Once J'onn had entered Adriana's mind again, it hadn't taken the Martian long to locate the dream that she had a few days before and enter it and once he was in the long, light hallway J'onn took a moment to study his surroundings.
And that moment was all he got before the woman from Adriana's dream appeared in front of him. "I know who you are." The woman said coldly as she looked J'onn over. "You do not belong here."
"I mean you no harm." J'onn responded as he stepped forward. "I only wish to better understand what my colleague is going through and if you answer my questions we won't have any trouble." J'onn added and the woman paused.
"You think you are in a position to threaten me?" The woman scoffed as she folded her arms. "You are in my domain Martian but very well, ask your questions and I will answer them to the best of my abilities."
"Who are you?" J'onn asked and the woman refused to answer. "You said that you'd answer my questions."
"I did, didn't I?" The woman smirked and J'onn's frown deepened. "If I cannot tell my charge my real name, what makes you think I'll tell you?"
"As you wish, I will move on." J'onn responded with a respectful nod. "Are you the source of Adriana's powers?"
"I am the source of her powers, yes, and my associate is the source of her older sister's powers." The woman nodded with an unreadable expression on her face. "The twins were earmarked for greatness from the time of their conception Martian, we are merely here to ensure that they go down the right path."
"Isn't that their decision to make and not yours?" J'onn pointed out and woman fell silent again. "If you won't answer that question then answer this, what is your connection to Adriana and her sister Claudia?" J'onn asked and the woman turned to leave without a single word. "I am not finished with you."
"I'm afraid that you are mistaken Martian." The woman responded as she glanced over at J'onn. "We are done, and I suggest you leave before I force you out."
"Very well." J'onn nodded but once the woman's gaze was off him, he started to read her mind managing to gain some vital information through that method.
Until the woman turned to him with a furious expression on her face. "You were warned J'onn Jonzz." The woman said as she pulled her fist back. "You meddle in affairs that are not your concern."
"If you are affecting Adriana's performance then it is my concern…" J'onn never finished his retort as the woman blasted him with an energy blast sending him flying out of the dream world.
*back in the real world*
The two Superheroes' eyes snapped open simultaneously as J'onn was ejected from the dream and they cried out in pain as they messaged their foreheads, it was Adriana that spoke up first as she felt her head with a groan.
"J'onn, what the hell did you do in there?!" Adriana asked with a pained expression on her face. "I feel like my mind just got whiplash!"
"My apologies if I caused you any pain Adriana." J'onn apologized as he leaned back. "But the woman from your dreams was uncooperative, I had to resort to reading her mind and she reacted violently."
"Are you sure your talking about the same woman?" Adriana asked with a groan as she started to regain her composure. "Because when she visited me in my dream, she was motherly towards me."
"Perhaps I should try." Professor X offered as he moved his wheelchair forward. "I do have more experience with dreams than J'onn does."
"I've had enough of men probing my mind for one day professor." Adriana commented before she eased herself out of the chair. "And if he wasn't able to get anything useful then I think I should head home."
"I have to agree with Adriana, that woman might be hostile to any further attempts and I don't want to risk further injury to her." J'onn responded with a respectful nod to the professor before turning to Adriana. "And quite the contrary, I was able to gain some valuable information before she ejected me, you might want to stay around a bit longer."
"Are you sure?" Adriana asked and J'onn nodded before she sat back down. "I'm just saying, I haven't had breakfast yet because of Claudia's early shift and my inability to cook because of my leg."
"I will get you something from the cafeteria once we are done, but for now I request that you remain here." J'onn assured the eighteen year old who nodded after thinking for a moment before J'onn put a hand to his comm. "Can El Sombre please report to my therapy room as soon as possible."
"Claudia?!" Adriana asked with a confused look on her face. "What does she have to do with this? Beyond being my older sister at least?"
"All will be revealed when she gets here." J'onn nodded and Adriana frowned before leaning back in her chair.
*a few minutes later*
As it happened, Claudia was eating her breakfast at that point but when she got the call from J'onn she quickly finished her meal and raced off towards the therapy room, when she arrived there however, she was not in a good mood.
"J'onn, you realize that I would've blamed you if I choked on my food just now, right?" Claudia asked with an annoyed look on her face as she entered the therapy room when she saw Adriana and Professor X in the room as well the look on Claudia's face quickly turned to one of confusion. "What's this about?"
"Claudia, I'd advise you to sit down for this." J'onn stated simply and Claudia nodded before grabbing a chair, planting it next to her sister and sitting down, once they had gone over everything that had happened up to that point Claudia's frown on her face had deepened.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to go probing around my sister's brain so soon after a concussion?" Claudia pointed out as she glanced at Adriana. "Okay, it's almost been a week since the ambush by this point but still."
"I took the necessary precautions, if you want Adriana to do a concussion test then by all means but listen to what I have to say first." J'onn responded with a nod before turning to Adriana. "Adriana, do you love your parents?"
"What kind of question is that?" Adriana asked with a confused look on her face not noticing the resigned look on her older sister's face. "They've provided for me and my sister, gave us the best upbringing they could, hell they brought us into…"
"That's not true Addy." Claudia interrupted her and Adriana swiftly turned her head towards Claudia. "That last part is not true at least, mom and dad aren't our birth parents Adriana."
"What?!" Adriana asked as her jaw dropped to the floor. "How do you know this exactly?!"
"Because they came clean to me this past January, they would've told you as well, but they were worried about how you'd take the news with your anxiety issues and all." Claudia explained and Adriana just sat there with her jaw agape. "I know you've got a few questions going through your head right now so go ahead."
"How is that possible?" Adriana asked as she struggled to get over the shock. "You've seen the pictures of mom when she was our age, we're the splitting image of her!"
"She's also infertile, they had the medical records to prove it." Claudia explained and Adriana sank back into the chair as it set in. "Guessing your next question is, why do we look so much like mom?"
"Don't exactly have to be a fucking mind-reader to figure that out, no offense J'onn, same to you professor." Adriana responded as she glanced over at her older sister. "Well?"
"That was one thing that they were never able to figure out, sorry if the answer disappointed you." Claudia apologized and Adriana nodded reluctantly. "According to them, we were literally dropped off at their doorstep, when no one else in the neighborhood staked a claim for being our parents they adopted us."
"I think I know why no one claimed you two as their daughters, and it might make things more complicated." J'onn chimed in and the twins turned to him. "When I probed into the woman's mind, I was able to get some information about your connection to the source of your powers, it seems that she is your maternal mother."
"So, in other words, my real mother is currently inhabiting my dreams?" Adriana asked with a dumbfounded look on her face and J'onn nodded. "But she's blonde and Caucasian, we have black hair, albeit with white streaks in mine, and are Mexican, why do we look less like her and more like our step-parents? And why do I feel like the main character in a bad M. Night Shyamalan movie?" Adriana asked as she ran a hand down her face.
