Even after she got dressed it had still taken Adriana a while to come out of her room following her anxiety attack as she sat on the edge of her bed collecting her thoughts, eventually the sound of food being cooked prompted the eighteen year old to leave her room.
First thing she saw was Claudia in the kitchen cooking up a meal, the second thing she saw was that Green Arrow had popped over and was giving her a concerned look. "Claudia told you about my anxiety attack, didn't she?" Adriana sighed as she glanced up at Green Arrow who nodded before Adriana sat down at the table. "Sorry if I came off as rude back there, but I could feel the attack coming and didn't want to cause a scene in public so I rushed straight home as fast as I could."
"Kid, you have nothing to apologize for, I'm just glad your okay." Green Arrow assured her, and Adriana nodded as he sat across from her. "Claudia spoke with J'onn and the other founding members before she came home, they are happy to put you back on the active roster, but they want J'onn to do an evaluation of your mental health first, and that was before your anxiety attack." Green Arrow added and Adriana nodded as she got the idea. "They are happy to see you back in action, but they are worried that you'll get another attack whilst on a mission."
"I understand why but they don't need to bother." Adriana responded as she shook her head. "I've had attacks before, but it had been years since I had an attack as bad as the one I had earlier, the same attack that got me diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder when I was fourteen."
"I did explain that to them Addy but there was no other way to get you back on the active roster." Claudia explained as she prepared the dish. "And J'onn did go out of his way to point out that if he isn't satisfied with your mental health, the best you can hope for is being put on the reserve members list."
"The worst I can hope for would be being asked to leave the League, right?" Adriana asked and Claudia nodded without hesitation. "Fine, I've got a session with him tomorrow anyway, may as well get it done then and there."
"J'onn pretty much said the same thing." Claudia nodded in agreement as she continued to cook the food. "That said, the majority of the League was happy to see you back in action, Booster was pretty much the only outlier because according to him, you were rude to him?"
"Yeah, I know, it's a long story." Adriana sighed as she glanced up at her older sister. "After I helped him out with Captain Boomerang, we agreed to talk it out on the Watchtower once I was back on the active roster, off course that was before I had my anxiety attack."
"He'll come around Booster Gold may be an ass most of the time, but he is a good guy once you get past his ego." Green Arrow responded before pausing. "You'll just have to work at it for a few days before you get past his ego!"
"Only a few days?" Adriana asked before shaking her head. "I know Claudia told you about my anxiety attack, but did she tell the others?"
"I didn't but Green Arrow did." Claudia chimed in as she started to put the finishing touches on the meal. "They were worried about you, especially after I realized that you were having an attack, so it became inescapable unfortunately."
"They'd be here but Black Canary and Earthshaker are being seen too in the med-bay, you may have prevented Killer Frost from putting Black Canary on ice but she's being monitored for hypothermia all the same and Ehsan took some nasty wounds in his fight with Cheetah." Green Arrow elaborated and Adriana nodded. "As for Booster, he's on monitor duty for the rest of the day, yeah, I don't envy any of the heroes on assignment either."
"Makes me glad that I'm not officially back on the roster until tomorrow." Adriana responded before finally getting a whiff of what her sister was cooking. "You wouldn't happen to be cooking my favourite dish, would you sis?"
"Needed something to cheer you up and this tends to work nine times out of ten." Claudia nodded as she cooked the food. "And I've never known you to turn down mom's prawn and chorizo quesadilla either! Granted Green Arrow had to be my taste tester for obvious reasons, but he wasn't complaining, for the most part."
"For the most part?" Adriana asked with a raised eyebrow before noticing the glass of water in Green Arrow's hands. "You can't handle your spice, can't you?"
"Hey, I can handle spice, Claudia just neglected to mention that the recipe includes Scotch Bonnet Peppers!" Green Arrow defended himself and the twin sisters shared a laugh though Adriana's laugh was more subdued than her older sister's due to her mental state. "I think I drank enough water to provide for an entire village! How you girls manage that level of spice, I'll never know."
"I'll just sum it up in two words." Claudia responded with a grin as she started to plate up the food. "We're Mexican! We were practically raised on spicy food and that didn't stop when we moved to the US, not our fault you can't handle a little spice."
