles away.  He smiles, moving his hand away. “I knew what I wanted when you found me in that book. I wanted out. And then you opened yourself to me. And at first, I took simply to satisfy my basal carnal desires for flesh. A man gets lonely after being imprisoned so long.” Malchior looks towards the sun again, his smile fading in thought. After a few moments, she tries to move her head again to look for Garfield, but he snatches her chin roughly.

“I still had every intention of getting out. But you, my dear, would have been nice to have too. The last piece to my puzzle,” he says, running his thumb over the corner of her lips. 

It is the last straw for her.

He touches her so wontedly. As if she was an extension of his body.

She is tired of the condescending speeches.

The way he looks down on her but still trailed his eyes over the curve of her breast.

She feels a scream locked tight between her clavicles.

He kneels above her now, a physical embodiment of the weight she’s carried since she was fifteen. 

A shame that should have never been hers. 

He looks like a giant from this angle. 

She stills completely, looking him directly in the eyes.

“You will not pin me down any longer,” she says, and her eyes grow hot with power. Something in her mind just aligns, like all her emotions have come to the center of her mind to get this man off of her. She propels his body into the air, pinning him down at each limb.

“Eripe animam, flere sanguine venire ad me, et ponam te in somnum-” Malchior’s eyes widen, his lips part. “Et stabit de domino vestro, aliquis. Et stabit de domino vestro. Audite vocem meam.” 

And suddenly he’s unconscious and she is clutching a clay figurine tight in her hand. She opens a portal and his body is swallowed up beneath her. 

She closes up the portal and her knees sink in the soft grass where his body once was. She digs her palms into the earth and breathes. Deeply, fully.

Painfully.

What did she just do?  

“Now is not the time for silent contemplation!” Terra digs her fingers into Raven’s arm dragging her to her feet. “You said he’d be protected! Now help me do whatever the fuck it is you just did with the dragon.”

Terra gestures wildly to the scene in front of them. Raven’s limbs grow cold as a pained roar practically rumbles the ground beneath them. She looks up just in time to see Nightwing’s weapon dislodging itself from the Beast’s shoulder. Chunks of flesh and blood spurt out of the wound, matting his green fur.

“The Beast,” Raven mumbles. Terra shoves her. Raven can feel Terra’s hot anger like it was an iron in her own core.

“No fucking shit. Aqualad passed out. It took your boyfriend two seconds to take this thing out of Gar. You know how fucking hard it is for him to keep that under wraps!” Terra yells, her finger digging into Raven’s sensitive chest. Raven backs up, more overwhelmed by the waves of distress coming off the changeling’s girlfriend than threatened. Unshed tears make Terra’s eyes shine like crystals. They don’t fit with the crumpled paper that is Terra’s expression.

Raven side steps Terra with the intent to join the fray.

And then she sees the destruction all around them.

Her lips part.

Her eyes land on the crisped back of a man. There is no telling what age he was. He is laying on his stomach. Raven almost thought he was a rock. His skin is textured and misshapen, bits peeled off to reveal sensitive pink flesh underneath. He is charred, the only color on him is the remnants of his blue shirt that didn’t burn off of him. The rest melted into his skin. 

Raven puts a hand over her lips and takes a couple instinctive steps towards him. 

Terra grabs her elbow gently. Raven looks towards her. 

“I checked him already,” Terra says. Raven has trouble pinpointing what Terra is feeling. The anger is still simmering inside of her, but her sadness and defeat is also heavy on Raven. And then she feels something really soft and tender, right in her heart...Terra’s empathy. Raven throat is blocked. She can only mouth the words ‘I’m sorry.’ Terra nods. 

 Raven resumes her jog towards her team.

“Who was next to him? Wrath?” Raven asks over her shoulder. 

“The long haired one.”

“Envy?” Raven asks, looking over her shoulder with one eyebrow cocked. Garfield certainly had his bursts of jealousy but envy is much more deeply seated in people. 

“Yeah if that’s the long haired one,” Terra says, keeping up with Raven’s pace. 

“You should stay back, the Beast is unpredictable.”

“Oh like I did before?” Terra asks sarcastically, her red hot anger poking holes through what Raven can sense is a remarkable effort to be respectful. Raven pushes forward.

She’s near the Nightwing and Changeling when the world gets tilted sideways. She hears a crack as her shoulder bangs painfully against the ground. A suffocating weight lands on top of her. The little breath she has in her lungs escapes her quickly. 

“The end is near sister,” Wrath says, pinning her. She phases through the ground and moves herself behind him. From the corner of her eye she sees a flash of blonde hair. Terra is engaged in her own tussle with Lust. 

Where’s Starfire?

“Your friend is unconscious. For now. She is a formidable opponent and an impressive warrior. She’d make a great addition to our plan. She just needs someone to tap into that thinly veiled anger in her.”

Raven clutches the clay figurine in her hand very firmly. 

“I’ll never join you,” she says, her voice even despite having no time to catch her breath. She’s taking gulps of air but she still doesn’t feel the oxygen travelling through her body. Her shoulder is burning, bringing tears to the corners of her eye. “So what is the point of all this?”

Wrath’s face is even. He holds his arms behind his back and stands with perfect posture. Nothing about him indicates that Starfire put a dent in him but Raven is certain they were an even match. She clenches her fingers around the clay figurine tighter as irritation begins to bubble beneath her skin. She knows the exact moment Wrath can sense it because his lips curl on both ends. 

“Because I’m angry,” Wrath says. She doesn’t even see his chest rise when he breathes. He doesn’t move an inch. 

She thinks of the body behind them. 

A man who was just enjoying the nice weather at the park. Maybe walking his dog. Hopefully not with his family. And now there were pieces of his skin, shriveled up like crumpled up straw covers hanging off of his body. 

The worst thing is that Wrath didn’t have to manipulate her. 

She screams.

It comes straight from her chest, rips through her inflamed throat.

 She can feel herself lifting off the ground, propelled by the black tentacles that have emerged from beneath her cloak. She towers over her brother.

“You pathetic imbecile. Trigon will never respect you,” she booms, feeling her anger diffuse through her, solidifying into dark energy that surrounds her in clouds.   

Wrath doesn’t move. Even when one of the tentacles whips towards him and wraps itself tightly around his neck. Raven squeezes it tighter.

“I can snap you.”

“You think us terrible. Pure evil. You think the world would be better without us,” Wrath says, even tone, looking like he might as well be in a cradle even though Raven’s grip is making the skin of his neck red. “There are some humans we do not even have to touch, sister.”

“And there are some that you do.”

“And there are some that we do,” Wrath agrees in a low voice. “Some people are good because they are good. Some people are good because they fear what will become of themselves if they do something bad. We only serve to make people forget the consequences. We give them free will. Isn’t that what everyone deserves?”

Raven feels herself shrinking back to her regular height, her grip on her brother’s neck loosening. 

“Asking people to make decisions when they have a distorted view of reality is not meritable.”

 “Is it distorted? Can you  honestly purport that this is your reality when there is another side of you vying to be at the forefront? What if you are the one with a clouded view of reality?”

Raven lowers him completely. He’s wrong. She knows it.

“Your red headed friend is awake,” Wrath says, his hands resuming their position behind his back. He smirks a perfect slant. “And she’s angry.” 

Of course I probably would have noticed how ill equipped those charmed amulets would be to protect my nonhuman friends. Malchior’s voice rings in her head. 

Shit. Raven thinks turning just in time to see Starfire, hunched over, running towards the pair at full speed. Her red hair billows behind her like a racehorse. Raven has always known that Starfire is well trained. She is probably the physically strongest of the group. But knowing is different than seeing the muscle of her thigh flex underneath her skin as she runs at you full force. 

Raven assesses what she can now understand is a broken arm. She still feels off center from her momentary lapse in control with her brother, like all the molecules in her body are vibrating at a different frequency. This is going to be fun. She bends at the knees, summoning whatever is left of her dark energy to her fingertips and braces for impact.

But Starfire veers left when she reaches the pair. 

She hits Wrath at the knees with the full weight of her body.

“You touched her! Who do you think her anger was directed at, imbecile?!” Lust bellows from across the field. He’s distracted enough for Terra to literally rip the ground from underneath him. Raven hears a crack as Lust falls on his head.

“Go!” Terra yells, gesturing to the Beast. Raven looks around, making sure all her brothers are evenly matched before running towards Nightwing and Changeling. 

She hears a yowl as she approaches causing her to quicken her pace. Nightwing is crouched down, one arm extended toward the Beast. Nightwing looks ready to pounce, one had on the ground as if he is regaining energy from it. There is a long scar across his cheek that’s bleeding down his neck.

The Beast’s fur is charred and matted in many spaces. Patches of fur are missing on his abdomen. He tears out the throwing star Nightwing swung at him and gives a full chested roar that almost makes Raven tumble backwards. Glistening sharp teeth are bared. Saliva stretches from one lip to the other. 

And then the pair are charging at each other.

Raven puts herself between them, erecting the biggest force field she can. 

“Raven get out of the-” Nightwing begins, the sentence dying on his lips as the Beast takes an open clawed swipe at Raven’s side, causing her force field to collapse back into her for the second time that day. She falls to the ground, out of breath. Tears fall down her cheeks as sharp pain shoots down her broken arm. She can hear as the Beast paws hit the ground but can only see the outline of his blurred green figure pass her through the spots in her vision. 

She wants to lay down. 

She’s tired. 

Her entire body hurts. 

She wants to lay down. 

She wants to lay down.

She gets up with her good arm and blinks a couple of times.

Her cloak is tattered.

There are three long stripes on her side, oozing thick warm blood that stains her leg. She winces. Gritting her teeth and ignoring the resistance from her broken arm, she rips off the end of her cloak and ties it around her waist, covering the wounds as best she can. She gets up on her knees, her legs shaking beneath her. Inhaling deeply, she gets up fully and wobbles towards Nightwing and the Beast again.

“Raven-” Nightwing warns, noticing her from the corner of his eyes. Raven ignores him, walking slowly towards the Beast who is just getting up from whatever it was Nightwing just threw at him. The Beast sways briefly as he gets up on his legs. He shakes his head, putting a paw to it. Then retracts it to reveal blood. The Beast snorts, nostrils flaring. Giant green paws touch the ground again.

“Raven-” Nightwing warns again.

And then the Beast is charging.

Raven stands still waiting for him to get closer.

Then she summons whatever energy she has left and forms a force field around them.

The Beast is stunned, pausing mid run to look at the black bubble around them. His mouth closes and he lets out a little whimper. 

Then he looks at her. 

His chest expands. A roar rips past his lips as he lunges towards Raven. 

He stops when he’s just half a foot from her. Raven stands still, trying to pull herself past the screeching pain in her side.

He’s on all fours. She looks down at his muscles which are tight beneath his fur. Drool dribbles down his jaw. Many of his wounds are still bleeding. Some of them still have bits of the metal Nightwing launched at him still stuck in them. He’s breathing heavily.

“Neither of us can go on like this for much longer Garfield. You’re going to have to fight this urge.”

The Beast roars again, and Raven feels specks of saliva hit her face. Her hair blows back at the forces. Her ears ring. The Beast sticks its chest out, his claws digging up chunks of the ground.

“I can’t go into your head. I don’t have the energy,” she says, looking into the Beast’s eyes. They’re completely black and small, overshadowed by his thick furry eyebrows. Raven can see herself in them. Tears push past her lower lids again as she painfully raises her wounded arm and puts her fingers in between his eyebrows. Her blood stained fingers get lost in his green fur.

“I’m in a lot of pain right now Garfield,” she says very softly, not used to the tremble in her voice. “I won’t be able to help the team much longer. Please...we need you.”

She holds her breath, her fingers twitching.

It’s silent

And then the Beast howls again, long and loud. She flinches as she hears bones cracking and watches as Garfield’s muscles shift underneath his skin. The Beast’s body shrinks. Raven breaths out, falling to her knees as Garfield does. His body shivers back into its human form. He’s on all fours still, head turned towards the ground. His howl turns into a scream.

“Changeling,” she asks, her hand is on the top of his head. She removes her wounded arm with a soft yelp. Her other hand reaches out and runs behind his ear and underneath his jaw. She lifts his head so he can look at her.

His eyes are pink and watery. His face crumples up in a wince as he sits back on his feet. His uniform is tattered and she can barely see any purple underneath all the blood. A breath passes her lips as she hovers her hand over all of his wounds. He peeks at her through one eye. Then this ridiculous, completely misplaced grin stretches across his face.

“Garfield?”

“Do you think Nightwing is going to take this out on me during training?”

She wants to yell at him for joking.

She really does.

But suddenly her head feels very heavy.

She blinks a couple of times. 

Garfield’s face goes out of focus.

Her chin hits her chest.

She feels herself falling forward.

And that’s all she remembers.

[youngdreamer3214]

Could you do 18 from the prompt list with Speedy and Raven

Assume Standard Disclaimer

Tumblr Prompt #18. “You weren’t there for me when I needed you the most.” Warning- Angst, Hurt with little comfort Pairing- Speedy and Raven

(A/N- This is written in Raven’s point of view. Please be gentle it is my first time writing a piece of this sort.)

I hope you enjoy reading this.

