A/N:Two words on the portrait drawn by Martha Wayne are most puzzling. What do they mean? Sammie is in her sixth month of pregnancy and she suddenly comes down with a mysterious illness. Tim is with the Titans talking to new recruits, and one of them is from a far different place. Does he hold the key to Samantha's mysterious illness?
Neptune's Daughter
By
Part 10: A Fish Out of Water
"I am what?" Samantha exclaimed.
"You are Atlantean," Kaldor explained. "Do you always seem to be drawn to the ocean and its depths? And I do not mean the shallows. Most humans don't venture out into the depths without equipment."
"Yes," Samantha answered. "I have swam the coral reefs without a tank. People look at me strangely, like I grew gills or something."
"That is because you can absorb the oxygen that is in the water through your skin. So, long as you are able to get some form of moisture, you can be out of the water for at least 24 hours at a time."
"I take a bath or shower every day. If I don't, my skin feels scaly and dry."
"That is one of the signs of being an Atlantean," Kaldor explained. "An Atlantean on dry land that is."
Red Robin kept quiet. It was an overwhelming revelation.
"You don't seem to have any distinguishing tattoos," Kaldor commented.
"No," Samantha said.
/How are you feeling now?/ Kaldor asked in Atlantean.
/Much better, thank you./ Samantha looked over at Red Robin and Damian. The look on her face had a question, which she did not voice. Both couldn't answer that question just yet. It would have to wait.
Red Robin could not express his gratitude, so Damian expressed it for him. "Kaldor, Red Robin," Damian went up to his brother. "Thank you."
"There's no need," Red Robin replied. "Aqualad, we need to return to Titan's Tower."
"Of course," Aqualad replied. He turned toward the girl. "May I come, again?"
"I would like that."
"But I don't know where I'm at," Aqualad stated.
"You're at Wayne Manor."
"Wayne Manor?" The Atlantean looked over at Red Robin.
"The Wayne family are friends with the bat clan," Red Robin replied. "We need to return."
"All right, though I would like to help this girl explore her heritage."
"I would like that, too," Samantha stated.
"Away from human interference," Kaldor added. "You are not like humans."
Red Robin's eyes narrowed. He didn't expect Kaldor to be prejudice against humans. Even so, they needed to return to Titan's Tower so they could debrief, and maybe Tim could give Kaldor a piece of his mind. Red Robin pressed the zeta button in his gauntlet and the pair disappeared and reappeared in the tower. Kaldor quickly turned almost as quickly as Flash and grabbed Red Robin by his outer armored vest and slammed him up against the wall.
"You have some explaining to do," Kaldor demanded.
Red Robin crossed his arms despite the fact that his shoulders were pinned.. He didn't like it when someone new questioned his judgement. "I do not need to explain anything to you, Kaldor. The girl needed help."
"She's Atlantean. What is a pregnant Atlantean doing with humans?"
"I didn't think you were prejudice against humans."
"I'm not, but you'll have a lot of explaining to do, if our king finds out."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
"Aquaman doesn't tell me what to do," Red Robin replied.
"You act as if that woman is more than just an acquaintance," Kaldor observed. "She looked straight at you. How is it that you know her? And how did she end up with the Waynes?"
Red Robin was surprised at that. Very few knew who Sammie was and what she meant to him. It looked like he underestimated Kaldor. He must have picked up on the subtle hints he was giving Damian not to give away his knowledge of him and their relationship, or maybe he saw the look that Samantha had given him.
"Come with me," Red stated, then he led Kaldor to a place where they could discuss the issue in private. Once they had the privacy, Red Robin turned on a device that would mask sound. The frequency was high enough to mask them from a certain Kryptonian from eavesdropping as well.
"All right, why all the secrecy?"
"Do you have family members, Kaldor?" Red Robin questioned.
"My parents were killed in an underwater quake. I was taken in by Garth."
"Did Garth tell you who he was?"
"Not at first, no . . . "
"He did that to protect you from his enemies, Kaldor. That's why, what I'm about to tell you, must not leave this room. The rest of the team, except for Bunker, knows who I am, but they don't know about that girl. I want to keep it that way."
"Why, if they know . . . "
"They don't," Red Robin stressed. "We have a lot of enemies, and if they get wind of her and her association with Red Robin, they could use her against him."
"Excuse me, but you're talking in the third person."
"Sorry, old habit I picked up from Batman."
"Kaldor's eyes went wide at that. He should have realized that Red Robin was one of Batman's associates. Kaldor recovered his surprise. "Look, I wouldn't be here if I couldn't keep a secret. Garth wouldn't have asked me to come or even take me in. I've been Aqualad to his Tempest. Aquaman didn't approve at first, but then he saw what I was worth. My powers are a part of me. And I would never use them to harm my teammates. And you know what they say about us Atlanteans when it comes to keeping a secret. We have the jaws of a clam. Nothing can pry it open."
"Except for a very sharp knife, and you need to know where to pry," Red Robin replied.
Kaldor's eyes went wide. "Who told you that?"
"You've ever eaten clams?"
"Many times, but I just pry them apart with my bare hands."
Red Robin didn't want to reply to that. "All right then, let's get down to brass taxes."
"Brass taxes?" Kaldor wasn't familiar with the term. "Why would anyone want brass taxes?"
"It means getting down to business."
Kaldor still gave Red Robin a curious look.
"It means, let's get to the point, not waste any time," Red Robin replied. "The reason I know that girl is . . . " Red Robin removed his mask and looked directly into Kaldor's eyes. "She's my fiancé and I'm the father of her children."
Continues with Part 11