"A little spice?!" Green Arrow asked with a dumbfounded expression on his face. "Claudia, if you and Adriana ever end up in a cook off against each other, I'm calling the Star City Fire Department ahead of time!" Green Arrow added and the twin sisters shared another laugh. "Seriously though, it's good to see you cheering up already Adriana."
"It'll be a while before my mood's back to the way it was during that battle." Adriana admitted as Claudia brought her food over and she dove right in, she waited until she had swallowed her first bite before continuing. "That was part of the reason why we chose to live together after moving out of our parent's place, Claudia knew I'd need a good support network if I ever crashed and burned like I did earlier."
"The other part being that it was just more convenient for us, considering how often we work together as Lo Divino and El Sombre." Claudia added and Green Arrow nodded as he got the idea. "Though we both agree that this arrangement won't last forever, eventually we'll get boyfriends and want to get a place of our own."
"Or girlfriends in my case." Adriana thought as she continued to eat the food. "I keep telling her to join a dating website but she's too old fashioned for it."
"Less old fashioned and more see it as a total waste of money." Claudia responded with a shrug as she leaned against the counter. "Plus, I've heard enough horror stories about internet dating gone wrong to turn me off the idea completely."
"Yeah, I guess that is fair." Green Arrow nodded in understanding as Adriana continued to eat her food. "But on the other hand, two gorgeous girls who can cook like you? Won't be that long until you two start dating someone, that's all I'm saying,"
"Technically I've already started, I'm just not ready to reveal that I'm a lesbian yet." Adriana thought as she finished off her food. "It's like we said to our parents when we were reunited with them, we're just waiting for the right person to come along."
"It doesn't really help that our dad didn't want us to start dating until we were at least eighteen and just focus on our studies instead." Claudia chimed in as she gathered up Adriana's plate. "How was it, Adriana?"
"Taste wise? It was delicious, just as good as I remember it." Adriana nodded as she leaned back. "Mood wise? I still have a long way to go before I recover from the anxiety attack but that was definitely what I needed!"
"Like I said, works every time." Claudia grinned as she started the washing up, as Claudia was off doing the washing up Green Arrow stood up to leave their apartment. "Heading out on patrol Ollie?"
"J'onn wants me to keep an eye on a weapon smuggling ring that's cropped up in the city, but he allowed me some leeway when I said that I wanted to check on Adriana." Green Arrow responded with a nod as he went to leave. "If you girls are feeling up for joining me, by all means, if not I'll see if I can get Kat and Marco in on it instead."
"Kat and Marco would probably be your best bet." Claudia nodded as she finished the washing up. "I'm still recovering from the Blockbuster fight and Adriana's in no shape mentally to do any more crime fighting today, next time though? We'll always be up for kicking some criminal ass." Claudia added and Adriana readily nodded in agreement.
"That's what I like to hear, see you girls tomorrow." Green Arrow nodded before he left their apartment, once he was gone Claudia took up his seat and sat down opposite Adriana.
"Seriously Addy." Claudia stated and her younger sister looked up at her. "Are you okay? I'll be the first to admit that you had me scared when I came home."
"Right now? I'm fine, but I guess using my cockiness and jokes to mask my anxiety had to come to a boiling point eventually." Adriana sighed as she leaned forward on the table. "Just my luck that it happened on my first day back as Lo Divino following my injuries."
"Yeah, that was some terrible luck." Claudia nodded as she shifted her weight. "I haven't told mom and dad about your anxiety attack yet, I wanted to see if you wanted to get them involved considering all the stress that we've put them through lately."
"Personally, I think it's worth just waiting a bit." Adriana admitted as she shrugged her shoulders. "The Raymundo incident and the ambush alone probably aged them about thirty years before we got in contact with them, I'm not saying keep them out of the loop entirely but maybe hold it off and let them recover from those incidents."
"Good point, and I doubt you learning the truth about our parentage didn't help matters." Claudia nodded in agreement before she stood up. "I'm going to move the PS4 back into the lounge now that your legs healed, might be a good way to unwind a bit further."
"Is it bad that I'm half-tempted to fake re-injuring my leg?" Adriana asked jokingly and her sister gave her a knowing grin. "Or would you see through that in an instant?"