0O0O

My vision started to blur, heartbeats slowed down and in that moment I was lost, confused, sad and hurt. So deeply hurt that I felt as though all life was seeping out of my veins and at an excruciatingly slow pace, reminding me of everything I had gone through, what I had lost, something which I never had. A tear slips down my cheek as my breathing becomes uneven and blood gushes out of my wounds.

As I laid in the middle of the ruins, sirens blaring in the background, my friends screaming in the background trying to get to me, all I could think about were his parting words to me.

Call me a masochist but all I could think about was his painfully beautiful smile, his breathtakingly enchanting emerald eyes which would never look at me the way that I wanted, like how I looked at him.

Maybe it was because I was not pretty enough, not funny enough, not interesting enough or just not enough for him. Or maybe it was because I was not her.

She, who is his priority, the one for whom his smiles are directed to, the one who he always looks at, the one for whom he leave everything behind, even me.

My breath hitches in my throat as a ray of light falls on my face and fresh air embraces every inch of the room and hope takes birth in my heart seeing a domino masked face. Maybe he came for me? Maybe I am his priority? Maybe he hadn’t forgotten about me?

But as people rush in the room, everything becomes stuffy, cramped. The light is blocked and all hope dies as I see black hair instead of his beautiful fiery hair. I realize with defeat, cursing myself to be an idiot for having hope that he would come for me. All hope leaves my body as my leader and friend picks me up in his arms cautiously saying something that I cannot hear, all I can see is his lips moving before everything starts to blur and my world goes dark.

0O0O0

I hear voices as I slowly drift into consciousness, my eyes slowly adapting to the brightness of the... med bay? I groan as my head starts to throb and my throat feels dry.

“W-water.” I manage to croak out and everything around me falls silent except for the constant beeping of the heart monitor. I see my best friend Richard rush to get water as Cyborg with great care help me sit up while Beastboy keeps pillows behind my back. Starfire hovers around me with a worried expression on her face. I see my team filling the room as my eyes slowly open fully and without hurting.

And my heart starts to ache when I don’t see the archer in the room, confirming what I already know, that he doesn’t care enough for me to be here.

I try to shift my focus from him to my friends, who I am so grateful to have in my life and offer them a smile full of gratefulness as I see the relief on their faces.

“You scared us there, Rae…” Richard says with relief evident on his face as he pulls a chair to sit next to my bed after helping me drink water.

“Yeah, don’t do that to us again please…or who would save us from greenie’s jokes?” Cyborg, my dear big brother said trying to lighten the serious mood but I could feel the high levels of relief emitting from him. Beastboy agreed till he realized the remark made at him and gave an offended, making me laugh inwardly “Hey! Raven loves my jokes…don’t you, Raven?”

I just gave an unimpressed look to him, trying to hide my smile as my mind shifted to my friends and how thankful I was that I had them in my life.

It was not until later that Cyborg told me that I had suffered from several wounds, some of them being burns and a fractured leg but the most worrisome was the wound on my head which was the reason I had difficulty healing myself and the reason why I was in critical condition until and unless I woke up.

He advised me to not move out of the med bay for at least till tomorrow and that for at least three weeks (depending on my healing) I was to not take part in fighting crime. The latter to which I protested relentlessly but my friends were firm on this decision and I ultimately gave up when Starfire gave me her watery eyes.

I sighed and my eyes started to become droopy, the medicine showing its effect so I leaned back in the pillows and Cyborg ushered everyone out of the room seeing my state, Starfire gave me a huge but gentle hug. Well the gentlest she could be and left. Cyborg and Beastboy followed suit with the former making promises of waffles for breakfast and the latter with of a protein filled vegan breakfast at which Cyborg hit his head as they both walked out playfully fighting.

Now only Richard was left. With him only in the room my mask had no meaning; he was my best friend, my leader and the one who I trusted most in the world. He knew about my feelings for the archer and he knew all the pain I suffered because of it.

The pain of loving someone who could never see me that way, who could never think of me in that way, who could never return my feelings.

We sat in silence for a while, the beeping of the heart monitor being the only sound in the room when I asked in a low voice “Did he call?”

A small, quiet ‘no’ was my answer and I chuckled painfully, a couple of tears welling up in my eyes as I heard what my best friend had to add “Maybe he didn’t get the message…or maybe-”

“He doesn’t care.” My dejected admission stole all the words out of his mouth and he stared at me with pity, which I hated. I don’t need anybody’s pity or sympathy. So before he could say anything I looked at him and whispered, my voice coming out shakier than I would have liked “I am t-tired.”

He saw the turmoil underneath my facade like he always did, and left after wishing me a good night. I closed my eyes, hoping for sleep to take me away from the nightmares of reality.

0O0

Days passed as my body was recovering from its injuries unlike my heart which still remained broken, breaking more with each day passing when he didn’t call.

My friends noticed this as they constantly tried to divert my mind to other matters. Richard would ask me to help him in battle strategies, Starfire would make me watch some show that was trending and Cyborg would just talk with me, carefully avoiding any topic which may hurt me.

But the most puzzling of all was Beastboy, who would transform into a kitten and just lay next to me, napping or lightly purring as I gave him scratches, just offering me his support and comfort. And that was just what I needed; as much as I appreciated the efforts of all my friends, I looked forward to Beastboy’s company the most.

The shapeshifter was the only one of my friends who could understand my pain, the pain of loving someone who could never love you back again. And ever since Terra refused to recognize him, he has carried that pain in his heart; which I can often feel and now relate to.

And it was on one of the days when Beastboy was lying next to me in his cat form while I read when he entered the room, and my breathe hitched in my throat and my heart beats slowed down.

His somehow always impeccable red hair were messy, as though he had run his hand through it a lot; his gorgeous emerald eyes were hidden by his domino mask but even that mask couldn’t hide his anger as his face was flushed and his chest was heaving.

“I need to speak to you Raven” he said, his lips tight and sporting a frown which only deepened as he looked at the changeling next to me and said “Alone.”

Beastboy didn’t say anything; he lightly curled his tail around my hand while staring at the archer, showing his support. He slowly turned and looked at me in question and I lightly nodded my head so he untangled his tail from me, making me suddenly feel so empty and alone, and jumped on the ground and walked out of the room to give us privacy but not before glaring at the archer.

“What is it Speedy?” I asked not looking at him, which seemed to anger him even more as he stomped in my direction till he stood in front of me, his stance intimidating and furious. But I couldn’t bear to look at him. Just being in the same room with him was suffocating me. It was reminding me of what I couldn’t have, what I was not good enough for.

“Do you mind explaining to me, why I found out from Aqualad that you are injured instead of you telling me this yourself?” he seethed. I didn’t say anything and focused my attention on the wall behind him.

He clouded my senses, everything about him was overwhelming me. His extreme and very loud emotions were impacting my empathy, making me unable to think about anything but him.

I stayed silent, unable to say anything with his anger clouding his senses and now fueling my own. “Tell me Raven!” He screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Why did you not tell me? Am I NOTHING to you? Don’t I have the right to know, if my best friend is injured? You are an empath right? Then why do you not care about anyone’s emotions but your own! Why-”

This was the breaking point for me.

I could feel my magic waiting to erupt from my being, my second pair of eyes waiting to open and my demonic heritage wanting to overpower my human self.

“Shut up!” I hissed, my voice laced with my demon’s “You don’t get to speak to me this way, especially after everything that has happened between us.”

My heart ached again, thinking about the day when our relationship changed forever. My demon retreating in the deepest depths of my being as my pain overshadowed everything else.

“You are asking me that why didn’t I tell you about my condition but why weren’t you there for me when all this happened, when I needed you?” his eyes widened at my question.I could feel his anger drain out of his body as everything he said that day and his reason for not being there for me dawned on him.

He shamefully hung his head, the anger seemingly forgotten as he said in a voice just above a whisper “S-she…”

I laughed, cutting him off; of course it was because of her. I cursed myself for thinking that he had another reason for not being there for me. “So don’t accuse me of not caring about anybody else’s emotions, when it was you who had never cared about mine...You weren’t there for me when I needed you the most.”

A tear slipped down my eye as I looked at him saying what I promised to myself would be my last words to him, the man who was my friend, my first love, Roy. “And now I will make sure that I never need you again.” And now he will always be Speedy to me, a fellow titan.

Fin.

Please Read and Review.

Thank you.

[the-shadow-of-atlantis]

Camp Out

A/N most of the dialogue was taken from the YJ tie in comic

Tagging: @lizartgurl @thespacebuns @melyaliz @coffee-randomness @gobydana @speedypan

Read Earlier Parts Here

“Huh.”

“What?” Annabella asked as she turned to look at her brother.

“M’gann just messaged us asking if we’d like to join her and Wally to a camp out.” Dick said as he looked at his phone.

“Five bucks says he was trying to ask her out.” Annabella laughed then turned to her dad who was sitting by the batcomputer. “Can I go dad?”

Bruce turned to look at them.

“Who’s all going?”

“Looks like the whole team.” Said Dick as he looked through the message.

“Please papi?” Annabella asked giving him a hug.

“Make sure you pack what you need.”

“Yay! Come on Dick I’ll race you.”

Annabella had to make a mental note to get the surveillance photo of Wally’s face when he saw the whole group gathered there for the camp out. They set out and got the tents set up.

“Are you sure you should be setting up the fire?” M’gann asked.

“I got this.” Annabella said as she piled the wood. “My dad showed me how to make one. Besides the guys are busy with the tents.”

By the time the guys were done Annabella had the fire at a pretty decent size.

“This is fun.” She said as she roasted a marshmallow. “It’s been a long time since we’ve gone camping.”

“Is this all you guys do?” Superboy asked. “Sleep in flimsy things called tents and sit around the fire?”

“Yeah that’s pretty much about it. So if you feel like heading home I can sit out here with Ms. M… alone.” Wally said with a pout, Annabella elbowed him.

“You’re about as subtle as a train wreck, you know that?” Dick said making Annabella snicker.

“You’re not going to catch any fish unless you go fishing dude.” Wally retorded but turned back to look at Kaldur. “Sorry, no offense.”

“No.” Said Dick going back to what Superboy had asked. “Usually you sit around the campfire and tell stories.”

“Oh!” M’gann perked up. “I would love to hear your story Kaldur. Could you tell us how you became Aqualad?”

“I was thinking more of a ghost story type of thing but I guess whatever..” Dick muttered and Annabella elbowed him.

“Shh.” She scolded as she turned to look at Kaldur.

“Oh, I suppose I could do that if you do not think it will be too boring.” Kaldur smiled shyly.

“Not at all! I would love to hear it!”

“Me too.” Said Annabella giving her brother a warning look to not speak.

Kaldur nodded and began his story. Annabella’s eyes widened when he mentioned how he joined the arm at 12. She turned to look at her brother he was just 9 when he started becoming Robin. She herself was just 10 yet those two had already been through so much. Shaking her head she continued to listen smiling at the end.

“Huh you’re a bit reckless, aren't you.” She joked and caught just the faintest tint of blush on his cheek.

“Wow, So you wanted to be Aqualad?” M’gann asked.

“Yes, the opportunity arose. I could think of another path.”

“Yeah? If you think he wanted to be Aqualad so bad? Let me tell you about how I got started.”

“Ugh.” Annabella groaned. “Not this story again.”

“Shh.” Dick said mocking her.

As Wally began telling his story Annabella mouthed every word he said.

“Yeah. We’re all thrilled you’re so speed-capable.” Dick said as Wally finished his story.

“What’s the matter jealous?” Wally retorted.

“Yeah right! Jealous of you?”

Annabella pouted. “I wanna hear more stories now shut it.”

“Oh, can you tell us about how you got started, Robin?” M’gann asked.

“Ha!” Wally snorted. “Are you kidding me? Bats won’t even let him tell you his real name! I mean you’ll probably get a better origin story out of supey over here.”

“Wally if you don’t shut up I’m gonna stab you.” Annabella threatened him with her s’mores stick but turned to look at Superboy. “Do you really have no memories before they got you out?”

“I have some memories from the Gnomes.” Superboy began to explain how he only remembered the information they gave him. How he only began to think after he was out of his pod. How he only thought about destroying Superman.

“Robin did you hear what he said?” Wally asked.

“Huh what?” Her brother mumbled.

Annabella looked over at her brother frowning. You okay? She mouthed as she felt a familiar pain flutter away from him.

He nodded and they went back to conversation.

“He just said he wants to take down Superman!” Wally shouted.

“Are you serious? Superboy?” M’gann asked.

“It’s how I feel sometimes. What if that’s why I was created? What if that was the only reason I was created?” Superboy questioned.

“That’s not possible.” M’gann said.

“Yeah! Look at all the good stuff you’ve done so far!” Wally piped up.

“What would be the possible reasoning behind this thinking?” Kaldur asked.

“I just feel… I dont know what I feel. Sometimes… thoughts happen.” Superboy tried to explain.

“Those would be silly thoughts! You should put them out of your head.”

“He does have a valid point. We really dont know anything about what they did to him yet.”

“We know you were made to replace Superman but we never questioned how that would be. But you can always choose what to be.” Annabella said getting up and walking up to Superboy. “You may have been made for a reason. But your out now. You can take what your dreams mean however you want but you’re free to choose what to do.”