"I do not know, she ejected me before I could learn that information." J'onn responded as he shook his head. "It seems she carefully picked your step-parents, in that she wanted to make sure you had the best upbringing possible."
"As for your second question, you mean any movie he's made after Unbreakable, right?" Claudia asked clearly trying to cheer up Adriana, but she couldn't tell if it had any effect. "Any other questions you can think off sis?"
"Yeah, just one." Adriana nodded as she turned to her sister. "Why were they so secretive in the first place? And they had to have suspected that someone would come looking for us claiming to be our real parents, right?" Adriana added before face-palming. "Yes, I know that was two questions but that second one popped into my head as I was asking the first one."
"I asked that when mom and dad came clean to me." Claudia nodded as she shifted her weight. "I think it would be better if you asked them that yourself sis but dad said that they were just happy to have two healthy, beautiful daughters, as for that second question, if someone did try that they never said and from what they told me, they would've had a hard time proving it considering that there's no record of our birth in Mexico."
"Seriously?!" Adriana asked as she stared at her sister in shock. "Our parents never thought to look? Babies just don't drop from the sky!" Adriana added before thinking of something. "Superman doesn't count, he came to Earth in a spaceship when he was a baby!"
"I'll be sure to tell Superman you said that." J'onn said teasingly and Adriana winced.
"Not what I meant!" Adriana gulped before turning to her sister. "Well?"
"When we were dropped off our parents did a thorough search of the birth certificates for any record that matched our description, whilst we were certainly far from the only ones born that day, there was no record of twin baby sisters being born." Claudia explained with a nod and Adriana let out a deep breath. "I checked the records for myself Adriana, it checks out."
"I came here looking for answers, now I'm leaving with a lot more questions than I came in with." Adriana muttered under her breath before she stood up. "J'onn, you mind if we cut this session short? I have a lot to think about."
"By all means but it might be a good idea to take up Claudia on her suggestion." J'onn nodded as he leaned forward. "Getting the answers from your parents directly might give you some closure."
"Yeah, I think I will." Adriana nodded before she limped out of the therapy room, as Claudia went to go after her J'onn cleared his throat.
"Claudia, may I request that you start having sessions with me?" J'onn asked and Claudia gave him a confused look. "Whilst you don't have your sister's anxiety issues, as soon as Adriana is healthy your training will resume in an attempt to help you reach your full potential, I need to have an idea of your true potential if we're going to do that."
"Yeah, off course." Claudia nodded as she made her way to the door. "And by "your" I take it you mean me and Addy?"
"Off course, this is just as much about her as it is about you." J'onn nodded and Claudia left the room without another word, it didn't take her long to locate Adriana either thanks to her limp.
"Adriana, please wait." Claudia called after her and Adriana glanced up at her older sister. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but I was waiting for the right time?"
"And you chose to wait until after I had my mind probed by J'onn?" Adriana asked with an annoyed look on her face. "I'm going straight home anyway, like I said, I have a lot to think about."
"You're not mad at me for keeping such a big secret from you, right?" Claudia asked and Adriana shook her head.
"I'm frustrated and confused but otherwise? I'm not mad at you." Adriana responded before folding her arms. "What time do you get off shift again?"
"5:00pm, why?" Claudia asked and Adriana let out a deep breath. "You want me to come with you when you ask mom and dad?"
"I have two options, either ask Green Arrow that I get teleported into my parents' home and potentially say something horrible that I can never take back or go home and take out my frustration on the monsters in God of War first." Adriana nodded in response after thinking for a bit. "And I'm not about to risk ruining my relationship with mom and dad, if I can still call them that."
"Look, I know you've got about a million things going through your head Addy, trust me, I was the same way when they came clean to me." Claudia nodded in understanding as she folded her arms. "But at the end of the day, they still provided for us and gave us the best upbringing they could, nothing's going to change that, and I had no problem calling them mom and dad afterwards, even if it felt weird at first." Claudia added before hearing her sister's stomach rumble. "At least join me in the cafeteria for a late breakfast first."
"That sounds like a plan to me." Adriana nodded before the twin sisters walked off.
*later*
Adriana had returned home by now and aside from the occasional bathroom/snack break she hadn't emerged from her room since returning from the Watchtower, as a result, she completely missed a card being dropped through the apartment's letter box and Claudia returning home from shift.
"Too Adriana, from: The Lo Divino fan club?" Claudia thought as she picked up the card, she could hear her younger sister's voice coming from Adriana's room and she shook her head. "Well, at least that explains why she never picked up the card, I'd better go see if she wants dinner before we go over to our parents' place." Claudia thought before she entered her sister's room without knocking first.
Sure, enough Adriana was playing God of War on the PS4 just as she said, but it was the language she was using that caused Claudia to raise an eyebrow. "¡Maldita mierda! Había ganado esa maldita batalla, ¡¿cómo diablos mi salud se puso tan jodidamente baja?!" Adriana yelled out in Spanish as Kratos died in game.
"¡Espero que no estés pensando en saludar a mamá con esa boca!" Claudia's clearly amused voice responded in Spanish and Adriana winced before spinning around in her chair. "She might actually wash your mouth out with soap if she heard you talking like that!"
"You ever heard of knocking?!" Adriana asked as she shot her sister an annoyed glare. "How was the rest of your shift?"
"Uneventful, well as uneventful as a Superhero's life can be." Claudia shrugged her shoulders in response and Adriana nodded. "Before I left, Travis and Pierre had left for England on assignment with Fire and Ice and I'm disappointed that I'll never get to see the looks on their faces when they see Fire's transformed state for the first time."
"You did ask Green Arrow to record the audio, right?" Adriana asked with a slight grin as her mood started to change for the better. "Lucky bastards, Fire and Ice are two other Superheroes who I've noticed how hot they are since I discovered that I'm a lesbian, literally in Fire's case." Adriana thought before shaking her head. "Saying that, we'll probably hear Pierre's jaw clanging against the bottom of his helmet when she does transform from across the Atlantic Ocean."
"And I wouldn't be able to blame him." Claudia admitted getting a surprised luck from Adriana. "Hey, I may be straight but even I have to admit that Fire's a knockout, in and out of her transformed state."
"Well, yeah, duh, she's the only woman that Yuri has caught Ehsan checking out since they've started dating." Adriana joked and Claudia chuckled before Adriana turned off the PS4. "And from what I've heard from Green Arrow, she's used to getting that kind of attention from both sexes, anyway what's the plan for dinner?"