"Addy, your lies to the league had more holes in them than Swiss Cheese, I don't think you can pull off faking a leg injury." Claudia responded with a grin and Adriana nodded hesitantly. "And if you do, I might upload it to YouTube with the video title "And the Academy Award Goes Too…"
"Do that and I'll mix in some of my pink tops with your El Sombre costume!" Adriana responded with a grin getting a laugh out of her twin sister before Claudia went to get the PS4. "My night didn't end as planned, I'm back as Lo Divino but I had a bad anxiety attack in the same night, but at least I'm back to doing one thing I love." Adriana thought as she glanced up at a picture of the twins in their costumes that was hanging on the wall. "And I'm not about to give that up for anything!"
*the next day*
When Adriana and Claudia teleported up to the Watchtower that morning, it wasn't long until the twin sisters went their separate ways, Claudia was slated for Monitor Duty that morning leaving Adriana to go off to J'onn's therapy room.
"It's just like any other session you've had with J'onn, just talk to J'onn about everything that happened yesterday." Adriana echoed her older sister's words as she walked through the hallways with her arms crossed. "Easy for sis to say, her future in the League isn't dependent on how she performs on monitor duty." Adriana thought with a sigh before she approached J'onn's room and let it open. "Morning J'onn, no one around to sit in this time?" Adriana greeted the Martian once he saw that he was alone.
"No, just you and me this time." J'onn responded as he shook his head before motioning for her to take the seat and Adriana did so. "I think it's safe to compare your day yesterday to a Roller-coaster ride."
"You can say that again." Adriana commented once she made herself comfortable. "I'm guessing Claudia explained how I healed so quickly?"
"As best she could, yes, with that in mind, we will skip that part." J'onn nodded before he leaned forward. "I allowed Claudia to return home early from shift when she realised that you were having an anxiety attack, how are you feeling?"
"Better than how I felt in the immediate aftermath but that's not saying much." Adriana sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "I started to build up again after I saved Green Arrow and being confronted by Booster Gold over a rude comment I made didn't help, those combined with my attempts to mask my anxiety with my jokes and cockiness just caused it to boil to the top." Adriana added and J'onn nodded.
"That wasn't the main cause was it?" J'onn asked and Adriana lowered her head knowing where he was going with this. "I will remind you Adriana that these sessions are strictly confidential."
"I know, and it's still something I'm kicking myself over." Adriana sighed before she shifted her weight. "Once Blockbuster had been knocked out and the fighting stopped, I realized that I had a perfect opportunity to come out as gay to not only my sister but a group of my closest friends in the League and Booster Gold, but rather than take the opportunity I let my anxiety get the better of me and clammed up."
"You were worried that Booster Gold would reveal it inadvertently?" J'onn asked and Adriana nodded. "Whilst Booster Gold has been a member longer than you, Claudia or Ehsan he is still a junior member of the League and has been warned in the past about talking about League secrets to the press, if you had then Booster Gold would've known to keep it quiet."
"I understand that but unless there's a time machine up here, I can't go back and change it, for one thing I'd likely use it to prevent the Raymundo incident from happening or prevent me from getting the crap beat out of me." Adriana nodded before sighing. "When I recognized my symptoms, I made up some bs excuse and flew straight home, I didn't want to cause a scene in public on my first day back as Lo Divino."
"The League would've been on damage control if you hadn't gone home but you did the right thing." J'onn nodded in understanding and Adriana nodded. "What the League wants to know is if these attacks are going to be liabilities in missions."
"Yeah, I gathered that from what Claudia told me." Adriana sighed as she nodded. "I've had smaller attacks before but that was my nastiest attack in years, it was just taking a sledgehammer and breaking down my self confidence until Claudia calmed me down." Adriana elaborated before letting out a deep breath. "My first attack happened when I was fourteen, right after Jose died, I didn't get diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder until me and my family moved to the states."
"Interesting, do you think it could be connected to your cousin's death?" J'onn asked and Adriana had to think for a minute.
"I never thought of it that way before, if you're asking if I witnessed my cousin get gunned down for trying to make a quick, illegal buck, the answer's no, me and Claudia were in school when it happened and we didn't learn of it until our parents pulled us out of school." Adriana responded as she shook her head. "Even so, I think the shock that someone who was like a brother to me was dead because of the cartels triggered something in my mind and that's when my anxiety started."
"If it's of any comfort, I believe Jose would be proud of you if he was alive today." J'onn nodded sympathetically and Adriana grinned in response. "Can you describe these smaller anxiety attacks?"
