Disclaimer: I do not own anything created by DC.


Jesse's POV

"No!" I shouted, and I swam after her. She must have been caught in a small current or something, because her body seemed to be floating pretty far.

Jesse, come back! someone's voice appeared in my head, but I ignored them. I caught up to her and grabbed her wrist, gently pulling her closer. Her body seemed lighter than it should have been. I pushed swirling black hair off her face and glanced up when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked around, but all I could see was dark ocean. Where was I?

Jesse. I heard the calm voice of the guy with the tattoos in my head. I can take her.

I nodded and gently passed the girl over to him. We need to get to the zeta tubes, now, he continued.

We'll meet you guys there, Green Girl said. The man with tattoos glanced at me.

Let's go. Try to keep up.

He started swimming, and I quickly followed his lead. Our surroundings sped past us in a blur, and I was almost completely zoned out until Tattoo Guy threw an arm in front of me.

Stop.

I blinked a few times and glanced around, noticing a big window with a thick gold rim that stared out into the darkness. Tattoo Guy pulled me closer by my elbow, his other arm cradling the girl.

We're ready to go, Green Girl said. I looked behind me to see that everyone was there. They all stepped closer, and a bright yellow light appeared suddenly. I flinched, and when I opened my eyes again, we were all in an empty ice cream truck. Tattoo Guy opened the door, and we all followed him to the beach, where a red... spaceship sat. And I thought this day couldn't get any stranger.

Night Wing's POV

"Take her," Aqualad said as he passed me Clara. We all clambered into the bioship, and Miss Martian set up a small medical bay in the back of the ship. I laid Clara down on the cot, pushing wet hair off her face. Her skin felt so cold.

I set to work, giving her CPR as Miss Martian telekinetically hooked her up to the IV. After about 25 chest compressions, she sucked in a breath and started choking. She sat up, turned, and vomited seawater onto the floor of the bioship. She panted on her hands and knees, running a hand through her hair.

"Clara, you good?" I said quietly, placing a hand on her back.

She whipped around and jumped to her feet, backing against the wall. She noticed her IV and yanked it out. "Who are you?"

"Clara..." I said, slowly approaching her. I put my hands on her shoulders. "Calm down. It's okay."

She glanced at my hands, trembling. Suddenly, she punched me across the face, and I stumbled back. "Don't touch me, bitch!"

"Hey!" Artemis stood up, drawing her bow. "Don't move an inch."

Clara gave her a crooked grin. "I'm not scared of you, blondie." She charged at Artemis, slapping her bow out of her hands and tackling her. They rolled on the ground, punching and shouting at each other.

"That is enough!" Miss Martian yelled, and Clara was thrown into the air.

"Put me down!" she barked, struggling in mid-air. Miss Martian dropped her, then shoved her against the wall, telekinetically pinning her hands behind her back.

"Clara, we're not trying to hurt you," I said. I stood in front of her, but put an arm's length of space between us. "Stop it."

"How do you know my name?" she seethed, trying to free her arms. She stopped for a moment and peered at my face. "Wait a minute... I recognize you. You're-" I quickly clapped my hand over her mouth and she grunted. After a few seconds of her eyes darting between mine, she gasped. I took my hand off her mouth.

"Fuck..." she whispered. "Fuck, guys, I'm sorry."

I nodded at Miss Martian and she released Clara, who immediately collapsed into my arms. "I'm so sorry..." she mumbled, trailing off into unconsciousness. I sighed and laid her back down on the hospital cot, tucking blankets in around her.

I sat back in my chair, noticing how the entire Team was shivering except for Aqualad and Jesse. Jesse has powers, I said quietly into the mind-link. The others nodded discreetly.

What do you think her limits are? Superboy said.

We all saw how she dropped the rebreather and didn't even notice, right? Beast Boy said.

Aqualad sighed. When I was swimming with her, I purposefully went much faster than a normal human should be able to withstand. She kept up almost too easily.

So... she can breathe underwater, swim fast, and not get cold? Zatanna listed.

I shrugged lightly. I guess so.

What next? asked Kid Flash.

I guess... we could keep her at the Cave? Miss Martian started. Until we know the full extent of her new abilities.

Clara's POV

"We're here!" Miss Martian shouted. I startled awake, sitting straight up. Dick tapped my shoulder and held out a hand to help me up. I took a shaky breath and let him lead me out of the ship. "I'll see you later," I mumbled, and I staggered over to my room, ready to collapse into my bed and sleep.

I pulled on dry clothes and stumbled into the warm sheets. Behind my closed eyelids, all I could see were the nightmares.

Night Wing's POV

I felt someone's presence in the room before I saw them. Slowly, I slid my hand under my pillow to the birdirang hidden there. Twisting around, I poised it to throw it at the intruder.

It was Clara. She was standing in an oversized t-shirt, her cheeks were tear-stained and her eyes were red. I put the birdirang back.

"Do you... want-''

"Yes." She quietly padded over and hopped on the bed. I tried not to stare at her bare long legs as she slid in under the covers beside me.

