Clara's POV
I woke up on a cold bench in the nurse's office. "Ugh, she's awake," called Barbara. I opened my eyes and blinked a few times, then glared at her. "Are you ever gonna stop being a bitch?" she asked, glaring back.
"Are you ever gonna stop being a stuck-up goody-two-shoes?" I bit back. Tim snorted. She was about to respond when Dick entered the room. "Oh my god, you're okay," he said, and he crushed me with a hug. "You aren't supposed to use your powers in public, Clara! What were you thinking?" he whispered in my ear.
I pulled away from him and frowned. "I couldn't let Sportsmaster hurt you again," I said quietly. His eyes softened. "You know, it's so damn hard to be mad at you when you're looking at me like that." I grinned at him, and he tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear.
"What happened to Sportsmaster?" I asked quietly. "He ran after he saw your eyes turn yellow," he responded. I scoffed. Coward.
The nurse entered the room. "Oh, thank heavens you're alright! You have no idea what kind of lawsuit we'd be facing if you ended up in the hospital," she said bitterly. She shooed Barbara and Tim to their classes and gave us a small check-up. Her eyes darted worriedly over my broken ribs, but she stayed silent. After deeming us unable to attend school for the rest of the day, she sent us home with a note.
We headed back to the Cave.
For some reason, Black Canary was waiting for us there. She briefly read our notes, then nodded slowly. She caught our skeptical eyes and said, "I took the day off today so I could get a chance to speak with you."
"Oh."
She led Dick into the counselling room, and I went to go train. I had to adapt to fighting with injuries because I would be stuck like this for a while. Unless Zatanna did that spell thing again.
When I got to the private training room, I dropped my crutches and limped over to the punching bag. Curious, I leaned a little bit of weight on my injured leg and hissed in pain. Not healed yet. I took a few punches at the bag, trying to lean as far as possible onto my good leg.
It only took a few minutes for me to tear the stitches in my arm. I gritted my teeth and tried to cover the wound with my hand, but blood seeped out aground my fingers and spilled onto the floor.
I heard footsteps coming from the hall, and Black Canary and Dick rounded the corner to see me, kneeling and covered in blood. "Dear God," muttered Black Canary.
"Clara! What are you doing?" He ran to me and crouched beside me. "You aren't supposed to be training right now!"
"Come on. Let's get you to the medical bay," sighed Black Canary. She cleaned the wound, then stitched me back up and brought me to the counselling room. I sat down on one of the green chairs across from her and crossed my legs.
"Look, I don't need the shrink wrap. I got in, rescued Dick, then left. I barely saw or did anything," I said.
She sighed. "You know, that's exactly what Artemis said back when the training exercise went wrong."
I crossed my arms and scowled. "Clara, I'm not here to talk about the mission," she said.
I glared. "You're here to talk about how the Team doesn't trust me." She averted her gaze. "Not even Batman could dig up your past. What are you hiding?"
"Nothing," I lied smoothly. The Team didn't have to know about my mom. She gave me a look that I couldn't decipher. "Besides," I said, changing the subject, "I'm not the only one the Team doesn't trust." I settled into my chair and raised my brows at her. She narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"You're working with Black Manta," I accused, standing up and pointing a finger at her. My chair skidded backwards. She shot up out of her chair and stared at me in disbelief. "I have no idea what you're talking about!"
"Ask Night Wing!" I said. "Ask anyone on the Team, and they will tell you the same." She sat back down in her chair and put her face in her hands. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"What?"
"I have no memory of this. M'gann can search my mind if you don't believe me. But it definitely could have happened."
I furrowed my brow. "Did the Light do something to you?"
She sighed, then got out of her chair. "I have to report to Batman," she said soberly. "You and Night Wing have the rest of the day to yourselves."
Once she left, Dick pulled me into a tight embrace. He brushed his fingers through my hair. We stood like that for a long time.
"You know, it's Wally's birthday tomorrow," he murmured against my hair.
"Really?"
"Yeah. He wanted to have a small party, with just the Team. Including you. Are you up to it?"
I shook my head. "Wally doesn't want me there. He can't even look at me, now that he knows what I am." Dick sighed, then took my chin in his hands and kissed me slowly. He pulled back by barely an inch. "Please, Clara. I need you there." His voice shook. "Plus, he wants to have a Star Wars movie marathon."
I grinned at him. "You know I'm a sucker for Star Wars." I kissed him again, then fell back into his arms. "I love you, Clara," he whispered.
"Love you too."
The next day was a day like any other; there were no assassination attempts or public uses of my powers. School was cancelled due to the amount of snow for me and Dick and Artemis, as well as Wally and M'gann and Conner. We decided to have his party during the day.
M'gann, Artemis and I got to work with baking both of Wally's cakes, and Conner, Dick and Zatanna went to put up decorations in the common room with the large television. Garfield watched the zeta tubes to see when Wally would show up.