"That's why I came in here, well that and to drop this off and check on you." Claudia responded before tossing the card onto Adriana's bed and Adriana grabbed it quickly. "Since when did you have a fan-club?"
"Since today apparently." Adriana shrugged her shoulders in response before looking at the envelope. "That's Rachel's handwriting, I saw it when I was over at her apartment meeting her friends in person and having sex with two of them." Adriana thought before putting it aside. "I'll open it in a bit, what's the plan for dinner?"
"That's what I wanted to ask you, far as I know we have two options." Claudia said as she started listing off the options on her hand. "Option A: we eat here and then head over, Option B: we go straight to our parents' house, well step-parents but you get what I mean, and eat something when we get back, depending on how long we spend there I might have to order a takeout for when we return, don't worry I'd cover it."
"Good, money's been kinda scarce for me since I got put on suspension, and I never got a chance to start that waitress job thanks to my leg." Adriana nodded as she glanced towards her bad leg. "Yeah, I know that's my own fault, but I know you almost did the same to Electro after the ambush."
"J'onn told you?" Claudia asked and Adriana nodded. "I'm not proud of that, much like you're not proud of what you almost did to Raymundo, but what saved me from suspension was the question of what the other League members would do in my shoes." Claudia added and Adriana nodded. "Let me guess, J'onn told you that too?"
"Yeah, it helped soften the blow that you got away with something that got me suspended." Adriana nodded with a sigh before shifting her weight. "I'm guessing Option C is mom cooking a meal for us?"
"That last one is the least likely I'll admit." Claudia nodded as she ran a hand through her hair. "Due to how last minute it is and all, think the only way it could happen is if we helped mom in the kitchen and I'm not going to risk that with your bad leg?"
"Good news is, it is on the mend, doc says that I should be back to normal by the end of the week." Adriana nodded before sighing. "But that's still a few more days of me limping around, I think I'll go with option a."
"I had a feeling you would, just give me a sec to see what's in the fridge." Claudia nodded before she left her sister's room to check the fridge, once Adriana was alone, she grabbed the envelope and opened it.
"Yep, just as I thought." Adriana thought as she looked at the card, it was a custom card featuring photos of Rachel and her friends and whilst none of the photos were sexually explicit, the poses the women were taking and the clothes (or rather, what little clothes) they were wearing would still be enough to send tongues wagging among Adriana's male colleagues. "This is going straight in the drawer until I come out of the closet, if Claudia sees this then it'd raise way too many questions." Adriana thought before opening the card and seeing that it was signed by Rachel and her friends with Rachel's name in the centre drawn on by what looked like lipstick. "If that's not Rachel's lipstick I'll be surprised, then again I've washed enough of that stuff of my neck since I started sleeping with her that I should know it inside and out."
"Addy, we have two options." Claudia's voice rang out from behind the door and Adriana looked up. "Well, okay, you have two options since you don't like vegan food, steak or pork chop."
"What cut of steak is there?" Adriana called back knowing that Claudia had taken over shopping duties due to her suspension and injury. "To Lo Divino, get well soon, from: Lo Divno fan club, I'll have to find some way to thank them when I do come out of the closet."
"Ribeye, Fillet, or Flank Steak." Claudia called back and Adriana nodded.
"Rib-Eye, you remember how I like it cooked, right?" Adriana called back before popping the card into her desk drawer and looking at her leg. "How long do I have to wait until my leg's healed up? I can only play God of War for so long and I'm dying to go out as Lo Divino again."
"Most would find that preferable to dying." The woman's voice rang out and she stopped in her tracks. "Your leg will heal soon, until then…."
"Hold it!" Adriana interrupted the woman and she stopped in her tracks. "Why did you attack J'onn earlier whilst he was probing my mind?"
"I did that to protect you, my child." The woman responded and Adriana's frown deepened. "There are those who seek to harm you."
"Yeah, they're called Supervillains and unless they've been taken in for questioning, they don't tend to hang out on the Watchtower!" Adriana responded as she folded her arms. "J'onn's an ally and he was trying to help me! I can't have you attacking my allies!"
"And I can't have someone probing my mind!" The woman responded and Adriana frowned.
"Okay, answer this and he won't have to probe my mind again, are you my true mother or not!?" Adriana demanded and the woman refused to answer. "I already have the confirmation from J'onn but I'd rather here it from your own mouth!" Adriana added but once again there was no answer.
"Adriana, did you hear me?" Claudia's voice rang out breaking her train of thought. "You like your rib-eyes medium rare and well-seasoned right?"
"Right and cooked in the cast-iron pan." Adriana nodded and once Claudia had walked off Adriana frowned. "Still have no answer for me?"
"You will learn the truth in due time." The woman responded simply, and Adriana let out an annoyed sigh.
"That's all I'm getting out of you, isn't it?" Adriana asked the woman and when she got no response Adriana left her room. "My leg may be bad, but I can still chop up some veg, besides Claudia's a much better conversationalist than whoever this woman is." Adriana thought before limping out of her room.
*an hour later*
Whilst her help was limited thanks to her leg Adriana still helped her sister where she could and in the end the twins had cooked up a good meal and the plates were being washed up by Claudia.
"So, Addy." Claudia commented as she finished washing up the plates and moved onto the pans and chopping boards. "Have you given any thought about how you are going to open up the conversation with our parents?"
"I've been going back and forth on it since I got back from the Watchtower." Adriana admitted as she brushed some hair over her shoulder. "Some ideas were tossed aside for either being too vague or too confrontational, and I'm just trying to find a nice middle ground."
"Not too vague and not too confrontational?" Claudia asked and Adriana nodded in response. "If you want me to give you a lead in line, I will if you think that'll make it easier."
"It might, or it might just fuck things up for me even more." Adriana sighed as she leaned on the table. "I mean, this is the first face to face meeting we've had with them since they were discovered and I have to tell them that I know that they aren't my birth parents, I'm worried that whatever I'll say will just make things worse."
"You sure that's not your anxiety speaking?" Claudia asked with a concerned look on her face as she finished the washing up and turned to her younger sister, when Adriana could only offer a meek shrug in response Claudia let out a deep breath. "Look, I don't blame you for getting so worked up, you've had a hell of a week already and that was before the ambush but getting it off your chest might help."
"I know but choosing the right words could make or break it." Adriana responded as she glanced at the floor. "I mean, I waited until you got back from the Watchtower to even think about it."
"You'll figure something out, either that or we'll wing it." Claudia assured her before walking up to her sister. "I will say that you made the right choice by waiting."
"Yeah but waiting may have made my anxiety worse." Adriana commented before sighing. "Claudia, if you don't mind me asking, how did you take the news? When our parents came clean with you, I mean."
