sorry for the shortness of this chapter. ugh. school.

L.L.A.P

~Laces

Chpt.10

Athena felt her anger rise as she noticed by the end of school that Mr. Lucas A.K.A Austin was gone.

Gone… GONE! And he knows! Does this mean he knows about Bruce too? Does he know everything about my past? And how does he know about me in the first place? He said something about an employer… so there are more people know who I really am?! God… and… and Bruce… Father… he won't be happy about this. He'll probably want to kick me out of the house. He would be so disappointed. Clark would never trust me again, like it was when I was little. Diana and Dinah probably will regret ever letting me treat them like mothers… they'd want nothing to do with me. Nobody would want anything to do with me. Not even Conner! I tried being a hero and I failed. My secret identity is out, and that puts people I care about at risk. It's not my fault! I tried! God, I tried so hard to be a good hero, a good Power Girl. Why can't I get this right? I just wanted to help. I just wanted to do some good with my abilities. I don't want to become the killing machine that Cadmus planned for me to be. But… I was a failure then… AND I'M A FAILURE NOW! WHY CAN'T I DO SOMETHING RIGHT!?

"Athena…" it was a male's voice, and Athena immediately thought it was Austin. She turned around, her fist in the air, prepared to punch as hard as she could. She saw a face and threw her fist at it, but then stopped. Her fist was centimeters from hitting the face. Ramon's face.

"Ramon." She whispered, slowly lowering her fist. "Ramon, I'm sorry… I just… I…" Ramon knew how Athena looked when she was just about to break down.

Her eyes would get a glassy look to them, her body would start to shake, and her face was completely straight, trying to hide her inner turmoil. She was having a battle with herself in her mind, and there was no winning when she fought with herself.

Athena was staring at him. She wanted to tell him everything going through her mind, but she didn't want to have a full-out mental breakdown in front of him.

Ramon gently grasped Athena's hand, and gave it a light squeeze.

"Everything's going to be okay." Ramon stated with a small smile. "It'll all work out."

Athena felt exhausted, and her knees buckled and she found herself on the ground. Ramon was down with her. He didn't have the strength to pull her back up.

Athena was on her knees, her back curled over, and Ramon knew she couldn't hold back her tears. He hugged her as tight as he could, letting her face lean into his shoulder as she shook and sobbed.

She talked quickly as she sobbed, but it was muffled by Ramon's shirt.

However, he caught the general gist of what she was saying.

She was upset because she felt like she failed everyone since Austin knew who she was.

"Athena, you couldn't prevent this." Ramon whispered. "Austin's boss is obviously a man who has connections. There was nothing you could have done to prevent him from finding out who you were." Ramon whispered. "But everything will be fine, okay? Nobody thinks you're a failure. You'll get through this. Sure, this Austin guy is tough, but you'll get him. I know you will."

Athena calmed down. During times when she had break downs, she just needed a calm voice that would reassure her and bring her back to reality.

Athena looked up at Ramon, and he gently brushed aside her remaining tears with his thumb, and gave her a reassuring smile.

"C'mon. Let's get to your place and tell Bruce. It'll be alright." Ramon whispered soothingly, and Athena shakily stood to her feet.

Some days she wondered what would happen if she never met Ramon. The thought scared her and she clutched onto his hand tighter as they walked to Wayne Manor.

~*~*~*~*~*~Later~*~*~*~*~*~

Athena explained to Bruce what had happened in the Batcave, while Ramon waited in the living room with Alfred.

She didn't cry, having already done so in front of Ramon, and she also really hated showing any weak emotions in front of Bruce.

However, her "father" could see how distressed Athena was.

"Whoever his employer is must know everything about you. It may be someone who used to work at Cadmus and figured out who you were." Bruce explained.

"But why haven't they made a move yet? Austin just made sure I knew that he knew and that was it. He doesn't seem to want to use my identity for anything besides taunting me."

Bruce was quiet for a few moments.

"We will figure it out." Bruce stated, but Athena knew that this wasn't good. He didn't know what would happen, and when Batman didn't know something, that wasn't a good sign. "In the meantime, I want you to stay home. I will find out who Austin's employer is." Bruce stated firmly.

Athena slowly nodded.

"Thank you, Father." She said in a small voice. Bruce placed a hand on Athena's shoulder.

"Athena, I know this is unnerving for you, but you have to keep a level head and stay calm. Everything will be alright." Athena nodded wordlessly, and Bruce kissed the top of her head.

She was comforted by Bruce's words, but she still couldn't help but have an anxious feeling in her stomach. She didn't feel as safe as she usually did which was strange for her because while with any one of her parents she always felt safe.

Athena followed Bruce upstairs where Ramon and Alfred were chatting.

Ramon looked up at Athena, and gave her a warm smile.

Despite how nervous she still was, Athena returned the smile back to the boy.