"What's there to describe?" Adriana asked with a shrug. "They aren't as nasty as the two big attacks I've had but I still feel like crap afterwards, the main difference is that with the small attacks I can at least get out of it after an hour, give or take, but anything bigger than that usually requires someone to calm me down and Claudia's had the most success with that." Adriana explained as she shifted her weight. "But the time between the two big attacks is the major difference, the smaller attacks come and go, but there's a four year difference between my bigger anxiety attacks."
"Are you saying that your next big attack won't happen until your twenty two?" J'onn asked with a raised eyebrow and Adriana shook her head.
"I can't be certain of anything with this disorder of mine, but I am certain of one thing, by the end of the week I will come out as a lesbian." Adriana sighed as she rested her head in her hand. "I knew that my failure to come out as gay was what triggered my attack, I can't let something like that happen again, so I just want to get it off my chest."
"Have you spoken to Rachel about your plans?" J'onn asked and Adriana shook her head.
"Didn't get a chance too yesterday because Claudia spent the rest of the day with me, and Green Arrow paying us a visit to check on me didn't help." Adriana admitted as she shook her head. "This morning I got a text from Rachel saying that she's at a photoshoot for the rest of the day, so even if I had time, I pretty much came straight here to get this over and done with."
"I don't think you mentioned what your girlfriend does for a living." J'onn commented and Adriana nodded. "I didn't need that information when I probed your mind in our first session, is she a photographer?"
"She's a model, fashion, fitness, beauty, that kind of thing." Adriana explained and J'onn nodded as he got the idea. "I'm not sure if I should mention this next part, but she does adult videos on the side, I haven't seen those videos and I've made it clear to her that I want nothing to do with them even after I come out as gay."
"I will not judge, how she makes her living is her own business and I commend you for making that clear." J'onn nodded before he made his decision. "You will take things easy at first but as of this moment, you are back on the active roster."
"Seriously?" Adriana asked as her mood took a turn for the better and J'onn nodded.
"You won't be alone on missions, if you do have an attack someone will be there to get you out of it, just understand that Claudia might not always be available." J'onn explained and Adriana nodded. "But if these anxiety attacks happen as infrequently as you say, it shouldn't be a problem."
"Yeah, like I said, yesterday's anxiety attack was just the result of me keeping everything bottled up inside and clamming up when I had an opportunity to come out as a lesbian." Adriana nodded as she shifted her weight. "I do take medication for my disorder, but I didn't think I'd need it before I went out yesterday, well that and I wanted to get to the battle site as soon as I could."
"Given the state you found Green Arrow and Black Canary in, that was probably for the best." J'onn nodded in understanding and Adriana let out a deep breath as she felt what was coming. "But I can't risk an anxiety attack on a critical mission, if you haven't had a chance to take it yet let me know."
"I only need to take it once a day, after that? I'm good." Adriana responded before leaning forward. "So, do you want to poke around my head some more or can I go grab breakfast?"
"Given what happened the last time I probed your mind, it might not be wise to go back in there for the time being." J'onn explained and Adriana nodded before standing up. "We are done for the day I will let you know the date of your next session, that session might be longer given the contents of this session however."
"Just be sure to warn me in case I get a leg cramp that day." Adriana sighed as she walked towards the door.
"One last thing." J'onn added and Adriana blinked before the Mexican girl glanced over at him. "Look after yourself, it is good to see you healthy again but don't exert yourself."
"I'll keep that in mind, and thanks." Adriana responded with a grin before leaving the therapy room. "Well, that went a lot better than I thought it would." Adriana thought not noticing a familiar figure walking towards her. "Okay, time to grab breakfast…..." Adriana's train of thought was interrupted as she went to fix a bra strap as the other hero bumped into her. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Adriana apologized before realising who it was. "Oh, hi Booster."
"Hi Lo Divino." Booster Gold greeted her as he steadied himself. "So, what's the word from J'onn? Are you back on the active roster?"
"Si, I'll be taking it easy at first but I'm back in action." Adriana nodded as she folded her arms. "We agreed to talk out our problems once I was back on the roster, right?"
"Yeah, we did." Booster Gold nodded after thinking for a minute. "I'll let you name a time and place?"
"Cafeteria, soonish, I didn't get a chance to grab breakfast this morning anyway." Adriana explained and Booster nodded before the two heroes went off in opposite directions. "So much for having a peaceful breakfast, but at least I'm back on the active roster." Adriana thought before adjusting her bra strap at last. "Talking things out with the one Superhero in the league with a bigger ego than me, what's the worst that can happen?"