Superboy sighed. “Thanks.”

She led Superboy back to the fire and handed him a s’more.

“Hey! You haven’t told us about your story. What’s the dealio with you, M’gann?” Wally asked after a few moments of silence.

Annabella listened to M’ganns story but began to frown half way through it. Something about her story didn’t feel right, she was lying. Annabella wasn’t quite sure what she was lying about. Maybe she was just trying to make it seem more exciting than it really was. Annabella shook off the thought as M’gann finished her story.

“We’ll I don't know about you guys, but I think I’ve had one s’more too many. I’m going to hit the old sleeping bag.” Dick said getting up.

“”Yes! This has been such a wonderful evening but I am excited to sleep in a tent.” Said M’gann.

“I’m right behind you.” Wally said following M’gann but Annabella stood in front of him placing her hands on his chest.

“No you’re not.” She said as she pushed him towards a different tent.

“Hey, next time, you think we should go camping for real, like at a real camping place instead of just our own backyard?” Wally said slowly putting his weight on top of her.

“Wally I’ll punt you into the tent and you know I can.” Annabella mumbled almost lifting Wally off the ground.

“You don't strike me as the outdoorsy type. Tonight were sleeping about five feet from the cave entrance, maybe next time we can try down the hills bit.” Dick said chuckling a bit.

The three of them got into their tent and Annabella grabbed her clothes and burrowed into her sleeping bag.

“Why are you two so against M’gann and I becoming a thing?” Wally asked as he changed.

“You do realize she is not into you.” Annabella said from under her sleeping bag.

“I think she just doesn’t know Earth flirting techniques.” Wally shrugged.

“You keep thinking that.” Dick said.

“Coast clear?” Annabella asked.

“You’re good.” Said Wally and Annabella poked her head out. “Really? Justice league pjs?”

“Says the guy who owns a pair of Superman boxers.”

“When did you see his boxers?!?!” Dick nearly shrieked, Annabella looked at her brother.

“They were literally sticking out of his duffel bag how am I not supposed to see them.”

Dick turned and glared at Wally.

“Hey its not like she saw me in them.”

“First ew. Second not like there be much to see.”

“Rude.”

Annabella took her sunglasses off and grabbed her backpack shoving her clothes in and placing the glasses in their case.

“You think Bman is ever gonna let you come without the glasses?” Wally asked as he got into his sleeping bag.

“God I hope so. I can't believe you’ve made everyone call me Bells.” Annabella glared at Wally as she got back into her sleeping bag.

“Hey at least it was Bells and not…”

“Your utter that name out loud and I will summon a snake into your sleeping bag.” Annabella warned glaring at Wally.

“You two go to sleep.” Dick groaned as he snuggled into his sleeping bag.

“Baby.” Annabella muttered as she got comfortable and went to sleep.

Good morning!

Good morning!

Wake up everyone!

Annabella groaned, she had forgotten why she hadn’t gone camping in a while. Rubbing her eyes she quietly got up. She had to fight back a laugh when she turned and saw her brother dropped across Wally both of them snoring their heads off. Taking a quick picture she got up and changed for the day.

Yawning she walked slowly out of the tent with her backpack. Kaldur or Superboy must’ve put out the fire last night so she got it back up so she could brew some water. As she waited for the pot to get hot she dug into her bag and took out a bag of seeds. Taking a handful she tossed it into the dirt.

FOOD! The birds shouted making Annabella wince.

A small flock covered the ground pecking at the seeds.

You’re welcome. Annabella mumbled tiredly.

She received a small chorus of thank you’s.

She threw some more seeds before getting a cup and pouring the water in along with instant coffee and creamer. Taking a sip she sighed as she looked up at the sky, seeing the orange and pinks bleed away from the blue.

Now that’s a cub I have not seen in years.

Annabella turned and saw a brown bear looking at her. Annabella squealed.

“Sasha!! Is that you?!” She shouted as she ran to the bear and jumped on top of the bear.

Oh little cub you have grown so much! Sasha replied ducking down so Annabella could climb properly on her. Oh, and who are these people?

Annabella looked up to find Superboy and Kaldur half dressed and in defense mode outside of their tent however they stared at her and the bear confused as if not sure what form of action to perform.

“Oh, the one with the tattoos is Kaldur and the one next to him is Superboy. Guys this is Sasha.” Annabella smiled patting the bears head.

“Are you okay?” Kaldur asked carefully eyeing the bear.

He does not trust me. Sasha pouted.

“I know, its okay.” Annabella said though the guys weren’t sure who she was talking to. “Sasha wont hurt me guys I’ve known her for a long time.”

“What’s going on?” M’gann yawned as she got out of her tent.

Wally and her brother walked out of their tent soon after and passed to look at the scene.

“You really can't last one day outdoors whiteout making a new friend can you?” Wally said laughing.

“For your information Sasha is an old friend.”

“Would someone please explain what's going on?” M’gann asked eyeing the bear Annabella was casually perched on.

“Everyone this is Sasha, Sasha they will be living in the cave form now on.”

Oh they are hero’s as well?

“Yes.”

No one has lived in the cave for such a long time, I thought it was not safe.

“It wasn’t, but no one knows of this team therefore they wont be discovered.” Annabella explained.

“Wait, are you talking to the bear?” Superboy asked making Annabella looked up the team and blush.

“Oh, yeah… surprise I can talk to animals.” Annabella said raising her hands up in a tada manner.

Superboy and Kaldur blinked before turning to look at M’gann.

“What are you staring at me for?” She asked.

“Well you are the mind reader.” Superboy shrugged.

“Yes but… animal minds are much more difficult. Your mind must be very special.” M’gann said.

“Thanks?”

“Yeah its all cool and stuff until you only hear half of the conversations because she fails to state what the animal is saying out loud.” Wally explained.

Little cub.

“Yes?”

Do you have any food?

“Oh of course.”

“Like that.” Wally said gesturing towards Annabella making her stick her young out at him.

“She’s hungry.” She simply said as she slid off the bear and went back to her bag and began digging around. “I know I packed some meat in here. Ah here it is.”

She took out a tightly wrapped package. And began unraveling it.

“You seriously brought packages meat with you?” Dick asked.

“I wasn’t sure which animals would be here so I came prepared for everything.” Annabella shrugged as she tossed a price of meat to Sasha.

Thank you, boys food.

Annabella gasped. “Oh my god you have cubs?”

Sure enough there little cubs came trotting out from the tree line towards the pice of meat.

Would you like to hold them?

“Yes, come on guys you wanna pet a baby bear?” Annabella asked as she got closer to pet one.

“Is it safe?” Kaldur asked.

“Yes they won’t attack.” Annabella said.

The team slowly gathered around and took turns petting the different bears. Sasha looked curiously at M’gann and sniffed her.

Is something wrong with this one? Sasha asked making Annabella laugh.

“No she’s just a Martian, she’s not from earth.” Annabella explained when Sasha cocked her head at the word Martian.

“Huh?” M’gann asked.

“Sasha just wanted to know why you look different, she thought you were sick.” Annabella explained before quickly grabbing one of the cubs. “Hey you do not bite people.”

But he smells like fishies. The cub pouted.

“I don't care if he smells like fish you don't bite.” Annabella scolded.

“I was unaware I had that scent.” Kaldur frowned.

“You don't, you smell more like ocean breeze. He probably just got a fainter smell of the fish from the sea.”

The cub resorted to licking Kaldurs arm.

“So how does it work?” M’gann asked petting the cub that was sitting on her lap.

“Um, not entirely sure. I can just sorta hear them talking in my head. But to me it just sounds like a normal conversation I would have with another person.”

“Can you speaks to all wildlife?” Kaldur asked petting the cub that was still licking him.

“Just about, cats, dogs, birds, snakes, lizards, monkeys, etc. Even marine life like fishes, sharks dolphins whales. If I try hard enough I can sorta talk to bugs but ugh those give me headaches.” Annabella explained as she poked the fire.

“How long have you had your powers?” Superboy asked.

“Awhile.” Annabella mumbled catching the look her brother was giving her.

“How did you get your powers?” M’gann asked.

“Ah, it's nothing interesting really. One day we went camping and I wandered into the woods, the next thing I knew I woke up hearing the entire forest in my head.”

“Why didn’t you mention this last night when we were telling stories?” M’gann asked Annabella could sense she was still intrigued.

“You never asked.” Annabella shrugged.

“Well to be honest I think it would make more sense for you to be  robin instead of your brother.” Said M’gann. “How come you are not a sidekick?”

“Overprotective dad.” Superboy guessed.

“That’s part of the reason, also being a sidekick just isn’t my thing. Ive grown up with superhero’s all my life I’ve seen what that life can lead to. I know the good it can do but at the same time its just not me… at least… not yet.”

“You think you’ll join us one day?” M’gann asked making Annabella glance at her brother.

“I don't know yet.” Annabella sighed. “All I know is that I do want to make a difference I just don't know what that is yet.”

Always the big dreamer, Sasha said licking Annabella’s face.

Annabella laughed and rubbed the slobber off her face. Suddenly Wally's stomach let out a loud grumble making everyone stare at him.

“What? I haven’t eaten since I’ve woken up.” He whined.

“We should probably head inside to get some breakfast.” Said M’gann.

“Good idea.” Said Kaldur.

“Okay, stay safe Sasha we’re gonna go inside now. I promise I’ll come out to visit you.” Annabella patted the bears head.

You take care too little cub, I’m glad you have some friends now.

Anabella smiled as she rubbed Sasha’s head and hugged the cubs goodbye.

[eternallyyoungjustice]

Wherever the Winds Take You: Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry for the short delay, y’girl got herself concussed the other day by just sitting in class. As always, the translations are down below.

Hope y’all enjoy!

The sound of applause filled the canvas walls, roars and enthusiastic cheers soaring through the air and embracing the collection of people in the center of the huge, circular tent. Even through her earplugs, Lina could hear the noise clearly. But it was different from most other loud noises, this didn't hurt her as much.

The stands were full, that much was obvious even though they were darkened by the shadows cast on by the bright, colourful stage lights that hung over the center. Lina couldn't even see many of the faces in the crowds from her spot high up, perched up on the aerial hoop. But the faces she could make out were grinning from ear-to-ear as they gazed at the performers in front of them.

Lina took a deep breath, the smell of plastic, sweat, and greasy circus food flooding her senses, the hot beams of the lights overhead only adding onto her sweat from the last performance. The weight of the heavy stage makeup, her callused fingers gripping the metal of the hoop, the material of her costume.

All of it, the most beautiful feeling in the world to the fourteen year old girl.

Looking straight up, Lina saw her mother-the beauty that she was-showing off her pearly white teeth as she beamed up at the audience, even blowing them kisses from her perch. Sitting on the top of the hoop, only secured by her grip on the cable that it hung from, wasn't the safest position for Véronique, but she was rarely one to care about that sort of thing.

Sensing her daughter's gaze, the older woman glanced down and hazel eyes met blue as the mother-daughter duo made eye-contact.

“Smile wide at your audience, ma Papillon.” Véronique smiled to her daughter. “Aimez-les autant qu'ils tu aimes.”

Nodding, Lina did as instructed and widened her grin to the stands below. Even blowing a kiss or two to them, matching her mother.

As the applause slowly died out, people beginning to file out of the tent, the performers gradually stopped waving and relaxed. The smiles and joy did not dissipate in the slightest from the performers’ faces however, everyone too happy at the well-done show.

“Benny, a little lower if you could.” Véronique yelled behind her at the rigging men. On cue, the hoop the two women were on slowly began to lower towards the ground. The elder of the two leapt off as soon as they reached a reasonable height, but Lina remained sitting for a while longer until she was met with the familiar face of one Russian strongman.

“You were marvelously vpechatlyayushchiy, Ms. Lina.” Mateo smiled as he extended his arms. Lina smiled and nodded, letting the man perch her on his broad shoulders.

“Spasibo, Mateo.” Lina replied, smiling down at the mountain of a man below her. “You were spectacular as well.”

“Anyone with some meat on their bones can do what I do.” The strongman handwaved, gently squeezing the knee he held to balance the girl on his shoulders. “It takes great talent to do what you and your Mat do.”

“Are you spoiling my daughter again Mateo?” Véronique asked, walking up beside them. “Vy idete, chtoby poluchit' yeye zavisimost', chtoby pokhvalit', yesli vy prodolzhayete.”

“Apologies Madam,” Mateo smiled, looking at the woman, and then up at the girl again, “but I don't believe that would be completely unwarranted.”

“Not to mention she more than deserves high-praise tonight.” The kind voice of Markus said as he snuck up behind his wife, wrapping his arms around her costume-covered waist and pulling her into a backwards embrace. Véronique smiled coyly as she melted into her husband's body. “Just as Ma Ange does.”

Even though Véronique rolled her eyes, the smile, accompanied by her lovingly pulling her husband into a passionate kiss showed that she was more than pleased by his words.

“Lina! Lina!” The high-pitched boys voice met the girl's ears and she perked up to see Leo, accompanied not far behind by Calvin, running up to his family. Mateo, deciding to let the family speak and begin on his cleaning duties, gently placed Lina down on the ground, patted her head gently, and walked away.

