POSEIDONIS
July 25, 12:42 UTC-2
The water had quickly become a war zone. The infested area swarming with Manta Troopers, most of the forces retreating or being dragged away by their remaining conscious comrades. Yet others still put up a fight, determined to take down the three younger heroes while Black Manta was off 'taking care' of Aquaman. Aqualad scanned the area for his allies, unsure if any of them required assistance. Upon further inspection of the area, he found that Tempest and Lagoon Boy were both fine on their own and gaining the upper hand. Aquagirl, on the other hand, seemed to be struggling with keeping the Manta Troopers at bay.
Without hesitation, he began to swim to where she attempted to stand her ground. He intercepted a hit from one of her opponents, gripping the water constructs tight as he attacked and rendered the Trooper incapacitated, before turning around to face the teenager behind him. The raven-haired girl instantly looked annoyed. "I could've handled it," she insisted stubbornly, her eyes flickering momentarily towards the fallen Trooper.
"Forgive me, Lorena, but from where I was standing, you couldn't," Aqualad replied curtly, attempting not to seem hostile as he narrowed his eyes at the girl. He hadn't called her Aquagirl once. Not yet, anyways. It always seemed to infuriate her, and oddly enough, this pleased him.
Aquagirl's look became a nasty glare as she kept her eyes on him now. "Aquagirl. I don't call you Kaldur'ahm when we're working, I would really appreciate it if you wouldn't call me Lorena now. And by the way, it's from where we're floating," she snapped, her voice an icy cold reminder of just who it was that stood beside him and not who he wished she could have been instead.
Kaldur opened his mouth to reply, before he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned, prepared to fight yet another Trooper, and was surprised to find that the remaining men were already retreating. His eyes immediately sought out Aquaman and Black Manta. As he expected, the two were no longer fighting. His father was nowhere to be seen.
With a final glance in Lorena's direction, he swam away once more, thing time towards Tempest and Lagoon Boy. It didn't take long for him to reach them. "Were either of you hurt?" He inquired, hardly expressing any visible concern for his friends. He knew they were both alright.
Garth nodded, while La'gaan busied himself with fixing the pouch that was almost always attached to the lower part of his leg. At first, Kaldur assumed that his friend was attempting to hide an injury, and moved closer to take a look. To his surprise, Garth, reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. Questioning eyes met the atlantean's violet ones, but all Garth offered as an answer was a small shake of his head.
This raised a few questions, but he respected his friends wishes, and didn't voice them. Before any of them had a chance to say anything else, a voice behind him spoke. He didn't hear the exact words, but he recognized the voice. After being forced to hear that voice every day for more than a year, he would recognize it anywhere.
Black Manta.
Without a second thought, Kaldur reconstructed his hard-water mallet, and spun around. He swung his weapon, and felt it connect with the figure behind him. The reaction from his friends was immediate. Garth grabbed his arm, and was yelling. At first, it was inaudible to Kaldur. He looked back at his friend, angered, only to see shock, and horror.
Confusion took angers face as Kaldur looked back at the man. Unlike what he had expected, it wasn't Black Manta standing behind him. It was Aquaman. Various emotions crossed his face; anger, shock, hurt… Kaldur meant to apologize, and tell him that he had no idea what had come over him, but he ended up just standing there like a fish out of water. He could've sworn that he heard Black Manta's voice. What was wrong with him?
THE WATCHTOWER
JULY 25, 14:00 EDT
Black Canary expressed nothing but concern while she approached Kaldur, who was seated on the couch in the living area, staring at the floor, and listening to Bette and Barbara talk about a carnival going on in Gotham that weekend. "Is there anything you want to tell me?" She asked, sitting next to him.
The two other girls in the room fell silent when she spoke. Kaldur didn't know what to say, so he stayed silent as well, and busied himself with counting the different shades on the rugged floor. Leaning forward meant you wanted to talk. Leaning back meant to wanted to talk. He didn't move.
The silence only lasted for a few moments before the blonde leaned forward, and tried again. "Arthur told me you haven't been sleeping much lately. Is there a reason?" Once again, she was met with silence. He looked everywhere but at her. Bette and Barbara had been watching the two of them. When his eyes fell on them, Barbara jumped to her feet. The red-head muttered something to the blonde before walking out, dragging her along with her.