"To be honest? Much the same way you did." Claudia admitted with a shrug before sitting down across from Adriana. "Anger, confusion, frustration, it was all there, same goes for most of the questions you asked, I eventually locked myself in my room to let off some steam."
"I'm still wondering how I missed any of this, we didn't move out of our parent's place until the middle of February." Adriana commented before she remembered why. "Wait, was that after I broke my leg in battle?"
"Si, you don't have the best luck with your legs, do you?" Claudia nodded and as much as Adriana hated to admit, her sister was right on the money. "Come to think of it, isn't that the same leg that villains targeted?"
"Yeah, it is." Adriana realized as she glanced at her bad leg. "I know I spent the rest of February with it in a cast after the battle against Hellraiser." Adriana added before it clicked in her head. "Do you think those guys were working with Hellraiser?"
"Do you really think Hellraiser would remember breaking your leg?" Claudia asked with a raised eyebrow. "I know he was the brains behind the whole portal generator operation but with his sadistic streak that was probably just another Sunday to him."
"That's just it though." Adriana commented as she leaned back. "My leg had long since healed by then obviously but if he saw me enter the shop, maybe he told them to target the leg he broke."
"Which brings up another question: how the hell did we miss an eight foot tall demonic biker with a motorcycle that has flaming wheels?" Claudia pointed out with a frown on her face. "Otherwise it checks out, we're both professional wrestling fans, right?"
"Well, yeah, it is practically the national sport of Mexico, hell we were considering joining a wrestling school before we got our powers." Adriana nodded in agreement before she realized what her sister was getting at. "You mean like the heel team targeting the limb of one half of the face team and dividing the ring?"
"Si, in this case your leg, I just wish I had come in for the save a lot sooner." Claudia sighed as she folded her arms. "Your leg will heal eventually Addy and you'll be out as Lo Divino before you know it, just like last time."
"I hope so, if those villains failed to kill me then the boredom definitely will." Adriana admitted as let out a deep breath. "And we definitely need to get more PS4 games, there's only so long I can play God of War and GTA Online."
"Next time I get the day off we'll go down to the game store and buy as many as we can carry, for real this time." Claudia assured her before pausing. "Okay, as many good games as we can carry."
"Just got to think up a list for when we do get that day off." Adriana nodded before checking the time. "I think we'd better get going, if we put it off any longer, we'll have to leave it until tomorrow at this rate." Adriana added and Claudia checked the time on her phone.
"I mean, we could leave it until tomorrow and give you a chance to sleep on it." Claudia suggested before frowning as it dawned on her. "Actually, that wouldn't work either, I've got an all day shift on the Watchtower tomorrow."
"Great, what am I going to do for food?" Adriana groaned as she glanced at her bad leg and Claudia shook her head.
"Already talked that over with Green Arrow, as he's got the day off tomorrow, he's going to take you to a restaurant for dinner." Claudia responded and Adriana grinned when she heard that. "As for breakfast, I'll make sure to cook you something before you leave, my shift doesn't start until 11:00am so unless you sleep in food shouldn't be a problem."
"I guess I could set the alarm clock on my phone as a precaution." Adriana nodded before she stood up. "Let's get going." Adriana added and the twins left their apartment. "Hopefully, I won't fuck this up too badly."
*meanwhile in England*
If you asked most people who didn't live in England to name an English City, London was usually the first one that came to mind, alongside Manchester and Birmingham, Travis, Pierre, Fire and Ice were nowhere near those cities.
"Seriously, who plants bombs around Stevenage?!" Travis wondered out loud as the four heroes made their way through Stevenage Town Centre, Stevenage was a large town situated in Hertfordshire, England bordered by smaller towns such as Hitchin and Baldock and Travis couldn't believe that the League had sent him there. "I mean yeah, there's definitely nicer places around here but why Stevenage and not a major city?"
"Too obvious a target I guess." Fire shrugged her shoulders as Pierre disarmed another bomb. "Okay, just two more and we're done here."
"I don't know why you're complaining Travis." Pierre commented as he flew up to Travis. "Didn't you live in Stevenage before moving to New York?"
"Yes, and I moved all the way to America because I was sick and tired of Stevenage!" Travis responded as he ran a hand down his face. "I swear, this town's only good export, aside from me, was Lewis Hamilton!"
"Who?" Fire and Ice asked simultaneously, and Travis shook his head.
"He's a British race car driver, you know, Formula One?" Travis asked only to get more confused looks from the two female heroes. "Think a more dignified version of NASCAR, though admittedly that isn't saying much."
"Travis, are you going to continue trash talking your home town or are you going to search for those bombs?" Green Arrow's annoyed voice rang out and Travis sighed before resuming the search. "Besides, from what I can see on the monitor, Stevenage doesn't look like that bad a place."
"That's because we're in Stevenage Old Town, Stevenage New Town is basically grey on more grey with a lot of chain shops and one of the biggest Tesco's in Hertfordshire." Travis responded with a sigh and Green Arrow shook his head in disbelief. "There's actually a few decent restaurants in the old town but the others are reluctant to take me up on the offer when we're done."
"Because you keep trash talking your home town." Fire responded plainly and Green Arrow couldn't help but chuckle as he went for his drink. "Besides, the sooner we can eat out." Fire added and Green Arrow nearly spat out his drink.
"Fire, I'm going to assume you meant "have a meal out" and not, well, you know." Green Arrow commented dryly as J'onn raised an eyebrow. "Besides, it looks like you'll be getting some action soon."
"Between all this talk of "eating out" and "getting some action", I'm not sure what you mean." Travis commented honestly and Green Arrow chuckled before shaking his head.
"What I meant was, your about to have company and it's not from any race car drivers, get those bombs defused as soon as possible." Green Arrow responded and Travis nodded before they resumed their mission. "J'onn, you know you could've sent me in Travis's place, right?"
"Travis needed the field experience and when he mentioned that he grew up in Stevenage, I thought he'd be perfect for the job." J'onn shrugged his shoulders as he glanced up at Green Arrow. "I didn't realize that he hated his home town so much."
"Hate is a strong word." Travis chimed in over the comms. "Try "strong, personal dislike bordering on hate", I still came here for the Sonisphere music festival when that was a thing."
"Worry about that later Travis." Pierre responded as he disarmed another bomb. "The sooner we can disarm that last bomb, the sooner we can get out of here!"
"I'm afraid your going to be delayed in that." Firefly's voice rang out and the heroes looked up seeing Firefly, Killer Moth, Beetle and The Human Fly. "For this stinking town will burn."
"You know Firefly, any other time I'd probably be all for you burning down my hometown." Travis sighed as he looked over the four air bourn villains. "But this is my first official mission with the Justice League, so I want to leave a good impression."