*a few minutes later*
Adriana and Booster had met up in the cafeteria as planned and as it was still early that morning there weren't that many heroes in the cafeteria which suited them just fine.
"Okay, look, I get that I probably came off as really, really ungrateful when I said that about you considering you volunteered to be on my rescue team." Adriana sighed as she finished her food and set her plate aside and Booster nodded. "But I thought you were out of earshot and that you couldn't speak Spanish."
"You were half-right at least." Booster admitted with a nod as he leaned forward. "Since there aren't that many Spanish speakers up here, I never saw the need to learn the language, but Batman does know the language and we know what happened there."
"Just one quick question before we continue, why did Batman approach you anyway? I thought you weren't one of the League's most popular members?" Adriana asked and Booster shook his head.
"I guess that's a fair question, he was looking for a third guy for a deep space mission, he ultimately took Dove with him." Booster explained and Adriana nodded as she got the idea. "I'm pretty sure that him translating your Spanish insult was his idea of a joke."
"Wouldn't that require Batman to have a sense of humour?" Adriana deadpanned getting a laugh out of Booster, which suddenly stopped when a familiar dark shadow loomed over Adriana. "He's right behind me, isn't he?" Adriana asked as she closed her eyes and Booster nodded. "He heard what I just said, didn't he?"
"Yes." Batman responded simply nearly causing Adriana to jump out of her skin before she looked up to see Batman glaring at her. "Watch what you say about your fellow League members Lo Divino, you did just come back." Batman added before he walked off.
"Gods, I'd hate to be a criminal in Gotham whilst he's out and about." Adriana gulped once Batman was out of the room and Booster quickly nodded in agreement. "You could've warned me by the way."
"He was off in the corner I didn't even realize that he was in here until he loomed over you." Booster responded as he shook his head and Adriana nodded. "Where were we again?"
"Batman's idea of a joke, his lack of a sense of humour, either way it boils down to me disrespecting another member of the League." Adriana sighed before she took a sip of her drink. "Frankly, I don't see this conversation going anywhere unless I say this so here goes, I'm sorry I called you a fucking egomaniacal douchebag in Spanish, which admittedly sounded worse considering it sounded like I was straight up calling you an idiot."
"Wouldn't be the first time someone's called me that, and I accept your apology." Booster admitted with a shrug and Adriana nodded. "For what it's worth, Green Arrow did chew me out once he had showed you to J'onn's therapy room for using your injuries to boost my ego, time and a place and all that."
"Green Arrow was one of the first heroes to see my injuries up close, well the ones on the outside at least, so that doesn't surprise me." Adriana nodded before letting out a deep breath. "So, are you going on a mission later?"
"You know how it goes I'd have to be picked for a mission before I knew that." Booster responded with a shrug and Adriana nodded. "Why do you ask?"
"Just trying to break the ice now that we've made up, that's all." Adriana admitted with a shrug and Booster nodded as he got the idea. "God knows I need it after my anxiety attack yesterday."
"I know how that feels." Booster sighed earning a surprised look from Adriana. "You heard that I come from the future, right? I was a loser I came back in time to try to make something of myself! I didn't even want to be called Booster Gold, I wanted to go by Goldstar, but I stumbled over my words on my first day and they just went with my nickname from the future." Booster sighed and Adriana felt herself left speechless. "The one time I actually saved the day on my own was when I was on Crowd Control, and I got disciplined for deviating from my duty."
"Wow, I didn't think I'd find this much common ground with you, Booster." Adriana admitted as she let out a deep breath. "There are some reasons for my anxiety that I'd rather keep private until I'm ready to reveal them, so I hope you understand."
"No worries, I know what my reputation's like." Booster nodded in understanding and Adriana sighed. "I had heard that your suspension was weighing heavily on you."
"Yeah, well, being cooped up in my apartment for most of the day can get boring after a while, let alone three, there's only so many video games I can play before I get bored." Adriana admitted with a shrug as she shifted her weight. "And that was before I basically got tortured by being thrown into an unwinnable battle, and I know I sounded ungrateful to you earlier so I'm just going to go ahead and say it, thanks for saving my life Booster."
