Chapter 7

Author's Note: I'll explain why I did the things I did after you guys read the chapter.

The cave was pitch black when I swam into it. Hopefully I managed to lose Kaldur in the tunnels that surrounded this place. He wasn't stupid, I doubted he could get lost. There was a small airpocket in my underwater cave. It even had a ledge large enough for 2 people to sit on.

I hauled myself onto the ledge, I'd forgotten how cold this place was. Sighing, I stripped off my gloves and rolled up my sleeves. I had added dark gold gauntlets to the costume, I removed those as well. A small knife formed in my hand. It barely glowed and was tinted black. Casually leaning back against the cave wall, I tossed it from hand to hand. The knife flipped and twirled in the air before landing in my hand. Pausing, I tightened my grip on the knife, what if I... no. I stopped that thought before it got too far. I needed to show everyone that I was fine, even if I wasn't.

A splash alerted me to the arrival of Kaldur, He said nothing as he climbed onto the ledge. When he didn't speak, I resumed flipping the knife. On my fifth toss, Kaldur caught the hand holding the knife. I let out a small gasp and tried to yank my hand free. The Atlantean took the knife away and threw it into the water. It burst into white light upon hitting the water.

"What do you want?" I snarled. Kaldur turned my wrist over and looked at the scars.

"For you to come back and listen to what we have to say," He let go of my wrist and shifted to look directly at me.

"Why? So you can tell me that it's okay or that everyone is there for me?" I laughed bitterly, "If that is what you want to say, then leave. I'm tired of hearing it. I don't want to hear it." My voice rose.

"We don't care, Astra. You are our team member and friend, that is all that matters. The team is worried about you, they have never seen you this distraught."

"Yeah, well I don't like to show weakness," Kaldur frowned.

"This is not a weakness. It is just a memory," whipping around, I stared at him.

"If only you knew everything," Sighing, I leaned forward and dipped my hand into the water. The water lit up wherever my hand touched it.

"You can tell us, you can tell me," His voice was quiet.

"No, I can't," The words left no room for arguments, "We should get back." I slipped on my gloves and gauntlets. Slipping into the water, I began to prepare myself for the swim. Kaldur hesitated, but slowly followed. The two of us swam through the tunnels. Sunlight began to filter through the water as we swam towards the surface.

Robin was waiting on the beach, looking anxiously at the water. He grinned in relief as Kaldur and I broke the surface. I waved and walked to the beach. Kaldur followed closely behind me.

"Hey, Rob!" I yelled. He seemed taken back by my cheerfulness. Kaldur seemed surprised at how I was acting. Just a few minutes ago, I was acting completely different.

"Astra, are you okay?"The acrobat asked.

"Fine, why wouldn't I be?"I shot them a look that warned them not to speak about what had happened an hour before. They got the message.

"The rest of the team is in the kitchen. M'gann is attempting to make an oreo cake to distract everyone. Wally keeps on eating it before she manages to finish it." Robin stated.

"Fun," I murmured. Our group walked back into the seccret entrance to the cave, "I'm going to shower before talking to everyone. I love the ocean, but my hair doesn't."

I slipped into my bedroom and stepped into the shower. It only took a couple of minutes for me to wash the salt out of my hair. Donning a fresh costume, I headed to the kitchen. The martian girl was passing out pieces of oreo cake.

"Astra, you're just in time to get a piece of cake!" M'gann said, everyone was acting as if nothing had happened.

"Thanks," I picked at it. Before anyone could say anything, the computer announced the arrival of Batman.

"He wasn't expected to be back for another day," Zatanna stated in confusion.

"Who knows?" Robin shrugged. Everyone walked into the training room.

"For the next three days you will train with your mentors and go through simulations with them," Batman rasped.

"What, why? Have you forgotten the last simulation?" Connor growled.

"These are designed to be safer. You will be completely aware that the simulation is not real."

Why was the team so reluctant to undergo a simulation? I would have to ask Robin later.

"Astra, Robin, get ready to go." I quickly collected my schoolwork and clothing. Once the two of us had collected everything, Batman dismissed the team and led us into the Zeta tubes.

"Any luck?" Richard asked once we walked into the batcave.

"There isn't any new information on the missing 16 hours," Now that we were alone, Batman let his exhaustion show. When he removed his cowl, tired brown eyes looked at me.

"Ah, the mysterious 16 hours. I'm going to take a nap, I'll wake up before patrol," I headed to my dressing room and changed into sweats. It seemed like I had done a lot of changing today. Patrol didn't start until 9 p.m., I could get at least 4 hours of sleep.