"At least you have your priorities straight." Fire sighed before transforming into her powered state turning into a green skinned version, green flame haired version of herself that would be completely naked, if not for the makeshift flame bikini covering up her naughty bits.
Needless to say, Travis and Pierre just stood there with their jaws agape as Fire and Ice launched into battle against the four villains. "Travis, Pierre, take it from someone who's been around longer than you've been alive." Green Arrow commented as he face-palmed on the other end. "There are subtle ways of checking out an attractive woman, you are being as subtle as a nuclear bomb."
"I…. I was not checking her out!" Pierre stammered as he struggled to regain his composure. "I was strategizing."
"Uh huh, and I bet that clang against the bottom of your helmet was just you thinking extra hard." Green Arrow deadpanned and Pierre could hear the laughter of the other League members on the Watchtower. "Seriously, I've located the last bomb for you, Travis, see if you can keep the Supervillains busy."
"Right, I will get busy with Fire!" Travis exclaimed loudly causing Pierre to facepalm loudly before he flew off. "I probably should've worded that better!"
"Kid, just warning you, Batman is standing right behind me, you can either deal with me or him." Green Arrow responded with a face-palm and Travis quickly joined the female heroes in battle.
The battle went on for a few minutes with most of the airborne villains not really standing a chance against the heroes, and whilst Pierre was disarming the final bomb Travis flew straight at Firefly who dodged at the last minute and caused him to accidentally crash into Fire. "Well, at least I landed somewhere comfortable." Travis's muffled voice rang out not quite realizing who he was on top off, or where his face was.
"Do you want to tell him, or should I?" Batman asked Green Arrow as the two male heroes watched the monitor.
"I say let him enjoy the moment and apologize to Fire later." Green Arrow chuckled to himself as Ice knocked out Firefly and turned to Pierre as he disarmed the last bomb.
"Okay, that's the last of them." Pierre commented as he flew up to the other heroes. "So, Travis, any restaurant rec…." Pierre trailed off as he saw the sight in front of him, Fire was on her back still in her transformed state and Travis had somehow ended up on top of her with his face in between her breasts. "Travis, think long and hard about where you are about to place your bands." Pierre winced as Travis started to pull himself up from Fire who was clearly shocked from what just happened.
Thankfully for Travis, he managed to avoid making an awkward situation worse by pushing off the ground with his hands. "What makes you say…that…" Travis trailed off as he saw Fire beneath him and realized the position he was in, needless to say he quickly scrambled to his feet. "Oh my god, I am so, very sorry!" Travis quickly apologized as he backed off a good few feet from Fire. "I was aiming for Firefly, honest!"
"You know, if that was your intention, you could've brought me dinner first." Fire teased him before she switched back to her regular form and Travis was eternally grateful that his mask completely covered his face which was beet red from embarrassment. "It could've been worse."
"It almost was." Green Arrow chimed in and Travis put a hand to his Comm. Device. "Wonder Woman and Shayera walked by the monitoring station at exactly the wrong time and were this close to teleporting down for the express purpose of tearing you a new one until I explained what had happened, and Fire's right, next time, buy the woman dinner first." Green Arrow added and Travis groaned. "Local police are on their way to arrest the Supervillains, want to be teleported up?"
"Oh boy, the completely useless North Hertfordshire Police." Travis sighed to himself and Fire and Ice gave him a confused look. "Long story, but yeah I'm ready to be beamed up if everyone else is." Travis added before the four heroes were teleported up.
*two days later*
The conversation between the twin sisters and their parents had been incredibly awkward at first which wasn't helped by the fact that Adriana struggled to get the words out at first but once she was, they had a long and heartfelt conversation that lasted into the night.
Today however things were back to normal for the sisters, well relative normalcy, Adriana was still out of action thanks to her injured leg and she was chatting with Rachel over skype whilst Claudia was out on patrol. "So, your leg's feeling better?" Rachel asked and Adriana nodded.
"Yeah, with any luck I'll be putting the Lo Divino costume back on in no time." Adriana responded as she glanced over at the costume which was hanging from the closet. "I'm still limping on the leg but it's not nearly as bad as it was when I was first let out of the med bay on the Watchtower and for the first time since the ambush, I have been cooking my own meals."
"I bet that's a relief, not relying on your vegan sister to cook your meals for you." Rachel responded with a nod and Adriana shook her head.
"She used to be a meat eater until last year and she still knows how to cook meat, she just won't eat it." Adriana explained as she brushed some hair over her shoulder. "And she did rely on me when it came to how the meat tasted, it was easier than having her try a piece and spit it out."
"I can imagine, Alex is vegan herself so maybe once you come out, she can share recipes with Claudia." Rachel offered but before Adriana could respond they heard a commotion from Rachel's TV. "Sorry, I have it on in the background, looks like a news report."
"No worries, but just in case I'll look it up on my end." Adriana nodded before minimising Skype and checking the news sites. "Oh fuck." Adriana commented as she read the news, the villains (save for Ultra-Humanite and Electro) that had attacked her had broken out of jail and were battling the heroes that saved her that day.
Only this time, they had help. "The guys who beat you up plus Blockbuster and Captain Boomerang are attacking the heroes that saved you?" Rachel asked as she read the news. "This isn't good."
"Tell me about it." Adriana nodded before sighing. "I'll call you back later Rachel, I've got a decision to make, one that I might regret later." Adriana added and Rachel nodded before hanging up. "Claudia's the only one with any Super Strength in that group of heroes, they need my help!" Adriana thought before glancing at her costume and at her bad leg. "But can I risk it?"
"Allow me to help." The woman's voice rang out and before Adriana even knew what was happening, a white, divine glow washed over her body for a few seconds before vanishing. "Try to stand up normally."
"Oh sure, put pressure on my injured leg, what's the worse…" Adriana's thoughts trailed off as she realized that her leg felt good as new, sure enough when she stood up it was working perfectly. "What did you just do? And why did you wait?"
"That power of mine has limited uses, but your friends in the League need your help." The woman responded and Adriana quickly rushed over to her Lo Divino costume and started putting it on. "You should get a power boost from it as well." The woman added as Adriana got changed into her costume starting with the crop top, pants and boots and finishing with her mask, all black and white with the white being more prominent than the black.
"Are you going to tell me who you are or are you going to continue to be my mysterious protector?" Adriana asked the woman but when she refused to answer Adriana shook her head before opening the window. "I will get to the bottom of this, but first, I have a debt to repay!" Adriana thought before flying out of the window.
*twenty minutes later*
When Adriana arrived at the battle site, she realized that she was in familiar territory, namely outside the shop where she was assaulted.