That left him alone with Black Canary. Kaldur wanted to start talking, now that nobody was around to witness what he had to say. He willed himself to speak, but nothing happened. Opened his mouth, and then closed it again. Her stockinged legs made a soft shushing sound as she crossed them. "Nothing leaves this room," she assured him.
Barbara peeked in once more, before quietly moving away once more when she heard the Atlantean find his voice. Whatever he had to say to Black Canary was none of her business. "Come on," she said, starting to walk away.
Confused, Bette rushed to catch up. "Where are we going?" She asked, slowing down to match her pace.
Without looking at the blonde, she replied, "Blüdhaven."
METROPOLIS
JULY 25, 14:00 EDT
People came and went, hardly paying any mind to the group of teens that attempted to keep the blonde from scampering off into one of the many stores around them. Wonder was shining in her blue eyes as she tried to take in everything at once. There wasn't one window that they hadn't stopped in front of so she could admire whatever had caught her eye, and as much as they had all tried to contain her excitement, there was not much they could do to control the Kryptonian chick. She moved, and they, although hesitant, rushed to whatever store she ran into next.
M'gann looked at the various clothes on a rack next to her while they waited for Kara to get out of the changing room. There wasn't much there that really caught her interest, and after going through a quarter of the clothes there, she sat down next to Conner once more. Standing across from them was Karen and Mal, and both of them looked bored. "You two can go, you know," the martian told them. "Conner and I can handle watching Kara."
Karen shook her head. "It's fine. I don't mind helping you guys babysit Kara," she insisted.
"Babysitting requires a baby, Karen," Kara spoke up while she stepped out of the room, and closed the door behind her so she could examine her reflection in the mirror hanging behind it. "I'm no baby." She turned around to face them, and smiled. "How's this?" she asked, showing off the outfit she had put together.
"You look great!" M'gann complimented her, smiling. Even though she wanted to leave the store, she was still having a good time… or at least, a better time than the others. Even though she didn't buy clothes herself, she enjoyed going shopping with friends, and she hadn't been able to go shopping with any of her friends in quite a long time.
M'gann looked back over at the other two while she stood up, and didn't fail to realize that Mal was staring out the window, distracted by something. She looked over her shoulder to find whatever had caught his attention, before turning back to him. He must've felt her eyes on him, because he turned his head to look at her. "I'm hungry. We should go get some food," he decided, just as Kara walked back out of the room in the clothes that had been lent to her.
The blonde smiled, "I was thinking the same thing. I'm starving," she replied, joining them once more.
"You guys can wait outside. I'll buy the clothes," M'gann told the others, gesturing for Kara to follow her while she pulled out the card that Batman had given them.
It didn't take long for the lady working at the register to ring up all the items, but it was still enough time for Kara to talk about something that was bothering her. "Kon doesn't exactly like me, does he?"
The Kryptonian girl's question surprised her. "I'm sure he likes you," M'gann assured her while they picked up the bags of clothes. "What makes you think he doesn't?" she inquired while they started to make their way out of the store.
Kara shrugged. "It's just the way he looks at me… as if it upsets him that I'm here."
M'gann studied the blonde for a moment. It was her first week on Earth, and she wasn't human, but she was still just like any other ordinary earth teenager, and just like any other teen, she had insecurities and doubts. Smiling, she put her hand on the girls shoulder. "I promise you, he likes you. He's just not used to you yet."
Kara didn't look like she believed her, but she didn't argue. The two made their way outside to join the others without another word.
BLÜDHAVEN
JULY 25, 15:02 EST
Barbara knocked on the grey, chipped door to Nightwing's apartment for the third time. "We know you're in there, Dick," she called, "If you don't open up, I'll just have Zatanna unlock it."
Still no reply.
"He isn't gonna open the door," Raquel pointed out from where she was leaning against the wall. "How do you know he's even home?" she inquired, arching an eyebrow and looking over at Barbara.
"Oh, he's home," Barbara replied, knocking on the door once more. "Last chance!" she yelled. None of them paid any notice to the couple that walked out of the apartment, and gave them weird looks as they passed. The red-head sighed, before looking at Zatanna. "Unlock the door," she told her, stepping away to stand next to Bette.