“Did you see me up there with Orion?” The ten-year-old Leo exclaimed as he ran up to his older sister. Tonight had been Leo's turn to help with the lion act, his favorite act to help with.

Indeed, having an act named 'The young Leo and the terrifyingly terrific lions’ was amusing to say the least.

“I did, I'm surprised Cortez and Julien actually let you take him out of the ring. The children certainly loved it.” Lina laughed.

“Orion's old and the most well-mannered.” Leo shrugged. “But it was so cool! You did see it, right? Like, the whole thing? Even the m-””She said she saw it, you clown. Calme-toi.”

Calvin's interruption earned him a stuck-out-tongue from his little brother.

“Patrick, Mickey, and Ester are cool; so I'm taking ‘clown’ as a compliment!” Leo huffed in retort, earning a small chuckle from his older siblings.

“Touché.” Calvin smiled, shrugging. Then he turned to Lina, and she noticed that he was still wearing the charcoal-coloured face paint across his eyes that was meant to look like a mask. The black accentuating his blue orbs. “You want to go greet the adoring public? Do the old we're-siblings-and-therefore-adorable shtick?”

“Candy floss does sound nice, I wonder if we can get some from Mia.” Lina nodded, and the three of them began making their way to the opening the public had just exited out from.

“Be safe!” Markus called after his children.

“Oh please, we're always safe.” Calvin smirked.

“Says the fire-eater about the aerialist and the lion-tamer?” Leo snorted, causing the other two to laugh.

“Time runs short.” The sudden burst of pain caused Lina to freeze, grabbing onto her head as it erupted into pain.

Where had that voice come from?

“You must awaken!” As the voice returned, Lina tensed even more, curling into herself.

“You must awaken now!”

Zephyr's eyes flew open as she gasped for breath.

The first thing to hit her was the light. Dim and white, it hurt her eyes and made her wish she could go back to being unconscious. Despite the light burning through to her brain, Zephyr kept her eyes open and looked around at her surroundings. She couldn’t make out much, but she could feel that she was bound tightly by her wrists above her head, her wrists encased in a thick metal. She also realized that she was encased in some kind of glass cocoon, causing the area outside to gleam and appear blurry.

But most of all, what struck Zephyr was the pounding pain that ran through her head.

“Where am I?” Her groggy thoughts mentally asked. “What happened?”

Then she remembered.

The tour of the Hall, Speedy quitting, the secrets and lies being revealed, her, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Robin running out to Cadmus; the Genomorphs, Superboy, Superboy attacking them…

Zephyr held back a groan as the memories flooded back. She must have been out for a couple hours, that’s why the lights hurt her so much. Her medication was beginning to wear out.

Forcing herself to open her eyes again, she looked through the glass walls to see her comrades beside her; Aqualad to her right, and Kid Flash and Robin to her left. All of them in similar glass pods with their wrists bound by the metal latches. Every one of them seemed groggy. In front of all of them however, Zephyr was surprised to see an emotionless Superboy standing, staring at all of them.

“W-what? What do you want?” Kid Flash suddenly yelled at the clone, apparently much more awake. “Quit staring...you’re creeping me out!”

“Uh, Kid…” Robin interjected, voice groggy, “how about we not tick off the guy who can fry us with a look?”

Superboy didn’t react to either boy’s words, simply continuing to stare emotionlessly at the heroes.

“We only sought to help you-” Aqualad began, but was quickly cut off by a still angry Kid Flash.

“Yea, we free you and you turn on us, how’s that for gra-””Kid.” Aqualad cut off this time, his tone commanding and stern. “Please, be quiet now. I believe our friend was not in full control of his actions.”

“What if I-” Superboy caused, his voice raspy from obviously never using it before. “What if I wasn’t?”

“He can talk?” Kid Flash exclaimed, sounding utterly surprised.

Superboy did not seem to take too kindly to this, clenching his fist at his side. “Yes, he can.”

The ginger speedster received looks from each of his friends, Zephyr even muttering a “really?”.

“What? It’s not like I said ‘it’!” KF justified.

Aqualad turned back to the boy in question. “The Genomorphs taught you telepathically?”

“They taught me much.” Superboy replied. “I can read, write...I know the names of things.”

“But these things that you have learned of, have you actually experienced them?” Zephyr asked. “Have you ever been able to see the sky? The sun? Have you ever known a life outside of your pod?”

“Images are implanted in my mind, but...no. I have not seen them.” Superboy lowered his head, troubled by this.

“Do you know what you are? Who you are?” Aqualad asked.

“I am the Superboy, a Genomorph. A clone made from the DNA of the Superman. Created to replace him should he perish...to destroy him should he turn from the light.”

A chill simultaneously ran through each of the teenager’s spines as Kid Flash, Zephyr, and Robin all looked to each other with looks of shock. Aqualad however, pushed forward.

“To be like Superman is...a worthy aspiration. But like Superman, you deserve a life of your own.” The Atlantean explained. “Beyond that solar-suit, beyond your pod, beyond Cadmus.”

“I live because of Cadmus! It is my home!”

“Your ‘home’ is a test-tube.” Robin reasoned.

“We can give you the life and experiences you have been denied, the life you deserve.” Zephyr explained, putting her strength into giving the boy a small smile. “We can show you the beautiful world outside. The Earth, the sky, the sun-”

“Uh, pretty sure it’s after midnight…” Wally interjected. “But we can show you the moon.”

“We can show you, introduce you, to Superman.”

Just as a look of hope began to make its way into Superboy’s face, and the teenagers began to believe that they may have managed to accomplish their mission, a new voice entered the room.

“No, they can’t.” The door opened to reveal Guardian, the woman scientist that Kid Flash and Zephyr had literally knocked into, and a new figure: a greasy-looking man wearing a white lab coat, his face aged and his long hair pulled into a ponytail. All three of them had a Genomorph-gnome on their shoulder. “They’ll be...otherwise occupied. Activate the cloning procedure.”

“Pass, Batcave's crowded enough.” Robin remarked.

The other teens were a little astounded that the young boy could joke about an non-consensual cloning procedure. However, the scientist didn't even pay the Boy Wonder's remark any mind.

“And get the weapon back in it's pod!” The man ordered.

“Hey, how come he gets to call Supey an 'it’?” Kid Flash exclaimed, earning him a disapproving look from Zephyr.

As Guardian walked over to Superboy, the clone looked over to Aqualad. As a last resort, the Atlantean returned his gaze with a pleading one.

“Help us.”

In response, and to many people's surprise, Superboy shrugged off Guardian's hand.

However, the small victory was short-lived as the scientist walked over to the clone, a look of irritation on his face.

“Don't start thinking now!” The scientist's Genomorph-gnome hopped onto Superboy's shoulder, and the boy's eyes glazed over. “See, you're not a real boy, you're a weapon. And you belong to me-well-to Cadmus. Same thing. Now get back to your pod!”

Not another moment after, Superboy robotically walked out of the room.

Before any of the teenagers could process the loss of their only hope however, they were soon distracted by mechanical arms, attached with four needle-like tips, coming out of the ground. Each of them fought, pulling against their restraints, but to no avail.

The needles plunged into each of their chests, accompanied by raging shocks of electricity as blood drained from each of the heroes bodies. Above their own groans and screams, each of the teens could hear those of their comrades.

Blood rushing, throat becoming sore as screams scratched their vocal chords, muscles on fire, tears welling up in eyes. Each one of the young heroes could feel these, but they were drowned out by over-arching blistering pain that sparked through their bodies for what seemed like several eternities.

Zephyr could vaguely hear the screaming voices of her Winds, but the pain and her brain's oversensory of it caused the elemental cries to become muffled and mixed in with her own screams, and those of her friends.

The others however, vaguely heard something else entirely. The sound of the male scientist saying “delete the source material”.

Just as the teens felt they were about to pass out again, loud banging sounds and the sound of tearing metal filled the room and the electric shocks came to pass.

“I told you to get back to your-” the scientist was unable to finish as he was met with Superboy's fist, sending the older man into a nearby wall.

“Don't give me orders.” Superboy growled.

“Are you here to help us…” Kid Flash asked nervously as the clone turned to face them “or fry us?”

Superboy's eyes narrowed and he stared at the ginger for a long, pregnant pause. Then he eased up, a trace of a smile pulling at his lips. “I don't seem to have heat-vision so I guess helping is my only option.”

“Y-you're...joking, right?” Zephyr asked, still out of breath. Her tone laced with mild worry. But she never got an answer as Robin suddenly jumped out of his pod, rubbing his wrists.

“Finally! Lucky Batman isn't here, he'd have my head for taking this long.” The Boy Wonder said victoriously.

“Dude, that's what you're worried about? The whole League'll have our heads after tonight!”

“I quite like my head…” Zephyr muttered sleepily, but it was so low that she didn't think anyone heard her. A moment later when she realized her words, she shook her head.

As the young girl looked up, she was quick to notice that one of the pillars on one side of the room had toppled over, presumably during their shocking as she hadn't noticed it before. “W-what…?”

Robin walked over to the computer and began typing, making the needles retract and the glass doors of the pods open. “Free Aqualad and Zephyr.” Robin told Superboy. “I'll get Kid Mouth.”

“Don't you give me orders either!” Superboy snarled, but did as he was told nonetheless. Rushing over to Aqualad first and breaking the metal shackles, catching the Atlantean as he sagged over, then doing the same to Zephyr. Although the latter shuffled forward uneasily, she caught herself.

“Thank you…” Aqualad muttered to Superboy, a grateful smile gracing his features.

As the two had their moment, Zephyr reached for the hidden compartment on her left thigh, just at her hip. But as she pulled out the syringe full of translucent blue liquid, Superboy suddenly stepped back, alert.

“Calme-toi.” Zephyr mumbled, pursing her lips as she rolled up the loose sleeve of her cape-fleece and injected the syringe into her bloodstream. “If we're going to get out of here, I'm going to need to be able to work properly.”

“That wasn't ‘working properly’?” Kid Flash exclaimed, pointing to the fallen column. Zephyr frowned, even as the liquid running through her began to dull any pain she felt.

Before she could ask what he meant however, the male scientist moving caught all the teen's attention and they began making their way towards the now ripped apart door.

“Y-you'll never get out of here!” The crazed scientist yelled after them. “I'll have you back in pods by morning!”

Robin, before crossing the threshold, stopped to pull a handful of birdarangs out from his utility belt. “That guy is not whelmed, not whelmed at all.”

“What is it with you and his ‘whelmed’ thing?” Kid Flash asked as the Boy Wonder threw his projectiles, and the two continued to exit the chamber.

The group of five ran through hallway after hallway, climbing up a few levels. This time, they were actually able to stay together, but not very long after their escape the group began to notice that strange-looking patches on the walls around them began to glow red.

“We’re still 42 levels below ground, but if we can make the elevator…”

Sadly Aqualad’s plan came to a screeching halt when the same kind of mammoth-esk genomorphs from earlier cut off the teens’ only path to their escape. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the glowing patches began to tear open like shell-less eggs to reveal the cat-like creatures that the group had encountered with Guardian.

Aqualad, Robin, Zephyr, and Kid Flash managed to find their way around the mammoths, doing their best to climb/leap/fly over them, but Superboy took a different approach as he leapt up to punch one of the giants the face, only to be promptly smashed to the ground by another’s fist.

“Superboy!” Aqualad yelled out. “The goal is escape, not to bury ourselves here!”

“You want escape?!” Superboy screamed back, seemingly in madness, and with a following burst of rage he threw one of the giant creatures into the wall besides him.

Deciding to use the distraction to their advantage, the remaining heroes ran over to the elevator door and Aqualad pried them open once again. Looking up, the mere sight of the seemingly never-ending levels shook the teens, but they carried through.

Zephyr looked to Kid Flash who nodded and held onto her shoulders as she summoned Winds to lift them off into the air. Robin triggering his grappling hook, all just in time for Superboy to join them; apparently done fighting with the genetically-modified mammoths. The clone grabbed onto Aqualad and leapt, making it a good few stories before his ascent slowed down, then stopped.

“I’m...I’m falling.”

Startled, Zephyr managed to catch the two falling boys with some more Winds, but strained under the weight.

“Reaching full carrying capacity…” Zephyr growled through gritted teeth. Thankfully, Robin threw a Birdarang onto the wall by Aqualad and Superboy and the former caught on, supporting both himself and Superboy and leaving Zephyr able to let go of them.

“Superman can fly...why can’t I fly?” Superboy asked, obviously dazed.

“Dunno, but looks like you can leap tall buildings in a single bound.” Wally shrugged, ever the optimist. “Still cool.”

The clone looked around at his new comrades and muttered a low “thank you”.

“Guys,” Robin called, directing everyone’s attention to him and the high-pitched rumbling of the elevator which was quickly approaching. “This will have to be our exit.”

Busting down the nearest door, the five escaped the shaft as the elevator zoomed by. This hallway, sub-level 15, was much more pleasing than sub-level 52, looking more like an office building with its wooden walls and normal, linear, white lights. However, the normalcy was soon interrupted by the cat-like Genomorphs flooding the opposite end, looking ready to fight the teenagers.

Not waiting for them to catch up, the group of five ran down the nearest corridor.

“Go left! Left!” Superboy suddenly yelled, and not having any better ideas, the others followed.

“Right!”