"What are heroes for, right?" Booster responded with a good natured grin and Adriana grinned in response. "If I can brutally honest, I needed the bathroom at the time but when Black Canary grabbed me and Ehsan to go save you, I managed to hold it in."
"And now I'm glad we waited until after Breakfast, ever heard of "Too Much Information"?" Adriana deadpanned before shaking her head. "You were there for when my sister went berserk right?"
"Missed it, like I said, I needed the bathroom." Booster admitted with a shrug and Adriana frowned. "But I did hear about it after the fact from Black Canary, your sister's lucky that her identity isn't public knowledge because Electro has threatened to sue the breast implants off her chest, Electro's words, not mine."
"Didn't she break Electro's jaw? I'm surprised Electro can talk at all." Adriana admitted with a confused look on her face and Booster just shrugged. "As for that breast implant crack, not the first time we've heard it, I guess that's what me and Claudia get for being relatively short girls with naturally large breasts and it probably won't be the last." Adriana added before taking a sip from her drink. "I know she was acting in defence of me but I'm still surprised Claudia didn't get suspended, she made it clear to me that it wasn't exactly a slap on the wrist, but I'd still be suspended if it weren't for my injury."
"Eh, in the end it came down to the fact that most of the folks up here wouldn't know what they'd do in her shoes." Booster responded with a shrug and Adriana nodded. "You make it sound like Claudia's held to a higher standard than you are anyway."
"Okay, before I continue, none of this leaves this room, agreed?" Adriana asked as she ran a hand through her hair and Booster nodded before she let out a deep breath. "That's the way it's been since we were old enough to start attending school, as well as I'd do, Claudia always did it better and I'd end up being compared to her, "she has much better grades than you" "she's better at sports than you" "she's the better cook than you" you get the idea, that even extends into our Superhero lives."
"You sound like you resent her for it?" Booster pointed out and Adriana shook her head.
"Hell no, I took it as a challenge if anything." Adriana responded with a scoff before sighing. "But for a while, I was worried that there was a bit of parental favouritism towards Claudia, doesn't exactly help that she was born first either, even as a Superhero she's better at hand to hand combat and controlling her powers than me but my recent power up did finally give me a leg up over her, at least until Claudia gets her own power up."
"Here's hoping you get a chance to perfect it before then." Booster nodded and Adriana grinned in response. "And it's like you said, a bit of healthy competition doesn't hurt."
"Si, and even as my better, I work better with Claudia than I do without." Adriana admitted before chuckling a bit. "Like that can't be expected out of a sibling team comprised of twin sisters, right?"
"I think the League would be worried if you two didn't work well together." Booster nodded in agreement right as the door to the cafeteria opened. "And don't worry, your secret's safe with me."
"Booster Gold keeping secrets? What next? Huntress is invited back to the League?" Black Canary's voice rang out and the two heroes glanced up seeing her alongside Green Arrow. "We got the word from J'onn that your back on the active roster Addy, hope your ready to pick up where we left off before you got suspended."
"Been ready for that since I woke up!" Adriana responded with a grin before she finished what remained of her drink and stood up to leave with the two heroes. "Talk to you later Booster."
"Will do." Booster nodded before he resumed drinking his own drink and she followed the two blonde heroes out of the cafeteria.
"Okay, now that the chat with Booster Gold is out of the way, I gotta get back in the swing of things, hopefully I'm not too rusty from the week off." Adriana thought as she followed the two older heroes through the Watchtower. "Not to mention my physical activity in general being extremely limited thanks to my leg injury taking longer to heal than my other injuries." Adriana thought before she noticed that they had stopped in a side room. "Unless the Holochamber's been moved since I got suspended, I don't think we can get much training done in here."
"Yeah because we can definitely fit the Holochamber and all it's equipment in this small room." Black Canary responded with a grin and Adriana sat down on the table. "Seriously Addy, I heard about your anxiety attack from Claudia and Green Arrow, are you okay?"
"I'm better than I was yesterday, but like I said to J'onn that's not saying much." Adriana admitted with a shrug as she glanced at the older heroes. "I'll feel better once I'm back in the swing of things, whether that's training or on a mission I just want to put everything that's happened since the Raymundo incident behind me."
"Glad to hear it, also I thought your crush was on Pierre and not Booster?" Green Arrow asked teasingly, and Adriana immediately blushed like a madwoman. "If your getting that worked up over it then I'm willing to bet that's a yes."