Zatanna moved to stand where Barbara had been before. Only 'kcolnU' hadn't left her mouth when the door suddenly swung open. Out walked Dick Grayson, with his shaded glasses, and a large bag. Before any of them could say anything, he closed and locked the door behind him, and then turned to face them. "I know why you're here," was all he had to say, before he started to walk away down the hall.
"Good, then less explaining for us," Bette said, while they followed him. "You've been gone for a year. The team needs you."
Dick shook his head. "No, it doesn't. The team has Kaldur, and Barbara. I have other things to worry about," he insisted, still not stopping. "Like right now, I need to worry about dealing with a robbery a few minutes from here."
Raquel sped up until she was standing in front of him. "If you were really needed there, you would be going as Nightwing, not civillian Richard Grayson," she pointed out, lowering her voice so that nobody else that inhabited one of the apartments around them would hear.
"Besides, they've got that taken care of," Barbara added. Raquel looked over to see her on her holographic computer. "In fact, they've had that taken care of for the past half hour," she said, turning it off. "You do realize you can't avoid us forever, right?"
"I'm not trying to avoid you," Dick replied, walking past Raquel to the door. "I have something important I need to do, and the more time I spend on the team, the longer it'll take me."
Bette lunged forward and grabbed his arm to stop him. "Dick, we need you to come back to the team. There's something wrong with Kaldur, and I'll bet you anything he's going to be forced to take a break from the team."
"Them the team has Barbara," He repeated, pulling his arm out of her grasp.
"Dick, we both know I'm not the right person to lead the team," Barbara argued, "Why are you so stubborn?"
Dick's eyes narrowed slightly. "I told you. I have more important things to do."
This time when he walked away, none of them followed him. They could see that there was no changing his mind. Once he left, Raquel spoke up. "Am I the only one that wants to know what these 'more important things' are?"
Zatanna, who was still watching where the raven-haired boy had disappeared, shook her head. "So, do we follow him or do we follow him?" she asked, looking over at the others with a smirk on her face.
The group didn't talk much while they sat at a booth in Bibbo's Diner. Everyone, excluding Kara, had finished their meals a few minutes ago. The blonde was still enjoying her meal, and couldn't get over how much she liked the burger.
Karen smirked. "I'd say she's 100% Earth Girl," she said, taking a sip from her soda.
Kara's eyes lit up at her words, and once she swallowed her final mouthful of burger, and smiled. "Thanks, for taking me out today," she said, looking at the people around her. "I had fun."
"Any time," M'gann replied, returning the smile. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Conner was just staring out the window, not even acknowledging his cousin's words. "As soon as you're done, we'll head back to the Watchtower. If you want, we can watch some movies when we get back," she suggested, "I watched a lot of really good movies when I first arrived here. Conner would sometimes watch, too."
The blonde's smile widened, if that was possible. "I'd love to," she replied, before looking over at others. "Are you guys going to watch a movie with us, too?" she inquired while she started to finish off her soda.
"Sorry, Kara— Karen and I are going somewhere tonight," Mal said.
Conner didn't say anything.
Kara looked at the clone. "What about you, Kon?"
He looked at her for a second, before standing up, and walking out without another word. The cheerful expression on the Kryptonian's face faded, and was replaced by disappointment. "Told you he didn't like me," she muttered, still sucking on the straw, consuming more air than anything.
M'gann watched him as he left, before looking back to Kara. "I'll talk to him later," she assured her. "Come on. Let's get back to the Watchtower now. We can look at a bunch of movies, and you can pick one out," she suggested, standing up. The blonde looked no happier, but she smiled, and stood up with her.
"We're gonna stay here for a while," Karen informed them. "We'll see you guys later."
"Alright— bye!" M'gann smiled, waving goodbye while the two of them of them walked out of the diner. Kara followed her to the nearest zeta tube in silence, looking around at the different people passing by.
After a few minutes, M'gann sighed. "Conner wasn't very fond of me when he first met me, either," she said while they walked. Kara turned to look at her while she listened. "I didn't realize that it would upset him if I used my telepathy, and he yelled at me a few times. Eventually, things changed… he's one of my closest friends."
"But he hates me for no reason," Kara pointed out. "I didn't do anything… did I?" she asked, looking at M'gann. She seemed slightly alarmed at the thought.
The martian shook her head. "No, you didn't," she assured her. "And he doesn't hate you. Just watch, in a couple of weeks, the two of you will be friends," she told her, stopping outside the zeta tubes.
