Clara's POV

We sat silently in the bioship as it cruised smoothly to our destination. It was a vessel that I'd begun to like, despite never being prepared when the seatbelt wrapped around me. I glanced at Miss Martian, who was intensely focused as she commanded the ship. She was probably my least favourite female member of the Team. She was too soft, too kind, unlike Zatanna and Artemis. Not only that, but I could never trust her if she had the ability to barge into my mind at will.

"I think she was taken captive into the water," Dick started quietly. "Or at least, we should start looking there."

"What makes you say that?" Artemis asked with a raised eyebrow, crossing her arms.

Dick shrugged. "I just have a feeling."

"So... Black Manta?" Zatanna said nonchalantly. Dick elbowed her as Aqualad frowned.

"Oh! I didn't mean-''

"That is fine. The logical bet would be upon my father," Aqualad said calmly.

"Black Manta is your father?!" I blurted. Everyone turned to stare at me, and I wrapped my arms around myself and shrunk back. I was just curious.

"Yes," Aqualad replied evenly.

Soon, we arrived at the beach and flew over it. Families were sitting and laughing together, swimming in the salty water, and young children collected seashells and chased crabs across the sand. They had no idea how lucky they were.

A large hole appeared in the floor of the bioship, and my seatbelt unbuckled. The chairs melted back into the floor as everybody stood up. They began jumping out, so I followed their lead. Once we were all out, Miss Martian landed the camouflaged ship on a deserted corner of the beach.

Mind link established. Miss Martian's voice appeared in my head. "Aah!" I screamed, clutching my temples. Get it out, get it out. I gritted my teeth. I knew I couldn't trust her.

You... what? Miss Martian said again. Shit! They could all hear me?

Yeah, we can. Artemis's voice was cold.

Clara. A comforting voice this time. Dick placed his hand on my shoulder. It's going to be okay. I looked up and saw him. He offered a hand to help me up. I didn't know that I fell.

Sorry.

It's alright. He gently brushed my shoulder, and I tried not to flinch away. We should've warned you.

Is everybody ready? Aqualad said with a hint of impatience.

Yep.

Sounds great.

Let's go.

We quickly set up our scuba gear, which was surprisingly light. The water was cold, despite the sun's warm rays. We swam deep, deeper than I'd ever been before. The corals were bright and fluorescent, matching the fish that swam around them. But as we went even deeper, it became too dark to see anything in great detail.

I heard, rather than saw, the bullet zip past my ear. And I also heard the bullet heading straight for Night Wing's chest. I quickly jumped into him, pushing him out of the way just in time. You okay? My hair swirled around the two of us and I pushed myself off him.

Yeah. A volley of bullets followed the first two, and we took refuge behind a rock. What is that?

My father's warriors. Aqualad's voice was grave, full of twisted anger and hate.

Before we could do anything, a larger bullet, more like a cannonball, shot at the rock we were hiding behind and blasting it to smithereens. Let me end this. I sent out a blast of power in the general direction of the warriors, concentrating it on that specific spot so I didn't knock out the Team who stood behind me.

The warriors fell over, hopefully just unconscious. Their weapons slowly floated to the ground as my vision became blurry, and I passed out.

Night Wing's POV

I reached my arms out and pulled Clara closer as she slowly floated back to the ground. I quickly took her pulse and checked her breathing. Alive. I wished she would just stop using her power. It's almost as if she was trained to faint every single time she used even a tiny bit of her power. But maybe it was better that way. Maybe she would be too powerful if she could stay conscious and attack again.

We continued as if nothing happened. Artemis pointed to the ship hovering behind the guards. Now, we just have to get in. It was darker than the night, blending in with the inky sea behind it.

Aqualad studied it very carefully, and I could only catch snippets of the thoughts that ran through his mind.

I have an idea, he said finally.


When something is typed in italics that usually means that they're talking through the mind-link.