"They never did reopen that place." Adriana thought as she glanced at the shut shop, with a quick shudder she refocussed herself on finding the others. "It sucks that the staff lost their lives and that it'll be a while before a new store takes over, but I have to stay focused, besides that place still has a lot of bad memories for me." Adriana thought before glancing around in search of the others.
Her search quickly turned up results, just not in the way Adriana expected as Green Arrow was punched through a wall by KGBeast. "You were so quick to save Lo Divino, but who will save you?" KGBeast asked before pointing his gun arm at Green Arrow at which point Adriana flew into action.
"Hola senor." Adriana greeted him with a playful tone to her voice but KGBeast ignored her. "Tell me, how do you jerk off with your arm like that?" Adriana asked as she pretended to look at her nails playfully whilst preparing an energy blast and, her crass joke got KGBeast's attention.
"I'll have you know that I can get any woman I want, now leave before I blow…." KGBeast never finished his sentence as Adriana blasted him in the leg with an energy blast bringing him down to one knee.
"That was for what you did to my leg." Adriana said simply and KGBeast looked up in time to see Adriana flying right at him. "And this is for suggesting to use my head to break open the display cases!" Adriana added before kicking the much larger Supervillain in the head sending him flying and knocking him out causing him to land near the shop formerly kno0wn as Maximillian's in the process, once she saw that he was out Adriana quickly floated over to Green Arrow. "Tell me kid, where does it hurt?"
"Very funny." Green Arrow grunted as he felt his sides and Adriana helped him up. "I would question how you're back to fighting shape already but I'm not about to complain about not succumbing to a lethal case of lead poisoning!"
"Trust me, I'm not sure how I'm back to fighting shape either." Adriana admitted as she gave her previously bad leg a shake. "Are you still good enough to fight?"
"I'm good to go, follow me and I'll take you to the others." Green Arrow nodded in response and Adriana did just that. "By the way, it's good to see you back on your feet again Addy." Green Arrow added as he glanced over at the flying teenager and as opposed to every other time, she heard it since she got her injuries, Adriana didn't get annoyed, instead she just smiled warmly. "Figuratively speaking off course."
"Thanks, I've spent way too much time off my feet for my liking." Adriana thanked him before she flew after him. "So, who's battling who?"
"Black Canary was tangling with Killer Frost when I got blindsided by KGBeast, Earthshaker is trying his best to keep Cheetah at bay, El Sombre is battling Blockbuster…." Green Arrow trailed off before glancing over at Adriana and seeing the worried look on her face. "Don't worry, last I saw her, Claudia was holding her own."
"I don't doubt for a second that she is, Claudia always was the better fighter between as." Adriana shrugged her shoulders in response as she followed Green Arrow. "I just made up for it with tenacity, and lots of cockiness."
"Hey, at least your honest about it." Green Arrow nodded in appreciation and Adriana grinned. "Black Canary and Killer Frost should be nearby, do you want to see if you can knock Killer Frost out this time?"
"You know it!" Adriana responded with a grin but on the inside, she was starting to doubt herself. "I know Green Arrow meant well but I can already feel my anxiety playing up, hopefully I can kelp them deal with the villains before I have an anxiety attack." Adriana thought before remembering something. "I'm guessing Booster Gold is dealing with Captain Australian Stereotype?"
"Yeah, but I doubt Booster will need your help with him, Captain Boomerang might be a Flash Villain but he's still a guy whose main gimmick is trick boomerangs." Green Arrow added before pausing. "If you have any "pot calling the kettle black" jokes regarding my arrows, get them out of your system now!"
"I wasn't going to say anything of the sort!" Adriana responded whilst putting on her best innocent face and Green Arrow shook his head. "Mostly because he cut me off before I could think of any but still!"
"So, I finally put the Canary on ice." Killer Frost commented with a grin breaking Adriana's train of thought as the female Supervillain froze Black Canary's feet pinning her in place. "Don't mind me blondie, I'm just going to slowly encase your body in ice!" Killer Frost added not realizing that Adriana had landed behind her. "Off course, you'll probably die from exposure to the extreme cold long before I'm done freezing you but hey, this was the fate I had in mind for Lo Divino, but you'll make do instead."
"Do all Supervillains taunt their victims as they are trying to kill them?" Adriana asked and Killer Frost glanced up briefly before returning her attention to Black Canary. "Or are me and Black Canary special cases?"
"Wait your turn Lo Divino, you'll be put on ice…" Killer Frost trailed off before she promptly spun around and saw Adriana floating in front of her. "How?! Even if you survived, our attacks were meant to cripple you."
"I would say "try harder next time"." Adriana responded as she got ready to punch out Killer Frost. "But there won't be a next time." Adriana added before uppercutting Killer Frost and knocking her clean out.
"Addy? How?" Black Canary asked as Green Arrow rushed over to her and got one of his arrows out. "You know what? We'll discuss the details later! Ehsan and Cheetah's fight has spilled into that women's clothing store over there." Black Canary added as Green Arrow activated his buzzsaw arrow. "Go on ahead, we'll catch up."
"A buzzsaw arrow?" Adriana asked with a confused look on her face and Black Canary just shook her head. "Right, I'd better go save Ehsan from the women's clothing store!" Adriana joked before flying off.
"Well, she's back to her old self at least." Black Canary commented as Green Arrow worked on cutting her free. "But didn't you say that she still had a slight limp when you saw her this morning?"
"I would've questioned it myself but if it weren't for her, they'd be picking out bullets out of my chest for weeks." Green Arrow responded with a shrug as he glanced up at his girlfriend. "So yeah, I wasn't really in a position to complain, if anything she seemed stronger than she was before her injuries."
"J'onn did say that her true power was untapped, I guess we're getting glimpses of it." Black Canary nodded as Green Arrow continued to cut away at the ice.
*meanwhile*
"Give it up Earthshaker!" Cheetah teased the Syrian hero as they paced around each other. "Lo Divino couldn't beat me and you don't hold a candle to her!"
"You were facing Lo Divino in a six on one fight." Ehsan responded in between deep breaths as he stared down Cheetah. "That wasn't exactly a fair fight, and Lo Divino is still recovering from her injuries."
"And whose fault is that? The idiot who thought that she could take on all six of us at once?" Cheetah asked not realizing that Adriana had entered the shop as she said that. "And she still couldn't beat me in one on one combat!"
"Want to test that?" Adriana asked as she cracked her knuckles and Cheetah glanced over at her. "Or are you all talk?"
"I'll deal with you in due time Lo…" Cheetah trailed off before she spun around. "I thought it was me that was supposed to have nine lives." Cheetah commented as she protruded her claws. "But I'll be sure to work through your remaining eight!"