She laid on her side to face me. I brushed a lock of dark hair behind her ear.

"Are you... are you okay?" Her eyes clouded over. A tear slipped down her cheek, and she hastily wiped it away. Oh god. What had I gotten myself into?

Clara's POV

I stood in the doorway, waiting for him to notice me. And when he turned around with a birdirang in hand, I tried to ignore the fact that he slept with a weapon under his pillow. Just like I tried to ignore the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt.

It was all I could do not to stare at the sculpted muscle of his chest, his arms, his abs. To stare anywhere but at him.

His calloused fingers gently brushed my cheek, finally without the gloves. I didn't try to stop the tears, but when they came I wiped them away on instinct. Showing emotion was a weakness, I reminded myself, turning away. But Dick wasn't my enemy. Why did I have to hide?

Maybe this wasn't the best idea. I rolled over and started to get up.

"No," he said roughly. He grabbed my shoulder, rolled me back around and pulled me against his chest. "Don't do this to me," he said quietly. "Don't shut me out."

I took deep breaths, inhaling his scent as tears rolled silently down my cheeks. "What's wrong?" he asked again, gently running his hands through my hair. "Please. Talk to me."

"I killed you," I whispered hoarsely. "I killed you, and destroyed the world, and..." The words spilled out.

All I wanted was to sleep. Despite my exhaustion, hours of tossing and turning in bed usually waited for me. And when I did end up falling asleep, all that waited for me there were nightmares. They were so real... Sometimes I wondered if they were glimpses of the future.

Staring into Dick's lifeless blue eyes, at the mouth that would never grin again as I cradled his wounded corpse. Even after I woke, I could still feel his too-light, broken body in my arms.

He pulled me against him harder, tightening his strong arms around me. "It's okay," he whispered. "I'm here." He tangled his fingers in my hair and held me like that for a while. I didn't know how long it was, but I eventually fell asleep in his warm embrace, and he chased the nightmares away.


I awoke, clutched tightly between Dick's arms. I laid there and closed my eyes, feeling each breath of his that ballooned his muscular chest up and down. After a few minutes, his fingers began to gently brush through my hair, more or less smoothing out all of the knots that had accumulated overnight.

"Good morning." His voice rumbled in his chest. I loosed a breath, rolling onto my side to face him. Immediately, I missed the warmth of being so close to him.

"Yeah," I responded. We laid in silence.

"Can we... talk about yesterday...?" he asked softly.

I blinked. "Why?" I was so exhausted, I could barely remember half of what happened. He rolled onto his back and laced his fingers together over his chest. I noticed the bandages wrapped around his bad hand and made a mental note to heal it after he was done talking.

"Don't you remember?" He exhaled and rubbed his eyes. "I killed someone."

I laughed under my breath. If only he knew the things I had done. I gently touched his shoulder. "And you think that's so bad?" He rolled back over, dragging a hand through his hair. It was nice to see him without the mask for once.

"I... I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

A lump formed in my throat. Sorry for what? That man deserved to die. If Dick hadn't killed him, I would've. Just as quickly.

"I suppose it's not like you," I said quietly. I glanced back at him.

He looked so sad. I wanted to touch his face, to tell him that I didn't care how many people he had killed, but my hands stayed stiff by my sides, and my lips stayed closed.

"I... I felt responsible for what he did," he continued. "To you. To everyone. I feel..." He sucked in a shaky breath. "I feel like I'm not able to keep you safe, to... protect you." He looked away.

"I don't need protection," I said roughly. I didn't mean for the words to sound so harsh. Maybe I was jealous that I couldn't come clean about my murders. He turned back to me.

"I feel like I don't deserve you," he whispered.

Everything went silent, and all I could hear was my heartbeat. My breath quickened as I stared into his cool blue eyes. I couldn't stop myself from dipping my head forward and pressing my lips to his.

He seemed surprised for a moment, but then he put his hand on my back, kissing me in return. He was so soft, so gentle. But, just as soon as it started, I ended it by pulling away. I couldn't meet his eyes, and my face was all hot.

"You deserve better, idiot," I mumbled. He put a finger under my chin, tilting my face to look at him. He ran his thumb over my bottom lip, smiling softly, and my breath caught in my throat.

I pulled away from him, but instantly felt bad when his smile faded. "Give me your hand," I said, trying to change the subject.

He sighed. "Fine." We both sat up and I took his hand, slowly unwrapping the bandages. I gently ran my thumbs over fingers, then exhaled and pushed on the center of his palm. I felt his hand return to normal, and I pitched forward, falling against his collarbone.

"Clara?" he asked, resting a hand on my back.

"I'm fine, just... give me a second," I whispered against his skin. I took a few deep breaths before I felt strong enough to push away from him and sit back up.

We sat in silence for a couple moments. "I should go," I said finally. "Before we get in trouble or something."

He grinned and moved a piece of hair behind my ear as I untangled my legs from the sheets and left the bed. "I'll see you later," he called after me as I exited the room.