Unfortunately however, Superboy’s directions only managed to get them to a dead end. Faced with a simple wall with only an air-vent.

“Great directions Supey, you trying to get us re-poded?” Kid Flash exclaimed.

Superboy appeared confused, lost in thought. “No...I-I don’t understand…”

“Don’t apologize!” Robin cried out. “This is perfect!”

Looking to Zephyr, the young Boy Wonder motioned to the air-vent with a small smirk. “Ladies first.”

Smiling back at the young boy and nodding, Zephyr stepped forward and pulled up her hood, which had seemingly fallen down during the fight with Superboy. Extending her arm, the girl grabbed the Winds she could feel within the vent with a tight fist, and yanked back. Listening to their command, the Winds rushed forward; taking off the gate with them. Not wasting anymore time, Zephyr flew up and forward through the vent, turning to lift Robin and Kid Flash up with her before Aqualad and Superboy jumped in after them, using their enhanced strength to make the leap themselves.

However, the small structure of the vent was only navigable if the teens crawled on all fours, which significantly slowed them down. KF didn’t seem overly partial to this, which he voiced after a few minutes.

“At this rate, we’ll never get out.”

“Sshhh.” Shushed Superboy. “Listen.”

However, none of the heroes could hear anything.

Until a moment later when the sounds of claws against metal made their way down the tunnel.

“Go! Go!” Aqualad exclaimed, and the group hurriedly scuffled as quickly as they could before turning to the nearest gate. This time using her foot, Zephyr kicked open the gate and jumped down, landing on the ground before being followed by her comrades.

Without missing a beat, Robin ran over to one of the hallway’s outlets and plugged it into his holo-computer. A moment later, he looked up to the others looking triumphant.

“I hacked the motion sensors.”

“Sweet!” Kid Flash grinned.

“Still plenty of them between us and out.” Robin explained.

“But I finally have room to move!” The speedster slid down his goggles and ran through a nearby door which lead into a stairwell, not even hesitating for a moment.

“Always has to run ahead.” Zephyr muttered with a small smile to Aqualad, who returned her smile for a moment before the group shot off like a bullet.

As the group caught up with their speedster, a group of Genomorphs made their way towards them. But Wally simply accelerated, knocking all of them down like bowling pins.

“More behind us!” Robin yelled out. Superboy, the tail of the group, stopped and peered down at the band of Genomorphs hurriedly climbing the stairs behind them. This was soon resolved as the clone stomped down onto the step below him, and the entire staircase crumbled to the ground.

After dashing up several more flights of stairs, the group finally found their way to the top and Kid Flash zipped through the door. When the rest of the group entered into the adjoined hallway however, they found the corridor flooded with red light and the speedster laying on the ground in front of a large metal door.

“We’re cut off from the street.” Aqualad exclaimed.

“Thanks, my head hadn’t noticed.” Kid Flash mumbled sarcastically in return.

Aqualad and Superboy ran over to the doors, attempting to pry it open with sheer force, and Robin pulled up his holo-computer to hack into it. But they were cut off by more creatures quickly approaching and all of them quit their efforts in favor of running through a nearby door.

Only to be cut off by a whole parade’s worth of Genomorphs of varying size and type, and at the center of it all: Guardian.

The teens tried to retract, tuning back to escape, but that was soon blocked off by more creatures as well.

They were forced to take a stand, Aqualad and Robin taking out weapons while the others took fighting stances.

But then, before anyone attacked from either side, the group was hit with a strong wave and everything went black.

“Evangelina, ma papillon, you need to wake up now.”

The familiar voice called out, but to Lina it was so distant and muffled.

“Mama?” Lina called out, her eyes were too heavy to lift but she knew she was lying down. On what, she could not decipher.

“It’s time to wake up, ma fille, you haven’t finished the show yet.”

“The...show?” Lina mumbled, the voice almost too muffled to understand what it was saying. “What show?”

“You know what show, Lina.” The voice replied, this time getting even more muffled and distant. “And you know you need to wake up.”

“Mama? Mama, what show?”

As Zephyr’s eyes finally opened, she was surprised to see that Superboy was the only one of the group that was standing. But as she looked around at the other partners, she was relieved to see that they were also awakening. As they all stood, Aqualad focused in on the hero in front of them.

“Guardian?”

“Go.” The black and blue-clad hero instructed. “I’ll deal with Desmond.”

“Desmond?” Zephyr whispered out of confusion.

“I think not.”

The Genomorphs split to reveal the male scientist from before, behind them.

“Oh, Desmond.” The air-manipulator realized, finally learning the scientist’s name.

The man held up a vile of pale blue-green liquid that seemed to glow in the darkness of the corridor.

“Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to Cadmus.” The man grumbled, before downing the vile all in one gulp.

As the man keeled over onto the ground in pain, his body began to seize and twitch. Groans of pain filled the room and Zephyr moved to help the scientist, only to be stopped by Aqualad's arm, just as the man’s white lab coat shred to pieces, revealing his flesh which was slowly morphing into the colour of cement. The man raised his head to show the flesh of it was tearing apart, and revealed fully black eyes with red dots where his irises should be. As the man began to stand, most of his ripped skin and clothing fell off his body to reveal his new form: a ginormous creature with grey skin and the remains of human flesh hanging off of him.

“Everyone, back!” Guardian commanded before running at the new Desmond. He didn’t last long however as the creature batted him away like a fly, throwing the fully grown man into a wall.

Before anyone could think next, Superboy charged at the former scientist, his fist slamming into Desmond’s face before he was punched into the ground by the snarling beast. Superboy persisted however, jumping right back into it to deliver a strong uppercut to his opponent’s jaw, followed by a few more decent punches. But the boy’s assault was short-lived since when he tried to jump and deliver a diving attack, Desmond leapt up, surging through the clone and sending both of them through the ceiling; leaving a giant hole in their wake.

“Well, that’s one way to bust through the ceiling…” Robin shrugged, shooting off his grappling hook.

“You think Lab-Coat planned that?” Kid Flash asked, grabbing onto Robin as the two flew up.

“I doubt he is planning anything anymore.” Aqualad replied grimly, turning to a frowning Zephyr. Wordlessly grasping her shoulder with one webbed hand, the Atlantean held on as his partner gathered up her Winds and flew them up through the crater.

As soon as they landed however, the two of them were knocked down by Superboy being thrown into them.

As Robin and Kid Flash ran over to help the three of them back up, they regrouped; forming a line side-by-side as they faced off against the giant monster that wanted them dead.

Kid Flash ran off first, zipping towards the creature and then dashing through his legs to land on all fours, directly followed by Aqualad and Superboy punching Desmond in the jaw. The creature toppled over and tripped over Kid Flash, which sent him crashing into the ground.

“Learned that one in kindergarten.” The speedster grinned.

Flying overtop, Zephyr gathered as many Winds as she could, directing them across Desmond’s body before pushing them down to increase the gravity and pressure around the beast.

“Do everyone a favor and please, stay down!” The girl exclaimed.

With a loud growl however, Desmon slowly stood back up even as Zephyr anxiously tried to add more pressure around him.

Giving up just as he stood, the girl redirected her currents to around the creature’s head. Moving her hands in circles as the Winds followed, creating a sphere of air around his head. Desmon paused, unbalanced by the sudden lack of oxygen, but once again he overpowered her attack and swung his fist, sending Zephyr into the ground and knocking all the air out of her, causing her Winds to disperse.

Quickly regaining his composure, Desmond went after Superboy, grabbing him and crashing his body into a nearby column. As the monster kept decking the smaller boy, it seemed like he was trying to punch Superboy through the column. He was stopped however, when Aqualad used his water-bearers to form a whip and wrapped it around Desmond’s arm. The creature tried to grab onto the Atlantean, using the whip to yank him over, but Aqualad simply launched off of his face, using it as a spring-board and he reformed his whips into a spiked mace. Aqualad never landed his attack however, as he was promptly grabbed onto and punched into the floor.

To finish the onslaught, Desmond threw Superboy into another column, rubble falling onto the young boy's body.

Wally promptly ran up to try and help Aqualad, who Desmond had turned his attention to, but the ginger to was quickly snatched up. Aqualad tried to get back up, summoning back his spiked mace, but the two heroes were thrown away with nearly enough force to knock them out. Aqualad however, seemed to still hold Desmond’s attention as the creature attempted to crash the Atlantean’s body through the column by force.

Flying over to Robin, Zephyr fought back the impulse to run in and try to help the others despite knowing she wouldn’t be of much assistance.

“We need a plan, we’re getting killed!” The air-manipulator exclaimed.

“I do have an idea.” Robin said, pulling up a map of the room they were standing in on his holo-computer. He also called out to Kid Flash, summoning him over to them. As the speedster ran over, Robin began to explain. “You see these columns? They’re supportive, they help hold up the building.”

“Meaning if they come down, the building goes down with them!” Kid Flash added.

“Right, and if Desmond keeps at it the way he is…” Robin motioned to the creature, crumbling the column in front of him by swinging Superboy into it. “Got it?”

“Got it.” Kid Flash and Zephyr replied in unison.

“Go.”

Kid Flash ran up to Desmond, still brawling with Superboy, and leapt up. Making a blind grab, he clutched onto the first thing he could reach as the boy leapt in front of the creature’s face. Once he landed, KF realized that what he had grabbed was the piece of flesh that had once been Desmond’s nose.

“Got your nose!” The speedster exclaimed with a grin, and Desmond threw Superboy away and charged for the ginger, only for Zephyr to send a large gust of air towards him, causing him to lose his footing and turn to her.

“C’mon you...crétin.”

Desmond charged at her, only for Zephyr to swoop up at the last minute and use a strong air-slice to add to his force and send him crashing straight into the column that was behind her.

Zephyr heard Robin call Aqualad and Superboy over to explain their plan as Desmond shook off the damage, this time redirecting his fury to Kid Flash who appeared in front of the column across the way.

“Over here you incredible bulk!” He cried out, and Desmond came running at him to crash head-first into the supportive beam. However, KF was a little too slow and ended up getting hit by a small piece of rubble.

The hit slowing him down, Desmond was still able to readjust and head back straight to the speedster, going to slam his fists into the boy but thankfully, Zephyr was able to fly in and form an enforced bubble around them as a kind of forcefield.

“Zeph’, you’re an angel.” KF cried.

“But of course.” Zephyr replied, sending her teammate a friendly wink before thrusting her arms forward and sending the Winds that had made up the bubble straight into Desmond’s jaw, throwing him back.

As he staggered, Kid Flash grabbed Zephyr by the hand and raced them to safety. In their peripherals, they could see that Aqualad and Superboy were taking down the remaining columns.

“Here!” Everyone turned to see Robin motioning to an area closeby, which Aqualad quickly flooded over with water.

KF and Zephyr raced over to the pool, daring Desmond to come at them, and the monster complied. He charged at the two pieces of live bait, only to be knocked down by a strong punch by Superboy, which made him collapse right onto the water. Before he could get up, Aqualad charged up the electricity that flowed through his curling arm tattoos and lowered his hands in the water, electrifying it with a single touch. The shock raced through the water and into Desmond, electrocuting him as he let out a loud howl of pain.

“Move!” Robin cried, and as the sounds of his exploding birdarangs charging up filled the air, all of the teenagers gathered together. Not a moment later, the room was filled with the fire and rubble of the following explosions. As the building crashed down around them, the team of five tried to dash out. But they were too slow, and the debris collapsed on top of them. At the last minute, Zephyr summoned her Winds again and formed a bubble around her five all of them.

Once the falling rocks had settled and the smoke cleared, Zephyr threw out her currents, tossing the clutter that had fallen onto it in the process. As the weight she had just carried sunk into her muscles, she staggered back into Aqualad who caught her and helped her stay standing even though he, along with everyone else, was panting heavily and crouched over in pain.

“We...did it?” Aqualad said through huffs of air, his statement clouded with disbelief.

“Was there...ever any doubt?” Robin gasped back. He and Kid Flash high-fived in victory, only for the impact to strike their most-certainly broken ribs and they let out a groan of pain.

“None in the...slightest.” Zephyr laughed, rubbing her side which felt like it was on fire.

Superboy took a step towards the now-unconscious Desmond, the creature’s body covered in rubble. He seemed lost in thought, but that was stopped when Kid Flash called his attention back.

“Look, the moon.” The speedster motioned up to the sky, where the moon sat so big and full that it almost looked fake. Superboy’s eyes glazed over as he stood there, peering up at the moon with absolute awe.

But then, the moon’s image was interrupted as a small black dot appeared in front of it. As the dot got closer, it appeared to a humanoid figure wearing a cape, quickly descending from the skies and towards the teenagers. As it got closer to them, the very familiar features came into view.

“Oh...and Superman! Do we keep our promises or what?”

As Superman got even closer, he was joined by more and more people. Every Leaguer was there, standing on the edge of the crater that had once been a genetics lab; gazing down at the teenagers with mostly unreadable expressions. You could almost hear the horns in the background, regally announcing their presence.

“We are in so much trouble…” Zephyr muttered.

As everyone saw Superman’s eyes make their way to the unknown teenager amongst the protégés, Superboy stepped forward. Pulling up the scrap of his solar suit that had ripped during the battle, and proudly showcased the famous ‘s’ shield. The same shield that was imprinted on Superman’s chest.