"Err, hi, I've got a delivery here for Ms. Che Tah?" Ehsan asked in a mocking voice as he held up a rock fist and Cheetah turned around. "Do you want to take it to the face or gut? Never mind, doesn't matter." Ehsan added before throwing the fist at Cheetah's face sending her flying into Adriana's regular fist knocking the feline felon out. "Boy, am I glad to see you." Ehsan commented with a warm smile as he walked up to the much shorter girl. "Even better to see you back on your feet and fighting."
"Tell me about it, if I had spent another night at home, I'd have gone nuts." Adriana responded with a grin before fist-bumping Ehsan. "Green Arrow and Black Canary have been rescued already, not going to lie, it was cathartic to knock out KGBeast and Killer Frost."
"Yeah, I bet it was." Ehsan nodded in understanding before laughing a bit. "If I tell you where Claudia and Booster Gold are, do you promise not to tell Yuri that I fought a female villain in a women's clothing shop?"
"I don't know, what's it worth to you?" Adriana asked teasingly and Ehsan just gave her a knowing grin. "Deal, but I'd rather deal with Claudia first and Booster Gold never."
"Yeah, I hear you." Ehsan nodded in understanding before motioning to the rear of the shop. "Unfortunately, Booster Gold is the closest guy to us, Captain Boomerang won't be that hard to knock out, but we can team up to knock out Blockbuster."
"And I can already feel the headache coming on." Adriana sighed to herself before she took flight. "When I left Green Arrow, he was trying to free Black Canary's feet from Killer Frost's ice, I think it's safe to say that they are done by now, but it wouldn't hurt to check."
"Will do, and seriously, it's good to see you fighting fit again." Ehsan nodded before thinking of something. "Oh, and Addy, just one more thing." Ehsan commented and the Mexican heroine turned to him. "As much as your cockiness can get on the League's nerves, your presence was missed on the Watchtower and on missions, I think the League's started to see you and Stargirl as the heart of the League, especially after you got injured that badly."
"They aren't just saying that because me and Courtney are the youngest members of the League, right?" Adriana asked with a small grin on her face before shaking her head. "Besides, I thought Green Arrow and the Flash were the heart of the League?"
"Okay, you and Courtney are the heart of the League who happen to be too young to drink." Ehsan chuckled and Adriana grinned. "That any better?"
"Much better." Adriana nodded before she went to fly out of the shop. "See you on the other side."
"And I heard that joke about my age!" Green Arrow's annoyed voice rang out through the earpiece and the two young heroes laughed before Adriana flew off.
*a few minutes later*
"Give it up Booster!" Captain Boomerang yelled at the futuristic superhero as he threw several razor sharp boomerangs at Booster Gold. "You can't keep this up forever and it's only a matter of time until the other heroes are dead!"
"The great Booster Gold will never give up the fight!" Booster Gold responded as Skeets spotted Adriana flying towards them whilst Booster shot down the boomerangs. "Especially not to you Boomer!"
"Err, Booster?" Skeets whispered as Adriana got closer to them.
"Stop calling me Boomer!" Captain Boomerang growled as he grabbed several more boomerangs from his pouch. "I am going to enjoy cutting you up!"
"Crikey mate, tie me kangaroo down won't ya." Adriana said in a terrible appropriation of an Australian accent as she hovered above the Supervillain. "Shouldn't you be crocodile hunting or something?" Adriana added before quickly switching back to her normal, Mexican-American accent. "And I'm all out of Australia jokes!"
"Good, if you had tried that Down Under, you would've been shot!" Captain Boomerang shouted back before turning to Booster. "I'll deal with Lo Divino in a second, once I finally get through Booster's defences!" Captain Boomerang added before blinking a few times and turning around. "I thought the others put you on the shelf?!"
"I got better." Adriana responded with a grin before flying up to Captain Boomerang. "And don't bother calling KGBeast, Killer Frost or Cheetah for backup, I dealt with them on the way over." Adriana added before holding up hand and flicking Captain Boomerang away knocking him out. "I take it he wasn't too much trouble Booster?"
"His boomerangs stood no chance against the mighty Booster Gold!" Booster boasted and Adriana nodded. "If your looking for El Sombre, she's over there."
"What? You're not happy to see me back on my feet?" Adriana asked with a raised eyebrow and Booster shook his head.
"I am but I heard what you called me on the day of your first session with J'onn." Booster responded and Adriana winced. "And whilst I can't speak or read Spanish, Batman can and he translated for me, I don't appreciate being called a fucking egomaniacal douchebag by a junior member."
"Aren't we both junior members?" Adriana asked before shaking her head. "I was already annoyed by being babied by the other League members my sister included! So, you stroking your ego was not helping!"
"This coming from one of the youngest and cockiest members?" Booster Gold pointed out and Adriana went to respond. "You know it's true!"
"And Green Arrow joked about me making "pot calling the kettle black" jokes earlier." Adriana thought before hearing her sister cry out in pain. "Look, how about we talk this out on the Watchtower once I'm officially back on the active roster, no ego, just hero to hero? Because my sister needs my help."
"Okay, yeah, I can agree to that." Booster nodded in agreement and Adriana flew off without another word. "But it is good to see that recovered ahead of schedule." Booster added and Adriana glanced over at him before grinning.
"I'll explain how I'm back to fighting form later, the others were just behind me." Adriana nodded before flying off.
*minutes later*
The battle between El Sombre and Blockbuster had been intense as both of them were able to dish out as much damage as they could deal to each other but whilst Claudia's dark energy powers gave her an edge over Blockbuster the massive Supervillain was still coming.
"The good news is, this guy doesn't have my speed, in fact he might be the slowest Supervillain I've ever thought." Claudia thought as she ducked under Blockbuster's fists with relative ease. "Bad news is this guy still hits like a truck! I hope the others were able to turn their battles around." Claudia thought as she went for a roundhouse kick to Blockbuster's head only for Blockbuster to catch it in his much larger hand. "This is gonna hurt in the morning."
"You won't make it until morning!" Blockbuster growled before slamming Claudia down hard, as Blockbuster loomed over Claudia he grinned sadistically. "First, I kill you, then I kill your pathetic sister!"
"You ordered a pathetic sister?" Adriana's voice rang out before she blasted the much larger Supervillain in the back with an energy blast. "Wait, no, I should definitely rephrase that!"
"Addy?!" Claudia asked as the younger of the twin sisters flew to her sister's side and helped her up. "What are you doing?"
"Saving your ass, what else?" Adriana asked with a grin and Claudia gave her younger sister a warm smile in response. "The rest of this little gang is off to jail, the big lug over there is the last one standing." Adriana explained before grinning broadly as she produced light energy in her hand. "And frankly, teaming up with you has been the thing I've missed most about going out as Lo Divino." Adriana added and Claudia nodded enthusiastically.