Kara didn't look too sure, but she didn't argue. She and M'gann both walked into the zeta tube, and waited.
"Recognized: Kara Zor-El, A-1-4. Miss Martian, B-0-5"
BLÜDHAVEN
JULY 25, 20:53 EST
Flamebird watched the warehouse from her perch on top of the building nearby. Her companions were a short distance away, chatting. Once they had followed him as far as they could, they began taking shifts watching the door, waiting for Dick walk out. They had been waiting there for nearly six hours.
Growing tired, the blonde yawned, and leaned against the side. She wanted to get back home and sleep so she wouldn't be too tired for work the next day, and she was sure the others wanted the same thing. She was about to turn around suggest that they left and try again another day, when she heard the sound of a door opening below her.
Alarmed at the thought that she might get caught, she shuffled back onto the ledge, and ducked down. Carefully, she peered over the side, just in time to see Dick closing the door, with his back to her. Before he turned around once more, she ducked back into her hiding place, and looked over at the others. They must've heard the door as well, because they were looking over at her expectantly.
None of them moved while Dick walked away. Even the slightest big of movement might give their location away. It wasn't exactly easy to hide from the young man. It wasn't until he had been gone for at least five minutes that Batgirl, Rocket, and Zatanna joined her. Without exchanging any words, they jumped down from the roof, and towards the warehouse.
Once Zatanna opened the door, they all stepped inside. It was completely dark, and they couldn't see a thing. "Someone find a light-switch," Batgirl said. They could hear the soft shooshing noise from her glove while she ran her hand along the wall, trying to find a switch.
"Or we could just use my belt," Rocket pointed out, taking off her belt, and holding it up to the light would flash across more of the room. It wasn't the greatest, but it would have to do. "If Dick were to come back and see the lights on, we would be busted."
Nobody could argue with that. Now that she could see what she was doing, Barbara walked over to the computer that was set up on a desk in the corner of the room. The others looked around, trying to see what they could find.
Zatanna walked around a bit, before stopping in front of a board with several newspaper articles pinned up. Nearly all of them had 'X' marks over them. After examining a few of them, she found the relation between each of them; they were all old. Very old. Since it wasn't bright enough to make out what any of them, she carefully tore a few down, and joined the others near the computer.
Barbara seemed frustrated when Zatanna first saw her. "There's nothing here. He cleared his History, and I'd bet anything that he saves everything on a drive so he can keep it on him at all times," she growled. Even so, she continued to look through his files.
The magician dropped the paper down in front of her. "Maybe these will help?" she suggested. "Rocket, bring your light over here," she instructed her friend. Seconds later, they got a better view of the old, crumpled piece of paper in front of them.
Batgirl picked it up, and quickly read it to herself, before summarizing it for her friends. "It's a newspaper article from a couple years ago. It's about something that Helena Sandsmark founds at a dig site."
"Since when does he care about the things archeologists find?" Flamebird mused, taking the paper from Batgirl. "Zatanna, where did you find this?"
"Over there," Zatanna replied, pointing over at the board that you could just see in the lighting. Rocket brought her light over there, and looked at the articles herself. "Dick crossed a bunch of them out. He's looking for something," the magician added, joining her friend.
Batgirl thought about what she had just read. "Or someone."
THE WATCHTOWER
JULY 25, 21:00 EDT
Kara looked over to where M'gann had fallen asleep on the floor. They had been watching movie after movie since they got back. Every single one of them had been amazing, and the Kryptonian fell in love with each one. Unfortunately, they had both fallen asleep in the middle of the last one. She woke up when she heard laughter nearby, and now she was laying in a dark room with a sleeping Martian. For a few minutes, she remained motionless, and willed sleep to return to her.
Unfortunately, she was too restless. Giving up, she pushed the blanket that had been placed over her off, and stood up. She stretched her arms, before walking over to the door, and peeking out. Nobody was in sight, even though it was fairly early. She looked down at her attire— shorts, and a tank top. Kara looked over her shoulder to find something to put on her feet, and almost immediately they fell on a pair of sneakers she just got.
Once she slipped the sneakers on, she walked back into the hallway, and closed the door behind her. After a walk around the Watchtower, she would (hopefully) be able to fall back to sleep. She started to explore her new, temporary home. It was bright, and large, and cold. Of course, the temperature didn't bother her. It was just an observation.