As to be expected, Superman appeared shocked at the new discovery. But what was not to be expected, and what seemed to deeply anger the younger Kryptonian, was the firm look that moved over his features not a moment later. A cold look that seemed to pass right through Superboy as if he wasn’t even there.

“Is that what I think it is?” Batman asked out loud.

“He doesn’t like being called an it…” Kid Flash cringed.

“And he has a name.” Zephyr added, following KF in stepping beside Superboy.

“I’m Superman’s clone!”

Superboy’s sudden exclamation shocked every Justice Leaguer as they fell at ease to look at one another in confusion.

The area was flooded with silence, an awkward one full of tension that nobody in the proximity wanted to be a part of. Until, that is, Batman cut in.

“Start talking.”

‘Aimez-les autant qu'ils tu aimes’: roughly, “Love them as much as they love you”

‘vpechatlyayushchiy’: Russian for very “impressive/spectacular”

‘Spasibo’: Russian for “thank you”

‘Mat’: Russian for “mother”

‘Vy idete, chtoby poluchit' yeye zavisimost', chtoby pokhvalit', yesli vy prodolzhayete’: roughly, “you will get her addicted to oriaee if you keep this up”

‘Ma Ange’: French term of endearment, meaning 'My Angel’

‘crétin’: French for “cretin”

[musicprincess655]

Shunpei stabbed mercilessly at his keyboard. He knew how to hack, but he wasn’t necessarily good at information gathering. That had always been Katsuko’s role on the team.

But Katsuko was gone.

Even Tetsu was subdued, not that it was easy to tell with him. Shunpei had never been sure if he legitimately had no emotions or he just suppressed them, but even so, he was clearly just as upset about losing a teammate as Shunpei was.

Was this how Ryou had felt when he died? It wasn’t the same situation, but the all-consuming drive for revenge that Ryou had apparently had...Shunpei could understand it. The way he was almost obsessively looking for Seto, searching in every corner he could find, just for the idea of a chance to get at him, was proof enough of that.

If he could ever get his hands on Seto, they’d have to bury him in pieces, former friendship be damned. He couldn’t forgive what Seto had become, and that was a lot, coming from Shunpei. He had a lot of blood on his hands, but none of it was from a former teammate.

And it was hard not to blame himself. Coming back to this life had been Katsuko’s decision, one that everyone who knew her had known she would make eventually. But he hadn’t made it a secret that he wanted her back in the game.

"Stop." Tetsu had crossed the room to stand at Shunpei's side. "You'll break it."

"So what?" Shunpei sniped at him, just to be petulant. "Not like I'm any good at this, anyway."

"You're angry," Tetsu said.

"Spot on, yeah."

"Do something about it."

Shunpei rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, because that's what this city really needs," he said. "For me to go on a revenge-driven rampage."

"I thought you already did that."

Shunpei stared at him, trying to find any crack in Tetsu's face that would give a hint to what he was thinking.

"Someday, I'm gonna find a way to tell when you're fucking with me." Tetsu just blinked. "Seriously, though, what am I supposed to do? I operate in Gotham, and Seto's underwater. Last I checked, I can't breathe underwater."

"But I can."

Shunpei had turned to the new voice and fired before his brain even caught up to what was happening. Luckily, it looked like Haruno had been ready for that, because the edges of her body fizzled, and the bullets passed straight through her.

"I thought you knew better than to sneak up on people like that," Shunpei complained. "How did you even get in here?"

"Phased through the wall," Haruno said. "I learned a new trick."

"Useful," Shunpei said. It was a little unfair that Martians came preprogrammed with all these superpowers and humans had to make do without them. "What do you want?"

"Your help."

Shunpei couldn't help but snort. The last time someone had approached him with a request for help like this, he'd ended up crawling through Gotham's underbelly with a kid that was secretly a member of the Justice League on his tail. But the situation with Raichi had been unique, and Shunpei didn't think Haruno needed help tracking down a missing foster sibling.

"Looking to get into the drug trade?" Shunpei asked, realizing that he was being a little mean. Haruno had been one of the best when he was still Robin, still her team leader. She was the one who held back, the one who was good in the face of so many teammates with the capacity for violence.

Shunpei had the tendency to attract people like that, after all.

"I want your help tracking down Aqualad," Haruno said.

"So you can scold him into stopping his evil ways?"

"So I can kill him."

Shunpei raised his eyebrows.

"So, Miss M is all grown up and out for blood," he said. "And you came to me? You're sure you have the right Kominato? I hear there's another one that's really good at revenge kicks."

"He's not Katsuko's best friend," Haruno said. "And he wouldn't agree to this, anyway. There's too much else going on."

"So why are you here?"

"Because I need to do something for myself!" Haruno's outburst seemed to surprise even her. Shunpei pushed a chair out to her. It looked like they would be here a while. She sat down gracefully. "When you died, the team fell apart, and there was nothing I could do about it."

"So I hear," Shunpei said. It was one of his bigger regrets about not coming back as soon as he'd risen from the dead. Maybe he could've saved the team as it was, even if he thought it was better off the way it had become. Haruichi was the leader neither he nor Ryou could be.

"No one even asked me to try and do anything about it," Haruno continued. "I bet everyone thought I couldn't. And then the only teammates I had left, the only ones that didn't run away, the ones that avenged you...they never asked me to help."

"Would you have?" Shunpei asked, genuinely curious. Haruno had always struck him as the gentlest of them all, but if she was here, there was clearly something beneath the surface that he'd never seen.

"You were my leader, too," she said, looking offended. "You were my friend too. I wanted to avenge you just as much as everyone else, and nobody thought to ask me, because nobody thought I could."

"So you want to avenge Katsuko," Shunpei said. "Great. Join the club. What do you think we should do?"

"I know you're tracking Seto." Shunpei must have looked surprised, because Haruno pouted. "We worked together for years, I know your style. Even if you're not sure what you want to do yet, I know you're keeping an eye out for him."

"What do you want me to want to do?" Shunpei asked. Haruno leaned forward, face twisting into a grin Shunpei shouldn't have liked so much.

"I want you to take me with you," Haruno said. "I want you to let me destroy his mind. His life is yours. It's his soul I want."

So Haruno had a brutal streak she'd been hiding from everyone. Shunpei could respect that. It would serve both of them well if they wanted to go through with this.

"Can you move out now?" Shunpei asked. "Because we know where Black Manta hides out, and we might actually be able to get down there with your help."

"I was ready to move out as soon as I heard how she died." Haruno stood in one smooth motion. "I brought the bioship. Where am I taking this?"

"I'll explain on the way," Shunpei said. "Tetsu, you want to come?"

"Yes." Tetsu followed them, aura burning. "Am I punching down guards and defenses?"

"I love when you see where I'm going with this." Shunpei would never stop being glad he'd recruited Tetsu. "Haruno, you and I are going in after Tetsu clears a path for us. Seto has a new right hand, some ninja girl he calls Diana. I'll take her. You do what you gotta do with Seto."

He directed her to the coordinates he'd found, where he was pretty sure Black Manta hid out. He wasn't completely sure, but there was definitely something shady happening here, and he'd never minded a little collateral damage. The worst that happened was they found nothing and went back to the drawing board.

Still, though, he had a good feeling. If he and Haruno could take out Seto, maybe that could be one less burden Young Justice and the Titans had to deal with.

"Tetsu, you're up to bat," Shunpei said. "Feel free to cause as much destruction as you want, we're not here to take prisoners."

Tetsu nodded, fire in his eyes. He'd taken to this style of doing things like a fish to water. Shunpei was the first to truly let him cut loose. The sound of explosions that followed Tetsu's exit from the bioship were music to Shunpei's ears.

"The bioship can take us right up to the underwater base, right?" he asked. Haruno nodded. "Good. Do it."

Tetsu had really done a number on the base already, as Shunpei discovered when he climbed from the bioship to the tune of alarms and mass chaos. No one even gave Miss Martian and the Red Hood a second glance.

"You have any idea where Seto might be?" he asked. Haruno nodded, and Shunpei followed her, gun drawn. He didn't even have to fight past anyone. They were too focused on the threat Tetsu posed to worry about him.

The Haruno made a tiny sound of rage, and Shunpei looked down the hallway to see a familiar face. Seto's eyes widened as he took in the two of them. Shunpei grinned behind his hood, knowing their faces would be the last thing Seto saw.

Haruno went right for him, flying faster than Shunpei could run, but it was fine. Shunpei only had to keep an eye out for...

A boot flew out of nowhere to kick him in the face. Shunpei let it roll off him, stumbling only a little, and turned to face Diana. She reeled back when she saw his hood, almost in what Shunpei could label as surprise, but he didn't stick around to psychoanalyze her. Instead, he struck back, throwing a punch that landed on the side of her head and reaching for his gun.

She kicked the gun aside, but not before he got off a shot that clipped her in the hip. She screamed in pain, but threw herself at him anyway, and rained down well-placed punches, meant to drop him to the ground quickly. She was good, he could admit to that. But he was a Kominato, and he was better.

Still, there was something familiar about the way she fought. About the way she clawed for distance, the way she relied on the knives on her belt, the way she seemed to know where his punches were going to land before they landed. He had to give her all his attention, sparing none for Haruno. He had to trust that Haruno could take care of herself.

Then Diana pulled a move Shunpei had been familiar with since before he'd ever been a hero. She threw herself forward, reckless, arms wrapping around his neck, ankles hooking behind his knees to drop him to the ground. He landed hard on his back, too stunned to do anything else in the face of a particularly reckless move.

One he'd only seen one person try on a regular basis.

She straddled his stomach, using all her weight to keep him down even though he wasn't moving. Because even behind that mask, even with unfamiliar green eyes and blonde hair, she was familiar.

"Don't avenge me until I'm dead for real," Diana said, and Shunpei's jaw dropped behind his hood.  

A gasp to his right broke his concentration, led it over to where Haruno had taken Seto down. He was on the floor, eyes vacant, but Haruno looked anything but victorious.

She looked horrified.

"No, no, please," she whispered. "Why?"

"What have you done?" Diana...Katsuko asked, voice just as horrified. Haruno looked over at them, trembling hands covering her mouth. Shunpei didn't completely understand her powers, but he knew she was a strong telepath, and he knew that could break people's minds.

She must have seen something that had changed her mind too late for it to matter.

"Katsuko?" Haruno whispered. Katsuko waved a hand across her neck frantically, but Shunpei suddenly understood.

A faked death, which would only make sense if Katsuko needed to be sent undercover...

And she would only be undercover with Seto if he was undercover too.

What had they done? All of Shunpei's desire for revenge melted away as he considered the implications of what they'd destroyed here.

“Tetsu, clear out now!” Shunpei ordered into the comm. in his hood.

“Why?”

“Just do it!”

"Seto!" Because this day couldn't get any worse, Black Manta was here as well. "Kill the Martian!"

"No!" Katsuko stood quickly, but Shunpei made no move to get away. "Doesn't it make more sense to make her fix what she broke?"

"She destroyed my son!" Black Manta yelled.

"Then force her to put him back together," Katsuko reasoned. Her smile went jagged, and if Shunpei hadn't recognized her before, he would've now. "And when she's done, you can let him kill her himself."

Black Manta nodded approvingly.

"I see my son picked an excellent right hand," he said. "Very well, then kill this one."

Shunpei tensed to defend himself, but before he could, Katsuko kept talking.

"Oh, no," she said, a tiny, vindictive laugh on her lips. "He shot me. He and his friend both tried to kill Seto. Seto should have the right to see him. And when he wakes up, when he gets to execute the Martian," she paused, looking at Shunpei with eyes full of pleading and desperation, "this one's mine."

[italwaysworks]

It Always Works

Find it on Wattpad here

Find it on AO3 here

Introduction: Wally had been in love with Dick from the moment they’d met. But what is he going to do when Dick gets into contact with pink kryptonite, which reverses your sexuality and how did Ra’s al Guhl make kryptonite effective on humans?

AN: Hey guys! This is my first fanfiction, so all comments are welcome! Please take note that English isn’t my native language so all spelling and/or grammar mistakes are on me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, I can only wish I did

Chapter 1: Ra’s’ Present

‘ROBIN!’ Miss Martian screamed. He fell. His hand grasping the knife in his body, but unable to pull it out. He fell to the ground. Barely noticing hitting it. He struggled to stay awake, fighting the dark.

Wally sped over, kneeling next to his best friend, his secret love. He had loved him from the moment they’d met. But he knew it was impossible love. Robin was as straight as Green Arrow’s arrows. And now his secret love was lying on the ground, bleeding from what could be a mortal wound in his chest.

'Kid,’ Kaldur commanded,’ take Robin and run him back to the mountain, we’ll come after we’ve handled with Ra’s al Ghul and his assassins.’ Kid Flash picked Robin up in his arms and started running. Before he had left, he heard Ra’s laugh: 'You can’t outrun fate, boy.’

Wally ran as fast as he could, holding Dick firmly in his arms. He had broken the sound barrier within seconds and kept accelerating, but still he had the feeling he was going too slow. Too slow to save the Boy Wonder.