"No, it's definitely not a yes." Adriana responded as she ran a hand down her face. "That chat with Booster was more about talking out our problems and Pierre's just a friend, who happens to be a good looking guy."
"Uh-huh, maybe if you weren't blushing so much, we'd believe you." Green Arrow deadpanned before patting her on the back. "Besides, getting a crush isn't anything to be ashamed off."
"It is when I've started a lesbian relationship." Adriana thought before hopping off the table. "Can we just go to the Holochamber already being I die from embarrassment."
"Suit yourself, but the truth will come out sooner or later." Black Canary responded with a knowing grin before the three heroes left the room.
"Oh, it will, just not the truth they think." Adriana thought as she followed the older heroes, she glanced up at Claudia as her older sister worked away at the monitoring station, but she was too busy to notice her. "I'll make sure to say hi to her later, and hopefully my training won't be negatively impacted by my anxiety issues."
*elsewhere on the Watchtower*
Travis hadn't spoken to the other members of the League since the mission that took him, Pierre, Fire and Ice to his hometown of Stevenage, why?
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Travis thought as he threw fists and kicks rapidly at the punching bag, despite being a skilled martial artist in his own right Travis wasn't throwing his attacks with any grace or flow and anyone watching would've been able to pick up on that, he was out of costume and was wearing a red muscle shirt, gym trousers and had his long hair in a ponytail. "My first mission with the League that isn't a "find refugees from home" mission and I make a complete arse of myself and nearly got Wonder Woman and Shaynera on my tail just because of a misunderstanding!" Travis thought as the door to the training room opened but he paid it no mind. "And I went and brought up my less than perfect history with North Hertfordshire Police! God, I couldn't have fucked that up any harder if I tried."
"You keep that up and your going to pull a muscle." An older, far more experienced voice rang out and Travis looked up seeing Wildcat in costume. "Which is funny considering I thought you were supposed to be a skilled martial artist Dreamweaver."
"I am!" Travis sighed as he gave himself a break. "But I fucked up my first mission with the League so badly that I'll be surprised if I get picked for any one missions that don't require the whole League's attention, and if I get picked for any that do I'll likely get stuck on crowd control or some other minimalist roll." Travis added before glancing at the still swinging punching bag. "So yeah, I have a lot of frustration to take out."
"I noticed." Wildcat deadpanned before he went over and steadied the punching bag. "But there are better ways of taking your frustration out."
"Oh yeah, like what?" Travis asked with a raised eyebrow. "If your going to suggest going out on patrol, busting crime whilst frustrated is never a good idea."
"Speaking from experience?" Wildcat asked with a raised eyebrow and Travis shook his head.
"Second hand experience, I've seen it happen with Kat and Yuri several times over the years, including my first meeting with Kat." Travis admitted before shaking his head again. "But that's a long and complicated story."
"I'll take your word for it." Wildcat nodded dryly before motioning to the sparring matt. "I'm semi-retired and a reserve member but I figure I can teach you a few new tricks, more than you'll learn from that punching bag at least, what do you Travis?"
"Are you sure?" Travis asked with a raised eyebrow as he glanced over at the older hero. "No offence Wildcat but you're hardly a spring chicken."
"I might not be as young as I used to be, but I did train some of the league's best hand to hand fighters, Black Canary included." Wildcat responded as he cracked his knuckles. "And back in my youth I was a Heavyweight Boxing Champion, it's been a few years since I boxed professionally but I can still throw a mean punch." Wildcat added as he started to walk towards the sparring matt. "Unless your afraid to get your butt kicked by a pensioner off course."
"Oh, that's it, your on!" Travis responded with a grin before he joined Wildcat on the sparring matt, the two men circled each other for a few seconds before Wildcat threw the first punch which Travis dodged alongside two other punches. "You sure you were a boxing champ? I've seen faster punches from common thugs…..." Travis's taunting was cut off when Wildcat punched him in the gut knocking the wind out of him.
"I like trash talk as much as the next guy, but don't let your guard down just to taunt your opponent." Wildcat commented as Travis got back to his feet. "Frankly, your friends that jumped over before you and Pierre could stand to learn that lesson, Lo Divino included."
"If your talking about the incident that got Adriana hurt, give me a break." Travis responded before he started firing off shots which where either dodged or blocked by Wildcat. "There's only one guy in the League who can take on that many Supervillains at once and that's Superman, as strong as Adriana is, she's not in Superman's league."