3rd POV

Bruce watched Kyara leave and sighed. Richard winced slightly and turned towards Bruce.

"What happened?" Bruce asked.

"They found out about her," Dick stopped and pointed. Bruce sighed again and rubbed his face.

"This wasn't supposed to happen. How did everyone react?"

"The team freaked, Ky went for a swim, everyone had Oreo cake. The end." Dick grinned.

"I should talk to her," the billionaire muttered.

"You should," the ward agreed.

"Great."

Kyara POV

I was curled up underneath my comforter. My hands were tracing the scars on my wrists, a small habit that I had formed. Sleep refused to come to me despite my wishes. I was considering beginning a sketch when someone knocked on my door.

"Come in," I called as I retrieved my sketchbook and pencils. Jumpin in surprise, I saw my father standing in the doorway, "Uhm, what?"

"I was wondering if we could talk?" Nodding, I sat down on my bed. Glancing at his uncomforatable look, I decided to sketch him while he talked.

"Do you mind if I draw while we talk?"

"Go ahead, look I know these past few months have been-" I held up a hand to stop him.

"If this is one of those we are here for you speeches I will stab you with my pencil."

"Okay, I never expected to have a daughter. I can't promise to be a great father, but I'll try." Grinning, I leaned against the headboardand patted the space next to me. He slowly moved to sit beside me.

"Great, now that the awkwardness is over, let's talk while I sketch your face!" I said brightly, "Since you know nothing about me, I'll start from the beginning," I smiled to cover up my sadness.

"Yep, my first memory is when I was 3. My mom let me ride a tiger for the first time," I laughed as Bruce's eyes widened, "The tigers were like feline dogs."

As we spoke, my eyes began to grow heavier. I eventually finished sketching his face and set the sketchbook aside. Before I could stop myself I began to yawn. The lack of sleep was finally catching up to me.

Bruce

Bruce noticed that Kyara was beginning to yawn. Her sketch lay on the bed. It was extremely lifelike, but had a certain mournfulness to it. He couldnlt explain why, it just looked sad. He jumped as a heavy weight rested against his shoulder. Kyara had fallen asleep and was leaning against him.

Bruce pulled the comforter over his daughter and slowly stood. She looked exhausted. It was easy to raise Dick, but Kyara was a new experience. Dick had been just as traumatized when he came to the manor, but he hadn't been tortured for 3 months. Although Juvie came close, he hadn't tried to commit suicide. Perhaps he should ask Dinah to talk to her.

Kyara refused to open up to anyone. Bruce had hoped that being on a team would help, but so far it wasn't working. He blamed himself for her exhaustion. She hadn't been ready to put on the costume. It would do more harm than good to take it away from her now. The door shut behind him with a soft thud.

KYARA

The sound of the Doctor Who theme song woke me up around 8 at night. My comforter was covering me and my door was closed. When had Bruce left? Throwing off my blankets, I changed into the clothing I wore underneath my costume and did my hair. I pressed the 3 pairs of piano keys required to open the bat cave's elevator. For the first time in a while, I felt refreshed after sleeping.

The Batman was standing in front of the gigantic computer researching the recent Joker sightings. Joker had broken out of Arkham last week, and I doubted he would be captured anytime soon.

"Any news?" I asked as I walked out of my dressing room.

"Joker's thugs have been spotted near the docks. There hasn't been any sighting of Joker. Harley Quinn robbed a bank earlier today," I looked up at him.

"Wait, I'm allowed to go against the Joker now?"

"Not unless you're with me or Dick," I nodded, that was better than what I had been allowed to do before.

"Look who's finally awake," Dick walked up behind me in his Robin costume. He began to scroll through the information Bruce had pulled up. Joker was disturbing, and I didn't want to know what he was planning to do. He needed to be caught before anything happened.

The batmobile roared to life behind me, "Does he ever tell you to just get in the car?" Robin cackled and flipped into his seat.

May 1, 2011

I crouched on a the roof of a warehouse building and watched henchmen load chemicals onto a ship. Batman was a silent presence beside me; Robin was trying to find out what chemicals they were using by checking on his holocomputer. Screaming alerted me to men dragging a girl onto the ship.

"If ya don't shut up, I'll shoot ya," Harley leered. The girl promptly quieted down. I glanced over at Batman, he gave me a small nod. Quietly creeping to the docks, we prepared to attack. Our arms rose and fell together as we threw smoke pellets to the ground.