M'gann did most of the mixing work, shouting for Artemis and me to grab her the ingredients that she needed. After the cakes were in the oven and the kitchen was clean, we went to the common room to help the others with decorations, but they were already done. Zatanna was muttering a final spell to string up some streamers.
We took a few minutes to admire our work when the timer for the cakes dinged. "I'll get it," I said, and I jogged back towards the kitchen. I opened the oven door and reached in, grabbing one of the pans. The skin on my hand sizzled, but I was used to it.
"What are you doing?!" screamed M'gann, who had come along as well. I placed the pan on top of the stove. "I was just taking the cakes out-"
Dick sprinted into the room. "Clara are you okay…" His eyes darted around the room, taking in the scene before him. "What happened?"
M'gann shot me a look. "You're supposed to take it out with the oven mitts on!" she yelled, pulling out some black silicone mittens. Dick came up to me and took my hand, examining the angry red burn. "Clara, what were you thinking?"
I glared at M'gann. "I've never heard of oven mitts before," I snapped. "This is the way I did it when I was with the Shadows." M'gann narrowed her eyes. "If you haven't noticed, you're not with the Shadows anymore."
I was about to snap her neck when Dick noticed the murderous glint in my eyes and pulled me into his arms. "Stop yelling at her," he ordered M'gann. "She didn't know."
Garfield dashed into the room. "He's coming!" he shouted, then stopped and stared at the disaster in the kitchen. "What happened?"
"Nothing you have to worry about," said Dick.
"Noted."
Dick glanced back at me. "We can wrap your hand later," he said quietly. I nodded, and followed him back into the common room, brushing past M'gann a bit more aggressively than necessary.
We were all seated on the sofa when Wally walked into the room. "Happy birthday Wally!" we shouted simultaneously. Artemis walked over and placed a party hat on his head before kissing him. "Happy birthday, babe," she said.
"Aw guys, you didn't have to do all this for me," he said, sitting on Dick's lap. "Get off me!" he said, and he shoved Wally onto the floor. They both laughed.
"So, did you happen to maybe perhaps make a birthday cake?" he asked, rubbing his hands together. M'gann flew out of the kitchen, balancing one cake in each hand. Wally clapped and grinned.
The group dispersed; Artemis sat with Wally on one of the sofa chairs, feeding him pieces of cake, Garfield started a food fight with M'gann, and Zatanna leaned against a pillar, talking and eating with Conner. Dick sat beside me on the sofa.
"I'm glad you came," he murmured. I sighed and leaned into him. "The cake is pretty good." He smiled and pushed some of my hair behind my ear. "I'm sorry about the… cake pan incident," I said quietly. "Hey, it's okay," he said, placing a hand on the side of my face. "You just shook M'gann up a little, that's all. It's not your fault." I smiled gratefully.
"Hey, where's Kaldur?" Wally asked suddenly. Dick sighed. "He's training Jessie on the beach," he said. I wondered how they were doing. Jessie didn't seem like the type who would learn quickly.
Jessie's POV
I slowly drew my water-bearers and pulled some water out of the lapping waves in front of us. I took a deep breath and a second to focus before trying again, for what seemed like the millionth time, to form hard water. I pictured myself, holding two water swords, but the water just wouldn't listen. It flowed out of the bearers slowly, and I groaned.
"I believe that is enough for today," Aqualad said quietly.
"No," I said stubbornly. "I need to learn this. I need to be a part of the Team."
Aqualad stifled a scoff. "I simply do not think that you are ready."
"Please?" I held my breath, waiting for his answer. He sighed, then caved. "Fine," he said. He walked behind me and gently grasped my hands, which were tightly gripping the water-bearers. He pressed his body into mine.
"Close your eyes," he said. I did. "Feel the water. Feel the way it flows. Feel the ink of your tattoos." The only thing that I could feel was his breath against my neck. "Your heart rate has increased," he said with surprise. I gulped.
He continued. "Now feel your anger," he said.
That was enough to snap me out of my fantasies. I thought about Black Manta. My blood boiled. Aqualad's grip tightened around my hands. "Channel it," he whispered into my ear. I thought about slicing Black Manta's head off with swords made of water. An anguished scream escaped my lips and twin swords shot out of the water-bearers. My hands shook a little, and they turned back into regular water. Aqualad stepped away from me, a smile on his face.
"Good job," he said. "Now, I must go. I have yet to wish Wally a happy birthday." He turned to leave. "Aqualad?" I called after him. He glanced over his shoulder at me. "Please, call me Kaldur."
"I'm sorry I yelled at you when you told me about my powers."
"It is alright," he said quietly, and he walked away, his bare feet leaving prints in the sand. I put the water-bearers away and followed him back into the Cave.