Kara could hear everything going on in the base. In one of the rooms, she could hear Black Canary. In another, she could hear Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter. How much her senses had expanded since her arrival on Earth had shocked her. Often, she would find herself just sitting around, trying to see how far her hearing would stretch. As for all her other powers, she wasn't going to mess with those until she had Kal-El to help her.
After a while wandering, she found herself in a large, open room. Every so often, she would find the Team there for a mission briefing. It was empty, now, except for one person observing Earth from the window.
Conner.
Kara almost turned around and went back to her room, but changed her mind. She walked over to stand next to him, and looked down at the planet. Watching Earth was something she often found herself doing in the past week.
Finally, she looked over at the boy next to her. "What did I do?" He looked over at her with an eyebrow raised. Before he could deny anything, she continued, "As far as I know, I haven't said or done anything to you, so why do you hate me?"
"I don't hate you," Conner grumbled, looking away.
Kara crossed her arms. "Liar."
He sighed, and started to walk away. Her annoyance starting to mount, she stepped in front of him. "You're just going to ignore my question?"
Conner glared at her for a moment, before closing his eyes. He sighed, before looking at her once more, his eyes still narrowed. "I don't hate you," he repeated. "I hated going out with you guys today. It reminded me of… of when an old friend brought me out to get anything I needed, when I was new." he confessed. "Are you happy, now?"
With that, he pushed past her, and walked away to go to his room (she assumed). She simply stood there for a while, before she started to walk back to her room.
"Who would he be looking for in old newspaper articles?" Flamebird asked. Everyone's attention was focused on the red-head on the other side of the room. Batgirl stood up, and walked over to join them. She opened her mouth to respond, but the sound they heard wasn't her voice.
"Wally," Dick said, leaning against the door. He pushed off of it, and after he turned on the light, he walked over to them . "I refuse to believe he died. I've been trying to find signs that he had run himself into the past," he explained, retrieving the paper from Flamebird's hand.
"How did you know we were in here?" Raquel asked, putting her belt on once more.
Dick chuckled, "I'm Nightwing. How did you think I didn't know you were in here?" she countered her question. "I saw Bette while I was walking out. I thought you were going to follow me home. When I saw no sign of any of you, I realized you were in here."
Once he was done explaining, Barbara walked over to him. "Dick, I know that you don't want to accept that Wally's gone, but it's been a year," she told him softly. "You're going to drive yourself insane. This is a wild goose chase."
"No, it isn't," Dick argued. "Nobody just disappears like that! Wally wouldn't give up on me if he was in my position, so I won't give up on him."
"Dick—" Zatanna started, but never finished whatever she was going to say.
Silence fell, and they all just stood there, before Barbara spoke again. "Dick, we still need you to come back. Even if you're right, and Wally is stuck in the past, how would we get him back?"
The boy seemed to think about it for a second, and he looked like he was going to refuse, before he sighed. "I'll think about it," he finally replied.
Barbara opened her mouth to argue further, but Zatanna grabbed her arm before she got a chance. "Good. Even if you decide to not go back, come visit us soon," she said, before leading the red-head out of the warehouse. Raquel and Bette said quick goodbyes, before following.
Kaldur stood in the room he would stay in whenever he had to stay at the Watchtower. His shirt lay forgotten next to him while he sat on the bed, reading a book that he hadn't read in forever— he almost forgot what it was about.
A knocking sound came from his door, and he looked up from his book. He set the book down, and walked over to open the door. It wasn't until the door was already open that he remembered his shirt was left on the bed. He was prepared to hurry to grab it, when he realized that it was only Dinah.
"Hello," he greeted her, already knowing why she was here. He had informed her earlier that she would drop by before he went to bed.
Dinah smiled. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright," she told him. "I want you to come talk to me once every other week. Is that alright with you?"
Kaldur nodded.
"And one more thing," Dinah continued, "You're taking a break from the team for a while. This isn't a punishment," she told him when she saw every sign that he was about to argue. "You need to relax, and you haven't been able to do that since your deep-cover mission. We'll find someone else to take over for you while you're gone," she assured him. "Goodnight, Kaldur."
"Goodnight, Black Canary," he replied, and once she was gone, he closed the door. He sighed, before returning to his bed— but instead of picking up his book once more, he just lay there for the longest time, lost in thought, thinking about that days events.