Smoke was everywhere as I launched myself into the fray. Robin was cackling as he darted around in the smoke. The thugs were blindly stumbling around in the smoke. I kneed one man in the face and then used him as a springboard. I handcuffed the next man to a pipe sticking out of the ground. The girl began to scream hysterically until a gunshot echoed through the air.

When the smoke cleared, Harley was gone and the girl was lying on the ground with a bullet hole in the head. A man ran into the maze of warehouses.

"I'll get him!" Launching myself over a thug's head, I followed the man. I slammed him into the wall and pinned him with a throwing knife to the wall. He began to shout as I prepared to knock him out.

"Wait, I got some information for yah! It's about that new Wayne girl," I gestured for him to go on, "Joker is planning to kidnap her at that charity thing next week. Says he has to give her a Gotham welcome. That's all I know!"

"If you're lying," I formed a knife out of light.

"I'm not! The Wayne girl don`t deserve that, she hasn't done nothing!" The man pleaded, "Please, just lock me up! I don't want to die. They say terrible things about what the Joker does to guys who let his plans slip!"

I slapped handcuffs on his wrists and took him to where Batman had gathered the others. Gotham Police had arrived and were arresting the thugs. I handed mine off to an officer and walked over to Batman.

"We have a problem," Batman's eyes narrowed as Robin began to furiously type on his holocomputer. His facial expression did not change as I told him what the thug had told me. Batman walked over to the man and spoke quietly to him, My thug's face paled and he began to babble. Soon, Batman walked back to us.

"Let's finish patrol."

May 6, 2011

I winced as I glanced at the dress hanging on the door of my closet. It was simple, but I still hated it. The dress was tight, black, and had long sleeves. It had a scooped back, high enough to hide any old whip scars. It stopped 3 inches above my knees and flared out at my waist. I hurriedly slipped it, and simple black high heels on. Fixing my make up and hair was easy, but getting used to the heels was difficult. I stumbled around my room for a minute befor learning how to walk in them.

Making a face at myself in the mirror, I opened the bedroom door and wobbled over to Dick's room. He was tying his tie. I walked over to him and ruffled his hair.

"Ready to party with the Team?" Bruce had ordered the Team to appear in disguise at the charity ball. He wanted to improve their abilities to work undercover.

"I can't wait to see Wally eat everything in sight," Dick said while rolling his eyes.

"Oh gosh, I don't need to see that," we turned as Alfred called for us to come down.

I took off my heels before walking down the stairs. Dick performed front flips as he walked down the stairs. I settled for walking on the stair railing closest to the wall to avoid flashing anyone. My father and Alfred were waiting by the front door.

"No shoes, Miss Kyara?" Alfred raised an eyebrow at the heels in my hand.

"Fine," I huffed and plopped down on a chair. My shoes were shoved on my feet and I stood, ready to attend my first social function as a Wayne.

"You look fine," my father reassured me. Alfred held the door open while we walked to the car.

"What do you do at these things anyway?"

Alfred pulled the car to the front of the building. Reporters lined the edges of a walkway to the entrance, cameras primed and ready. I hurriedly smoothed the wrinkles out of my dress before taking a deep breath.

"Gordon had put extra men on police security tonight. That will give us a little time to get ready if the Joker makes an appearance. Remember, the Team is here in disguise. Dick, keep Wally from eating everything. Kyara, relax," Bruce ordered.

"Easy enough for you to say," I grumbled. Alfred opened the limo door on my father's side. Bruce got out first, turning around to help me out of the car. I blinked as cameras flashed around me. Dick elbowed me in the ribs. I allowed a mask of emotion to fall over me, I grinned and raised my hand in a wave as we walked to the door.

A doorman held the door open for us while we walked inside. People rushed to talk to my father, desperate to be seen with the rich playboy. I was surprised by how easily Bruce slipped on a richboy facade. Dick grabbed my arm and pulled me into the sea of people. People greeted me, some going so far as to introduce me to their sons.

"James Gordon, Gotham's commisioner," A man with a rather odd mustache shook my hand, "I doubt you remember me. I took over your case after you appeared at the hospital."

"It's nice to meet you! I heard you are handling the security detail for tonight," I said, desperate to change the subject.

"Of course, we wouldn't anything to happen to you on your first official night as a Wayne," he winced as he said this, "It was nice to see you."

