The Rebellious Apprentices!
Chapter 11: What?!
The girls after showering went to the Mess Hall, with a conversation between three of them in place, even though one of them had a metal muzzle on. Mayu, Tigerlily and Thief talked while Assana lead Crystal ahead of them.
"Hana, I get it. You don't want to admit the truth, but I think out of all of us, you should tell Dick-" Thief interrupted Tigerlily.
"Shut up. Shut up now." Thief managed to say with a smile.
"Hey Kiddo!" Thief said turning around to face Dick, who hadn't said anything.
"Hey, we are here too!" Zach and Jack said together.
"Shut up Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum." Tigerlily said before Thief could reply.
Thief protested. "No! They would be Thunder Dee and Lightning Dum!"
"HEY!" The Twins shouted together. Dick flinched away from them, Tigerlily and Mayu reached for him at the same time. They brought him between them over to a table bench, where he sat down and managed to start eating, slowly enjoying his food.
"I just noticed, we all eat all proper and stuff." Thief said, tilting her head.
"Yeah, so?" Tigerlily snapped at her, angry that she scared Dick.
"We need to fix that." Thief said, the only warning they got before she slammed her face into her food.
Assana sighed, sick of Thief's rebellious attitude. Mayu outright laughed with the twins at her thought process. Tigerlily watched Dick giggle and smiled.
The atmosphere was considerably lighter, so of course the conversation had to ruin it.
"Thief, don't you want to talk to Dick about something?" Assana looked pointedly at Thief, who stiffened and glared back. Dick looked up at his name and gave Thief a confused look.
"No I do not." She hissed in a venomed filled voice. Dick flinched at the clear anger written all over her face for the first time.
Thief looked over at him and her glare softened into one of regret. "Hey kiddo, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."
Tigerlily and Assana both pressured Thief with their eyes, but Thief ignored them in favor for reaching for Dick. Dick flinched again, away from her hand for a moment, before leaning enough into the touch as if to say "It's okay."
Dick waited a moment, and couldn't take the heavy silence anymore. So he did the only thing that came to his head. He spilled his past with no filter. Not even halfway through he started crying, starting as tears falling, followed by shoulder racking sobs.
Tigerlily didn't hesitate to rub circles on his shoulders. Thief moved around the table to join. Assana moved to get up, but Crystal clutched her tight, starting to cry silently herself. The Twins shared equally lost looks, they didn't know what to do but listen. Mayu stared at Dick, fury building in her eyes, daring anyone to touch him now.
By the time Dick was done, the Twins were tearing up, Assana and Crystal were crying together, Mayu was shrinking into a hand sized dragon. Luckily none of the guards were paying attention, so they didn't notice. The Twins started throwing off sparks, then quickly trying to calm each other down. Tigerlily was sitting next to Dick, head bowed, like she was praying. Thief was the only one not showing any immediate reaction, simply rubbing circles on his shoulders.
The continued silence was heavy on Dick. Oh no, what had he done? What if they didn't care? What if they thought he was just complaining? What should he do? Apologize? Stay silent? Hope and pray they don't hurt him? Punish himself? What is right?
He was interrupted from his mental screaming match with himself when the Twins raised his head by placing one hand each under his chin and lifted his head up. Forcing his eyes to meet theirs, flickering back and forth before staring at his hands.
"Hey, I think I speak for all of us when I saw you are one amazing, brave, strong and adorable little boy. I also want to add that no matter what anyone else says, we love you and will be there for you."
"Here here!" The second twin cheered right after.
"Well, way to ruin it for everyone else twit." Tigerlily glared at him, and he immediately back off.
"Dickie, I know that you had a rough past. I can hear that, no, I can see that. And I want you to know, it takes a lot to move me. But if you want, I could be like a big sister to you. I can protect you, and I will. Just say the word."
Dick froze mid way through Tigerlily's speech, and at the end raised his eyes to hers wide with shock. She would be his big sister, just like Roy and Wally are his big brothers?