When he finally arrived at the mountain after what felt like an eternity, he sped to Black Canary, certain that she could help him. 'Wally,’ she said with a confused look,’ what are…’ 'Robin got stabbed by Ra’s al Ghul and he needs help!’ 'Put him down on his bed, I’ll come right after’, she said without hesitation. Wally ran to Robin’s room and laid him down on his back. 'Wally,’ Robin said weakly, 'I have to tell you something.’ 'Not now,’ Wally answered softly,’ you’ll need all your strength to get through this.’

Black Canary arrived before Robin could respond. With her she carried the First Aid-kit and other medical tools to free Robin from the knife. She opened the kit and gave him some painkillers. 'This next part is going to hurt’, she said. Robin nodded that he understood. She pulled out the knife and cleaned the wound swiftly. Robin kept still, but Wally saw on his face that he was in pain, in a lot of pain. He wished he could take over the pain, or at least soften it. He took Robin’s hand in his, holding it tightly to let him know that he was there. He was going to help him through. Wally was glad when he noticed that Robin was squeezing his hand in return.

'Help me hold him upright, so that I can put the bandage on’, ordered Black Canary. Wally let go of Dick’s hand with pain in his heart. But he held Dick upright, maybe a bit more in a hugging position than was necessary, but Black Canary said nothing about it so he kept holding him like that. 'It is done,’ she said,’ you can put him down.’ Wally put him down gently. 'Good,’ spoke a low voice behind him,’ now all he needs is rest.’ Wally turned around in shock. Behind him stood Batman. It didn’t surprise Wally that the best detective in the world knew when his protégé was hurt.

By this time Dick was unconscious, both from the pain and the medicine. 'I’ll need a blood sample’, Batman simply stated. He walked to Robin without waiting for an answer. He took a syringe from his utility belt and took a sample from Robin’s arm. He put it back in his belt and walked away without saying a word. Wally sat down, not knowing what to do. 'He’ll need his rest now’, Black Canary said. She took the First Aid-kit and left, but not before saying that he should call her when the bandage needed to be replaced.

The team entered the room only minutes after Black Canary had left. 'How is he?’ Miss Martian asked. 'He’ll make it’, Wally answered without lifting his gaze up from Dick. 'That’s a relief’, Artemis said and the rest of the team agreed. 'Did you handle Ra’s and his assassins?’ Wally asked with an angry tone. Oh, how he hated him at this moment. Wally’d kill him the next time he saw Ra’s’ ugly face. 'After you had left, they retreated fairly quickly. But we were unable to capture any of them. They are very skilled’, Aqualad reported. 'But we’ll get him next time!’ Superboy added because he could sense Wally’s anger. He respected that Wally was so loyal to his best friend. 'We’ll let him rest now’, Miss Martian said. The whole team left except for Wally, he kept sitting where he was.

'Aren’t you coming?’ Superboy asked. 'I want to be here when he wakes up. I don’t want him to wake up alone.’ And again Superboy thought this was proof of his friendship. 'Oh, okay.’ Superboy left the room. Wally took Dick’s hand back into his the moment the door closed. He wanted to let him know we was there, he was there for him.

~~~

Hours passed and Wally just watched Dick sleep, holding his hand. He watched him breathe, his chest slowly rising and falling, rising and falling. M'gann had brought him a cup of tea and some food an hour ago. She asked if he wanted to change to his normal clothes, proposing that she would stay to Robin’s side for as long as he was gone. But he had refused, feeling that leaving was betraying Dick in one way or another. So he drank his tea and took some bites from his food. At one moment Dick had woken up, just whispering: 'Thank you, my friend’ and falling back to sleep. This had put a smile on Wally’s face. He was glad that Dick knew he was there for him.

~~~

'Wally, wake up’, M'gann said softly. Wally opened his eyes slowly, hoping that it had all been a bad dream, but he saw his wounded friend sleeping right in front of him, proving that it was all true. But he was glad to notice that he was still holding Dick’s hand. 'How long did I sleep?’ Wally asked. 'I don’t know exactly but I’ve brought your tea and food only an hour and a half ago.’ He was relieved that he had only slept for half an hour. 'Thanks, M'gann. I’ll stay awake now, you can go.’ 'Wally, it’s 5 am, you need to rest’, she answered compassionately. 'But Robin…’ 'It’s no good for Robin when he wakes up and you’re so tired that you can barely stand. He’ll need your support when he wakes up, but you won’t be able to provide any if you keep doing this to yourself! Take a shower, go to bed and catch a few hours of sleep.’ Wally knew she was right and no matter how much he disliked the idea of leaving Dick’s side, he disliked the idea of not being able to help him when he needed him even more. He let go of Dick’s hand and stood up. 'I’ll wake you when he wakes up’, the martian promised. Wally thanked her and left the room, but not before looking at the sleeping Grayson for one last time. He noticed that Dick looked very peacefully, which made it easier to leave.

Wally walked through the hallway, too tired to use his superspeed. He decided to pass through the kitchen to get something to eat first. He took a burrito and warmed it up. Wally was just about to leave when he heard two voices coming from down the hall. They were Batman’s and Superman’s. ’… about Robin’s condition’, he heard Batman say. Wally wanted to hear this, so he did the only thing he could think of, he hid himself.

'What about it?’ Superman asked concerned. 'I ran a blood analysis and there was a poison in his blood. But it’s no normal poison, it won’t kill him. It’s a weakened version of pink kryptonite, modified for humans.’ Superman’s eyes widened. 'So that means that his sexual orientation changed…’ Superman asked concerned. 'Yes,’ Batman confirmed, 'but only for a period, but it’s impossible to calculate for how long exactly. I personally expect that it won’t last longer than a few days.’

Wally couldn’t believe his ears, would Robin be gay for a few days? He considered taking advantage of the situation and and getting a kiss from Dick, but he abandoned the idea quickly. He wouldn’t take advantage, Dick was still his best friend and he would treat him with respect. If Dick wasn’t into boys, he wouldn’t force himself on him. That was the promise he had made a long time ago and he wasn’t planning on breaking it. Wally’s thoughts were interrupted by Batman:’ You can come out now, Wally.’

Wally was confused as to how Batman knew he was there. But then he remembered, Batman was after all the greatest detective. Wally came out of hiding,ashamed for his actions. He didn’t dare to look Batman or Superman in the eye and he felt his cheeks burning red. He feared the punishment he’d get for eavesdropping. 'I didn’t mean to…’ he began apologizing, but Batman interrupted him.

'We aren’t mad,’ he said calmly,’ you just can’t tell anyone.’ Wally promised them not to tell anyone, glad that there weren’t going to be consequences.

Wally left the room, still a bit confused about what he had just heard. He walked to his room, passing Dick’s on his way. He had the urge to check on him. He knew he should have fate in Miss Martian, but the urge was just too big. He opened the door just enough to see Dick sleeping peacefully. This calmed him down, but he still couldn’t get the thought of Dick being gay for a few days out of his mind. The thought that his love was so close, but still impossible hurt him. But he told himself that it was no different from the past, even with Dick’s temporarily changed sexual orientation. It would only hurt their friendship if he made a move and he would rather die than screw up his friendship with Dick.

It was only then he saw M'gann sitting next to the bed, looking at him. 'I was only checking on him’, Wally said apologetically.'It’s okay, Wally. Everything is still the same.'This put Wally at ease. He closed the door silently and went to his room.

He entered his chamber and went straight to the bathroom. He took off his suit, maybe for the first time at human speed in his life, and stepped in the shower. He turned on the warm water and let it flow over his body. He was just standing there, not moving with only his thoughts. It had been a horrible day and he felt awful. He was mentally and physically exhausted. He started cleaning himself after about 10 minutes. He washed himself like he never had before. It was like he wanted to clean himself from all the bad things. When he finally came out of the shower, he took a towel and dried himself off. He wrapped the towel around his waist and left the bathroom. He entered his room, dropped the towel on the floor and got into bed. He was in a deep sleep not even a minute later.

[her-world-on-fire]

Silence {Bart Allen x Reader}

MASTERLIST

Requested anonymously, and by @bartallenisbae

Prompts: “you’re cute when you’re worried” & “you did what?!”

Word Count: 1875

“Bart? Bart?!” Normally, silence from him was taken as a blessing. The quick witted speedster always had something to say. But this time, the feeling was not a good sign. He doesn’t just ghost out in the middle of a mission, it’s not like him at all. His talking always cut through the thick tension while on missions, and lightened the air. Everyone will deny it but, it was actually calming, it made sure that he was okay. So when the telepathic link was completely silent, and his com was found on the ground they were all worried. What did he get himself into this time? It was the question on everyone’s mind, and is he alright? Everyone stayed silent, not sure what to do next, after seconds that felt like hours passed by, Dick spoke up. “Guys,” He questioned, Y/N didn’t like the tone of his voice one bit. He was just as worried and that wasn’t good. Of course he had done things he wasn’t supposed to, multiple times. However, he would always blurt them out, it was a habit of his. He couldn’t help it, it was like second nature. He lived as if secrets didn’t exist in the future, or that they weren’t there for a reason. You did something you weren’t supposed to? Trust Bart to do one thing, rat you out first chance he gets. “I found him.” Once again the atmosphere was silent, something Y/N had began to hate. Hours earlier no one would’ve suspected Bart could keep a secret. Not one that could kill him. 

I was awoken to the sound of Mal shouting. “Connor, Superboy, wake up! Questions later! Grab wolf.” His words sunk into me and faded away, and i pulled myself off the cycle. I wasn’t ready for the pain that took over me, I felt myself sinking as the water enveloped me. Then it began to go up my nose, as it went to my lungs, sinking farther. I let out a cream, and soon I felt Connor yank me up and hold me to his chest, my head jerked up, coughing. As I began to adjust, swim, my mind said. Connor let me go once I was alright, still holding on to wolf, keeping his head above water. Pain flooding all my senses as I paddled, and then I remembered, the explosion, Bart, Jaime, and Gar, were gone. I tried to keep my mind off it. You can’t help if you drown. “Thank you.” I said reaching to the shore, collapsing as soon as I got on land. He said nothing, giving me a short nod, as mal led us to the Zeta tube. Dick and Wolf regained consciousness before he got to the Hall. Wally walked in and the room cleared, he was pissed. He didn’t even wait to begin talking. “What happened?” He spat as he walked to Dick, he sat down alone clutching a mug, “It was necessary.” He put the mug down, Wally’s tone didn’t falter, and his eyes grew narrow. “It better have been. Spill.” He got news of what happened and rushed over. Coughing fits was what he was met with, the body trying to eject  the water it had been forced to inhale.

They had an intense argument,  “He took 3 more hostages. Members of your team.” His hands constrained, then he pointed them as Dick stood. Defending his actions, and aqualads, “And we’ll rescue them when we rescue lagoon boy.” The argument went unnoticed, the others weren’t trying to listen either. They respected privacy as Connor tuned out his enhanced hearing, and Mal and I stood silently, our eyes glued to the floor. Wally finally blew up, eyebrows knitted together, forehead wrinkled. His hands reaching up to Dick. “Dick, he blew up the cave! You guys almost died!” They went on for several more minutes, muffled sounds coming from the shut doors. My mind went to Bart, soon enough they both left the room. Both tense as Wally walked to the center, he asked how everyone was, before leaving. He looked like he didn’t want to be there any longer. Not wanting to imagine what they were doing to Bart, i shut out the thoughts as we salvaged what we could in boxes. We followed Batgirl and Robin, assuming they were leading us to the rest of our team. M’gann found Gar and Bart, as it was confirmed Alpha squad was on board. I breathed a sigh of relief unconscious but alive. Jaime however, was not in sight. I nodded and looked to Connor. M’gann shouted for him, just on cue. Bart never listened. “Thank you, now to go find Blue!” He said, ignoring the protests from anyone. We began thinning the troops, taking off our helmets, it took a matter of seconds, “Docking base secured.”  And they began letting the captives go. We called to M’gann, the link was down and we were trapped in with Black Beetle, and we were taken down one by one.

“You’re so cute when you’re worried.” Bart called, within a matter of seconds his arms wrapped around me securely. He was waterlogged from the impact of the water, and was out of it for a while. I nearly dropped the coffee that was in my hands. “What are you doing awake?!” I spun around my eyes meeting his, a smirk on his face, it was always there. His eyes lit up, “Relax, enhanced healing. It was nothing big.” My eyes narrowed, “You need to stop being reckless! I know you’re trying to look out for Blue but-” He interrupted me, his lips against mine in a fluid motion. He knew it would shut me up, and was hoping it would help him avoid the lecture. But that wasn’t the only reason he did it, “I need to tell you why I came here. This is why I’m always so protective over Jaime.” He sighed, and began telling me the story. In the future Blue, had somehow become, as he said, one of the “Biggest and baddest,” I couldn’t comprehend. It didn’t sound like him at all. “So that’s why I let myself get kidnapped.” he finished flinching, ready for the come back, the price for his actions. “You did what?!” I was unable to contain myself, “We almost died. Connor and Wolf were passed out they’re could’ve drowned! Dick and I almost did! What if Mal didn’t find us? What on earth were you thinking about?” 