I watched as the commisioner walked away, looking thoroughly uncomfortable in a tuxedo. I slipped through the crowd, avoiding people whenever possible. I spotted Wally leading a girl with black hair through the crowd. Artemis must have gotten a glamour charm from Zatanna to prevent me from recognizing her. Conner was leaning against a wall next to a brunette haired girl who looked similar to M'gann. There was no sign of Kaldur, Zatanna, or Raquel.

"Kyara Wayne, how's life been?" Oliver Queen greeted as he walked up to me. A young man followed behind, sulking.

"Pretty good, I haven't bankrupted Bruce yet."

"This is Roy Harper," something flashed across Roy's face as Oliver said this, "I'm going to get some champagne."

"He's up to something," I commented.

"Isn't he always?" Roy muttered.

"You don't want to be here, do you?"

"Not really."

"Sorry, neither do I. Why do our guardians have to be rich?" I joked.

"Why do they have to throw parties all the time?" Roy responded.

"I don't know. This life is weird," I was trying to get Roy to act a little happy.

"You have no idea," He grinned.

"Roy, Dick is looking for you. He says that Wally won't stop eating," Roy groaned and went to look for the 2 troublemakers.

Grabbing a glass of punch from a waiter who looked unhappy to be serving non-alchoholic drinks, I retreated to a relatively empty spot in one corner of the room. As I leaned against the wall, I debated ways to escape and remove these horrid heels. A dark skinned man soon joined me, scanning the room with piercing eyes.

Kaldur's gills were hidden, as well as the webbing between his fingers.

"Having fun helping with security?" I asked, sidling up to him.

"I do not know what you mean."

"It is easy to recognize another person who has no desire to be here. We tend to find each other. Besides, I heard about Joker's threat. Oh, and not to be rude, but your team mates are horrible at blending in," I nodded my head towards Wally eating everything in sight and Artemis trying to pull him away.

"I will need to talk to them later."

"It's okay. If anything the black haired guy stands out more. He's glaring at anyone who comes near him. That is not normal while attending charity events."

"He is not happy while wearing a tuxedo. It is highly uncomfortable for him to be here," Kaldur said with a sigh.

"Tell me about it. So, have you seen anyone that looks suspicious?"

"Not yet, something doesn't feel right." Kaldur stopped talking as a woman with too much makeup called for quiet.

"Thank you for attending the 4th annual Gotham Charity Ball! All money donated tonight will be used to help Gotham's homeless. Open up your checkbooks and give to the poor!" Her speech was cut off as the wall behind her exploded. Kaldur shielded me with his body from flying debris.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I was sitting in my cell the other day thinking about the Waynes," Joker began as he stepped through the hole in the wall. People screamed as masked man with guns began to weave through the crowd, taking anything of value.

"And then it hit me! Miss Wayne hasn't met me yet! That's child abuse," Joker laughed as Harley stepped up beside him, "So I said to Harley, 'I bet she doesn't even know who we are!' Because people like you don't even know how to laugh!"

"Babies!" Harley hollered. Hyenas began to herd the crowd together, "Shut up and listen to Mistah Jay!" She shouted as people screamed.

"Sorry about Harley, women need to learn to loosen up like Harley did. Once upon a time, she was a psychiatrist, but then she met me!" The Joker grinned, "Now, where is the new Wayne brat? No answer, what a shame! Oh, I know, we can play a game! First one to find the brat dies!" He pulled a girl out of the crowd and pressed a gun to her head.

"Wait! I'm right here," I called from where Kaldur was trying to shield me from his view.

"If you wouldn't mind coming up here?" Joker's voice was sugary sweet.I walked over to him, before having my path blocked as Bruce stepped in front of me.

"Leave, Joker," Bruce growled.

"I'd rather have fun with you!" Joker gestured to 2 men. They grabbed Bruce and pulled him out of the way, "Now where were we?"

Joker pulled me to the hole in the wall, "It was nice meeting you all. Sadly, we have another party to attend with little Ky over here. Do you mind if I call you Ky?" I stomped on his foot.

"Puddin'!" Harley shrieked.

"Shut it! Oh, Ky you're so much fun. We'll have a party later!" He hauled me into a van. I caught sight of Dick and Bruce's desperate faces before the van doors snapped shut, sealing my fate.

Author's note: Hi! It's been 3 weeks since my last update. I really lost interest in writing for a while (almost collapsing from exhaustion on Valentine's Day helps), but I'm back. Anyways, I had the team act normal after Kyara returned because I decided that Robin would be in mental contact with the rest of the team while talking to her on the beach. Oh, and I'll talk about what happened in the simulations next chapter.