"About the only things I haven't missed about that are your jokes." Claudia teased her sister as Blockbuster charged at the two female Superheroes, but his slow speed made him an easy dodge for them. "The Adriana I knew and loved seems to be back, what exactly happened at the apartment whilst I was off shift?" Claudia thought before putting that thought process aside. "You've been out of action sis, so try to keep up!"
"It should be me telling you to try to keep you." Adriana responded with a grin before they fired simultaneous energy blasts at Blockbuster bringing him down to one knee, even as the other heroes showed up they kept him under fire as Ehsan, Black Canary and Booster Gold launched their attacks at him before Green Arrow finally finished off the massive Supervillain as he fell unconscious. "And that debut has been repaid." Adriana sighed to herself forgetting how close her sister was for a second.
"Debt?! Wait, that's why you came out?" Claudia asked as she turned to her younger sister. "What debt are you talking about exactly? And what happened to your injured leg."
"I'll explain the status of my leg in a second, as for the debt, what do you think?" Adriana sighed as the twin sisters landed on the ground in front of the other heroes. "You guys saved my life when I got ambushed, there's no two ways about that, but whilst I've been sitting home injured, I've been fretting over how I could make it up to you."
"You didn't need to put your life on the line like that, in fact if we weren't separated, we would've had a rerun of the ambush but with no one around to save you." Green Arrow pointed out and Adriana nodded reluctantly as she lowered her head. "But on the other hand, me and Black Canary would be dead if it weren't for your timely intervention, so consider that debut repaid."
"Thanks Arrow." Adriana nodded in appreciation before sighing. "As for my leg, to make a long story short, the source of my powers gave me a heal up and a power upgrade, I only get limited uses of this trick, so I had to make it count."
"Mutant powers can do that?" Black Canary asked with a raised eyebrow at which point Claudia intervened.
"To make an even longer story short, me and Addy aren't mutants." Claudia responded as she glanced over at her twin sister. "Our powers are magic based, I would explain but that'd take up most of my shift," Claudia added before grinning. "Speaking off, when I get back to the Watchtower, I'll talk to J'onn about getting you back on the active roster as soon as possible, since you seem healthy now that shouldn't take much convincing."
"Thanks sis, it felt good to be back in action to say the least." Adriana admitted with a gin and after a few minutes the older heroes talked among themselves for a while, but Adriana blocked them out. "This is my chance, I'll probably never get a better opportunity to come clean to some of my closest friends, and Booster Gold, in the Justice League." Adriana thought as about a million other thoughts raced through her head. "But can I trust a talkative egotist like Booster to keep my sexuality a secret?"
"Something on your mind sis?" Claudia asked when she saw the look on her sister's face and Adriana hesitated before quickly shaking her head.
"No, nothing, just looking forward to my first day back on the active roster." Adriana responded with a nervous grin as she glanced up at the others. "I'm going to head home, didn't really get a chance to cook dinner before I left."
"You don't have to do that." Green Arrow pointed out as he stepped forward. "You saved our lives Addy, at least let us treat you to a meal out."
"Another day, I haven't really had a chance to cook." Adriana said quickly before she flew off in the direction of the twins' apartment.
"Okay, I don't need to be a child psychologist to know that something was seriously troubling her." Green Arrow commented with a frown as he watched Adriana fly away. "She seemed like her old self during the battle but as soon as it ended, her mood crashed and burned."
"I know what's going on with her, I've seen it way too many times to count." Claudia sighed as she glanced up towards her sister. "She's about to have an anxiety attack, in the past I've managed to calm her down but I'm on shift for the next two hours."
"Claudia, if you want to go home early to tend to Adriana then I will not mind." J'onn's voice rang out through the earpiece and Claudia put her hand to it. "As for Adriana's status, she can start tomorrow with a clean slate but given her state of mind we should take every precaution."
"Okay, fine, beam me up to the Watchtower because I still have some stuff to get done, after that? I'll head straight home." Claudia nodded before turning to Green Arrow. "Arrow, I might not need it, but would you mind serving as my backup on this?"
"You know how better than anyone here Claudia, but she did save my life." Green Arrow nodded in understanding as he folded his arms. "If you need my help, you've got my personal number." Green Arrow added before the remaining heroes were beamed up.
*back at the apartment*
Adriana returned to her room and shut the window behind her almost as quickly, once the curtains were drawn, she started getting changed out of the Lo Divino costume.
She didn't even make it past putting removing her top before she started hyperventilating, seconds later Adriana felt her heart racing followed by a rushing sound in her ears, it wasn't long before her eyes got bloodshot, her palms got sweaty and she started grinding her teeth. "Why? Why can't I just tell them that I'm gay?!" Adriana thought as she slunk to the far corner of her room and huddled up pulling her legs up to her chest. "I saved their lives back there I took on Supervillains who almost weighed twice as much as me! Why can't I say those two words?"
"You're a failure." Strange voices rang out from within Adriana's head. "They'll never accept you for who you are!"
"No, no!" Adriana shouted back as she felt the tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm not a failure, I'm not!"
"Adriana? Are you home?" Claudia called out to her sister upon returning from her shift at the Watchtower, as she neared her sister's room, she heard her sister hyperventilating and her eyes widened. "Oh gods, no!" Claudia called out before she quickly opened the door and saw her sister in the sorry state, she was in.
"Oh look, your sister's here to save the day again." The strange voice rang out again as Claudia raced to her younger sister's side. "But does she really care?"
"She cares! She definitely cares, she…..." Adriana trailed off as Claudia pulled her younger sister into a hug from the side. "C…. Claudia…?" Adriana stammered as she cried into her sister's shoulder.
"Hey, hey, it's okay Addy, I'm here." Claudia assured her sister as she started to calm down. "I know this has been tough for you, but we'll get through this."
"I…" Adriana sobbed as she looked at her sister with bloodshot eyes. "Am I a failure Claudia?"
"No, off course not, we all make mistakes." Claudia assured her as Adriana started to recover from her anxiety attack. "It's just how we bounce back from them, and you did a great job in bouncing back today." Claudia added and her calming words seemed to have an effect of her younger sister. "Take all the time you need Adriana I'll cook you something don't worry."
"Thanks sis." Adriana sighed as her sister stood up and left the room, after a few moments Adriana slowly climbed back up to her feet. "I can't continue on like this, I can't have another attack like that." Adriana thought as she started searching for a new outfit to wear. "By the end of the week, I will come out as a lesbian, consequences be damned."
"It's been a long time since Adriana's had an attack that bad." Claudia thought with a sad sigh as she glanced towards her sister's room. "Arrow's right, something's definitely eating at her, but she won't tell me what! I just hope that it won't affect her performance." Claudia thought as she started preparing the food.