His eyes widened, clearly he wasn’t thinking. He had no idea about any of the events. “Never mind, I get it. I know where we stand,” I walked away, not only was I referring to me, but the rest of the team. Because of this fight, I didn’t go after him. I was his impulse control, all of it. He needed to be talked out of something? I was there. Not today, I felt the guilt run through my veins, “I’m going in,” I said, and before anyone could pull me back, I went in. The building was unstable, and waves of heat hit me, Bart had ran into a burning building, caused by Red Volcano. Now I was running in after him. Even with the coat over my, doing it’s best protecting me, my body felt overwhelmed with unbearable heat. I ignored the feeling as adrenaline rushed through me, and I focused on Bart. I found a small child, unconscious, I quickly picked her up, and took off the coat. I wrapped her in it, and I put her in Dick’s arms. Just as I went to go in again I was thrown back with force. I almost screamed, it was Bart. “I’m so sorry.” He murmured, both of us on the ground. He apologized in my ear and I faced him, he was fine. We were brought oxygen as he didn’t dare let go. We were a ways from the explosion. Glad to have escaped.

“Y/N, please Jaime hid them all! I have a fast metabolism, I need them!” Bart whined to me, for only the hundredth time. He had been begging for chicken whizzes, after Jaime got sick of buying them every time he, the buyer, was hungry, he hid his stash. Bart had been trying to find them when he found his stock empty. Maybe I ate them all? Jaime will buy more soon, he convinced himself, and he checked the locker every day, no chicken whizzes for him. I didn’t even want those freeze dried ones anyways, he huffed. Of course he did, there was none in the future. Jaime had never complained, surely he knew, what gave? He followed him around and zoomed all around, not even any crumbs were left to the hungry boy. Now he stood in front of the cart, carrying as many as he could. His lip stuck out, quivering like a child, denied of a toy. “Bart,” The quivering intensified, “You’re lucky you have looks Allen.” His face lit up as he threw them in the cart getting more. The speed in which he began filling the cart seemed to excel past speeds. An exaggeration, but he was going so quick, it was giving me whiplash. “Not so fast! You can’t take the entire stock. We’ll come back, but there is no way you’re taking all of those.” The original intent of the trip, was to stock the fridge, the supply had been demolished. Bart alone could go through the whole fridge then ask what’s to eat. His metabolism was no joke, add in Wally’s frequent visit, there was no way the fridge stayed stocked for more than two weeks. The rest of the trip, I had to keep him an eye on him, to make sure he wasn’t putting things he didn’t need in the cart.

Once we got back, we stayed on the couch the whole day. It was getting roomier, and things were calming down for now. He had more of a sense of Impulse now. Ever since that scare, he realized, not only was he putting himself in danger. But the love of his life, and at times the rest of his team. He planted a kiss on my forehead, “I’m getting more.” He went t stand up, and I groaned, at this rate we were looking at returning to the store in a couple hours. I leaned up, and kissed him, trying to keep him busy. “I had something else in mind,” He was taken aback, but smirked into the kiss, “Another movie, come on. Stay here.” He pulled back, now he was met with puppy eyes, “Fine. You’re lucky you have looks L/N.” Triumphantly, I took the remote and put on yet another Disney movie. Then the weight on the couch shifted, and there was a gust of air. The sound of a package being opened filled the room. “Are you serious?” I groaned and he smiled, “I love you too.”

“Oh shut up.”

MASTERLIST

[the-shadow-of-atlantis]

Shadow of the Tide (Part 7)

The story of how Annabella and Kaldur got together

Tagging @speedypan @coffee-randomness @insideoflit @cupidjayne @guns-n-lilies

Word Count 2,124

A/N long talks about life and family so sorry its so long

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Annabella ran not knowing exactly where she was going she just knew she needed to run faster. She saw a figure in the distance and pushed herself to run faster, the figure leaned down to pick something up.

“Maia no!” Annabella's voice echoed, but it was too late she disappeared before she could get there.

Annabella breathed heavily as she clutched at the empty air.

“No.” She whispered before she felt an explosion behind her. “Jason!!!”

Annabella's eyes roamed the wreckage trying to find him. Then she heard the sound of beeping.

“No, no no no.” She muttered as she shut her eyes wishing for it to go away when it flatlined.

Tears streamed down her face as she clutched her head. A plane flew over her head before that also ceased to exist.

“Please no.” She whimpered.

“Annabella wake up!”

Annabella gasped as she sat up looking around her brightly lit room. Her brown eyes came into contact with a pair of deep emerald green ones and her body relaxed.

“It's okay it was just a dream.” Damian reassured her.

“Right yeah… just a dream.” Annabella swallowed hard.

“Though it's a shame really.”

“What?”

“If only you had enough time.”

“Damian what are you-”

“If only you had enough time to stop Maia. If only you had enough time to save Jason. If only you had spent more time with your grandmother. If only you had enough time to be with your aunt… if only you had enough time to save me.” Annabella's eyes widened in horror as blood started to seep from his chest.

“No, no no. Damian!” Annabella tried to put pressure on his wound her hands staining with his blood.

“How many more people will die because you were too late?”

Annabella's hands trembled as she looked up to see her family and friends piled on her floor. Her father, Alfred, Dick, Tim, Jason, Jen, Faith, Kaldur, so many bodies and all her fault.

Annabella gasped as she jerked awake. Her eyes focusing in the dark room, her hands clutching her sheets. She relaxed as she remembered that she was in her room at the Cave but not enough for her to fall back asleep.

Sighing she got up and changed out of her pajamas. Adjusting her hoodie she quietly walked out into the hall and headed towards the kitchen. She let out a small squeak when a door suddenly opened and Kaldur walked out.

They both paused staring at each other noticing their choice of clothing.

“Going for another late night swim?” Annabella asked as she noticed his swim trunks and lack of shirt.

“Something like that.” Kaldur scratched his head nervously. “What about you? Late night run?”

Kaldur looked over her shorts and thin hoodie.

“Yeah something like that.” Annabella stuffed her hands into her pockets as they stood there awkwardly. “Um would you want to join me? Where I'm going you can swim there, if you want that is.”

Intrigued by her offer Kaldur nodded and let her lead the way. Annabella quickly grabbed a spare blanket and stopped by the kitchen to grab a small pack to stuff with water and a jar of peanut butter. He paused when he noticed she was walking towards the entrance for the motorcycles.

“Isn't the cave going to announce we're leaving?” He asked.

“Not if you know the code to deactivate the voice notificator.” Annabella smiled as she typed into the panel and the doors opened silently.

They walked in silence as Annabella led them to the wooded area. When the woods began to clear up to reveal a small piece of a beach Kaldur paused.

“Isn't this where…?” He was almost afraid to finish the sentence not wanting to relive the memory of the time she almost drowned.

“Yeah.” Annabella simply sighed as she stared at the water. “When I was in the process of making the second cave I found this spot and made it a blind spot. A place to come and relax and practice on my own. Despite what happened here I still like to come.”

Annabella set up the blanket on the ground and sat down. Kaldur contemplated about going into the water or sitting down with her.

“So what are you thinking about?” He asked as she sat next to her.

Annabella was in the process opening her jar of peanut butter but paused at the question.

“Time.” She simply said as she peeled off the paper protecting the peanut butter.

“Time?” He asked puzzled by her response.

“Time. But not in the ‘time is irrelevant’ more like time is such a simple word yet it's such a complex idea. Just take a year for example. A year is just 12 months yet in those 12 months so much can happen that can cause a year to feel long or a year to feel short. And in the end you're still left wishing there was more time. And then it only takes a moment for your whole world to shift.” Annabella stared off into the distance and sighed.

“The reason I became Shadow was because of Jason. I didn't want anyone to suffer the same fate as him. I didn't want to lose anymore people… when I saw Damian for the first time I knew in that moment that I would do everything in my power to keep him away from Tahlia, that I would protect him, that I'd keep him safe… and I couldn't even do that.” Annabella blinked several times to get rid of the tears threatening to spill.

“That's not true.” Said Kaldur.

“What?” Annabella asked as she looked up at him to make sure she heard right. Kaldur turned to face her as he spoke

“You did save Damian in more ways than one. You showed him love, something he had been deprived of his whole life. You saved him from losing himself.”

“But he died because of me.”

Kaldur took a deep breath and turned to hold her face between his hands.

“This job we do. Whatever reason we have, there will always be those we can't save… trust me I know. And I know it hurts and I know it feels like if your whole world has shattered and the year seems to drag. But you still have your memories of them, so cherish them.”

Annabella bit the inside of her cheek before nodding. They both fell into comfortable silence. Annabella twirled her spoon inside her peanut butter.

“So what’s keeping you up at this hour?” Annabella asked as she slowly ate.

“I guess in a sense the same thing as you.”

Annabella waited for him to explain.

“It’s like you said within a year so much can happen that it makes it feel like long or short. And when you look back on memories you think that happened so long ago but when you look at the date you realize it actually happened a lot more recently than you thought.” Kaldur sighed as he looked down at the ground. “It’s been two years since Tula died and it’s felt longer than that, like it’s been years.”

“Do you miss her?” Annabella mentally slapped herself at the question.

“I did. I mean I do.” Kaldur sighed as Annabella set her jar to the side and turned to face him properly.

“I’m listening.” She reassured him. Kaldur smiled but it didn’t meet his eyes.

“I do miss her. But lately the pain of losing her has started to fade… when I was working undercover with my father I used Tula’s death to fuel me. To do what needed to be done to help the team and I thought that was enough. What I didn’t expect was for me to feel sympathy for my father. For so long I was taught that black Manta was a bad man, I when I found out he was my father I still believed that I let both Tula death and that thought help me get through things. But then he started treating me with a respect that I never expected. He did everything he could to protect me in his own diabolical way. And the worst this is that I understood why he did certain things. It scared me how similar our thinking process was, and I started to wonder what if I was more like him. Blood is thicker than sea water.”

“You know that saying has been misinterpreted for many years, the real saying is the blood of the covenant is thicker than water of the womb. It use to mean blood shed in battle would bond people closer than anything related to family. Aquaman, Mera, Garth, Wally, Dick, Roy, me, the team, he’ll even the Justice League. We’re your family. You grew up with all of us you learned from all of us. Genetics don’t define us. Granted we might share similarities with our parents but that doesn’t mean we are them. You’re Kaldur’ahm, you’re Aqualad, you’re our team leader. And the moment you start thinking you’re like someone else, is the moment you stop believing in who you really are.”

They both stayed silent as Kaldur thought about what Annabella said. It was true, he was by people in Atlantis who loved him and cared for him a their own. He had friends and many that he considered as siblings.

“Thank you.” He said. “I really needed to hear that.”

“You have people that are willing to help Kaldur you just need to reach out.”

“What about you?” He asked.

Annabella sighed. “I’ve been seeing my cousin for therapy sessions which you know is saying something. I’ve visited my brothers more. I tried talking to my dad but that hasn’t worked out too well. Um I’m picking up on my college classes again and work has gotten better. Oh my birthday is coming up in a month.”

“Are you going to do anything?”

“Not sure really. Everyone has a lot on their plate and even if I did do something it’ll be something small… you know Damian came to us shortly after my 17th birthday I thought maybe I’d spent my 18th birthday with him.” Annabella slightly glanced up at him. “Pretty silly huh?”

“No, it’s understandable.”

They watched the waves roll in as the moon shined down on the water. Kaldur turned as and watched as Annabella took a big spoonful of peanut butter and shoved it into her mouth.

“Okay serious question.” Said Kaldur And chuckled as Annabella tried to swallow the thick substance.

“Shoot.” She mumbled with a mouth still full of peanut butter.

“Why peanut butter?”

“Ah.” Annabella smacked her lips as she tried to finish the peanut butter. “The million dollar question.”

“Don’t you mean billion.”

“Look at you making puns.” Annabella giggled as she lightly shoved Kaldur.

“Okay but I am serious about the question.”

“Okay so the first time the league came to help with babysitting me Barry ended up being in charge of feeding me. Apparently I didn’t want to eat the baby food so instead he gave me peanut butter which I loved. Some time after my dad called them over cause I wouldn’t stop crying from teething, again Barry got the peanut butter and it calmed me right down. After that it kinda just became a comfort food whenever I’d get scared. And well between ages 4-7 I kept getting kidnapped… a lot… so my peanut butter intake increased. Then there was a point where I ate it out of spite because the press thought it was ‘odd’. And well now it’s I guess just out of habit.” Annabella shrugged as she ate another spoonful.

Kaldur was about to ask her another question when Annabella’s phone went off. Annabella slightly frowned as she searched for her phone.

“Dad what’s wrong?” She asked as she answered. Kaldur watched as her face turned to one of confusion and shock. “Okay yeah I’ll be right over.”

“What is it?”

“Um I’m not so sure but I have to get home. Um do you mind picking this up before you leave?” Annabella stood up and dusted herself off.

“Go ahead.” Said Kaldur as he stood up and started to pick everything up.

“Um this was nice… we should do it again some time.” Said Annabella.

“Yeah we should.” Kaldur agreed.

“Right well gotta go.” Annabella waved goodbye before taking off.

She made it to the cave in record time.

“Okay what’s the… emergency…” Annabella trailed off as she looked at her family.

There standing in the middle was her baby brother. He slowly turned to face her, his intense green eyes connecting with her warm brown ones.

“Hello sister.” He simply said.