"Uh, hold on, I want to be apart of this family too!" Thief protested, starting to pout like a little child.
"And I as well." Assana added with a soft smile.
Crystal by far surprised him the most by signing in ASL "I wish to too."
Dick turned to Crystal and smiled. He signed to her, "You know ASL too?"
She practically glowed, it so cute how she smiled for the first time for Dick to see in an innocent, carefree way. She nodded. "Yes, my mother taught me so I could speak to the deaf kid in my class, years ago. Plus, in America it counts as another language, making me bilingual."
Dick nodded, still smiling.
"Uh, what is going on?" The Twins asked together, looking back and forth between Crystal and Dick.
"Relax numbnut, let the kiddies chat." Thief tisked at them before turning to Dick and Crystal. "Can I join this conversation too?" She signed in ASL as well.
Dick and Crystal grinned so wide, Dick felt like he was safe. Home.
Mayu, who had been quietly steaming at the thought of who caused Dick pain, crawled over to him and climbed over to his shoulder and nuzzle his neck and cheek.
She looked up into his surprised eyes and said clearly "I may not be from this planet, but even I know that a dragon protects its own. Or its treasure. Either way, I swear I will protect you."
Dick felt like crying again, but this time from happiness. These people cared about him, and were just like him. They knew what he went through and didn't judge or hate him. Just like his other family, the one he failed. Dick really started to cry again thinking of Roy, broken trying to protect him.
This time, everyone joined him to cuddle and comfort. Mayu had to regrow, to not draw attention to the fact that from a distance it looked like she was gone. She ended up being the outside protection in their little pile.
After a few minutes, the hug turned awkward for some (Tigerlily and Mayu) so everyone separated.
The rest of Dick's day was light and fun for hours, they ate then went to training. Dick focused on balancing, totally ignoring the Twins flying around him until one tried to push him into open air. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, what do we do? We swim… in the air… But we are all part of the circle of life...
"Woah!" He let out before right himself.
Tw Twin that pushed him laughed, and the other one followed father down. Wait…
"You can fly?!" Why didn't they tell Dick about this? Dick knew people would could fly, so that was not as much as a surprise as it was Zach and Jack who could fly!
"Yeah, sorry it never came up." The Twin closest to the ground said.
"We are aliens after all. You can't pronounce our names or our planet in this tongue, so we go by Zach and Jack. We are stormy aliens." The Twin closest to Dick said smirking.
"Care to show him examples, bro?" Zach, the lowest one said.
"With pleasure." Jack said, smirking even wider.
They flew up to hover above Dick, who sat on his equipment to watch.
Dick watch with amazement as Zach clapped his hands together, and as he separated them there was an electric charge growing as his hands were farther away from each other. When his hands were waist length apart, he brought his hands slightly closer together to condense the charge, then he tossed it to his brother. Jack caught it and as soon as it touched his skin it grew in size and color. Jack spun around just for effect then tossed it back. This continued for about half an hour, steadily growing bigger until it was almost as big as Dick.
Then Assana naturally interrupted. "Okay boys, no need to cause a power outage. Last time that happened, we were punished by the guards, and I don't want a repeat."
They stoped, the electric charged energy sitting between them in the air. Dick watched as they each pulled at the same time, breaking it apart. In their hands they pushed it into smaller pieces, until it solidified. They looked at each other, then down at everyone else.
Zach flew to Dick and held out the now solid energy. It looked like a bright yellow stone. "Here, you have it."
"Me? Why?" Dick asked, confused.
"I can always make another, and besides, you never know. It could come in handy. I know you are smart, you'll figure out what to do with it." Zach said, placing it in Dick's hand.
Smart. "I believe I am in the pressence of one of Athena's sons." Kaldur said that before.
Dick was so happy, he couldn't stop smiling.
Alright! Next chapter, things will be very interesting. I hope, anyway. I plan on trying! There, a little more character development and some team bonding. Hope you enjoyed!
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