"I never said she was." Wildcat responded before countering a wild punch and tossing Travis over his shoulder with a judo toss. "But that's a problem with your group in general, you are too impulsive, I hated seeing the kid that badly hurt, don't get me wrong, but she could've been killed back there because she didn't call for backup and Kat was nearly killed under similar circumstances on her first League assignment in China."
"Yeah, I heard about that." Travis responded before he got back to his feet and stared down the older hero. "I'm the oldest graduate from the program so believe me when I say this, they should've had more training before they donned their superhero identities, though granted Kat and Marco were special cases because they had fought three Supervillains in their civilian clothes before they got their costumes."
"Training's all well and good, but sooner or later you have to put it to practical use." Wildcat responded with a nod as the two men continued to spar. "Otherwise, what's the point in training?"
"Good point." Travis responded before he went for a punch only for Wildcat to dodge it and uppercut him to the ground. "Okay, I give." Travis relented as he rubbed his aching chin. "So, was there a point to that or do you just like beating up younger heroes."
"Bit of both." Wildcat deadpanned before helping Travis up. "But such a skilled martial artist, you were telegraphing your attacks from miles away, Stevie Wonder could've seen your punches coming."
"Gee, thanks." Travis responded with a nervous laugh as the door to the gym opened. "Well, at least things can't get any worse."
"Ahh, there you are." Almost on cue, Fire's voice rang out and Travis winced before turning to the Brazilian beauty. "Do you have some time to talk Travis?"
"I just had to jinx it." Travis thought before nodding. "Sure, just name a time and place."
"Normally when I get that intimate with a woman, the date happens beforehand." Wildcat teased Travis with a pat on the back earning an annoyed look from the British Superhero. "I'm off to see what Black Canary's up too." Wildcat added before leaving and Fire motioned for Travis to follow him.
*over in the holochamber*
Adriana was warming up in the holochamber waiting for the training session to start but whilst that was happening Green Arrow and Black Canary were talking.
"She seems fine but who knows what's going on in her head." Green Arrow commented as he looked at Adriana. "I saw her after her anxiety attack, it was not pretty."
"She never indicated what caused it, I take it?" Black Canary asked as she glanced over at her boyfriend and Green Arrow nodded. "I read up on the causes for anxiety attacks, one of the main causes is drug addiction."
"Again, I know, or do I need to remind you about Speedy?" Green Arrow asked and Black Canary nodded as he folded his arms. "But there could be any number of reasons why she had that attack, for all we know, it could be because she jumped back into action so soon after recovering, not that I'm complaining since I happen to be deathly allergic to getting shot in the chest."
"And I'm not about to complain about not being frozen over." Black Canary nodded before she stood up. "Still, this sparring match should be a good way to see if she's rusty at combat." Black Canary added before she moved into the main chamber and Adriana turned to her. "Sorry for the wait Addy, I just needed to talk with Green Arrow about something."
"No worries." Adriana nodded as she cracked her knuckles. "So, what's the plan exactly? Another Battle Royal?"
"Nothing like that, not until we're sure you can handle it at least." Black Canary responded before getting in a fighting stance. "The idea is simple, you, me, three round sparring match, Green Arrow picks the locations at random between the rounds and neither of us can use our powers."
"Considering your powers could kill me, I think that goes without saying." Adriana deadpanned as she got into a fighting stance. "So, we're doing best of three, right?"
"Right, and that's if you get past two rounds." Black Canary added as Adriana got into a fighting stance. "We both know Claudia's the better hand to hand fighter between you two."
"That may have been true before my upgrade." Adriana responded with a cocky smirk. "But we haven't tested that since my upgrade, have we?"
"I know it's second nature to you but don't get cocky Adriana." Green Arrow chimed in and Adriana glanced up at the control room. "Otherwise I might be tempted to throw in some Supervillains."
"Noted." Adriana nodded before turning her attention back to Black Canary. "I'm ready when you are."
"I was waiting for that." Black Canary nodded before the two women charged in for the sparring match.
"So far, Addy's holding her own." Green Arrow noted as he watched the two women spar, after a few minutes the door to the holochamber opened but Green Arrow didn't glance up at first. "It's like she was never injured, if it was minor injuries like a broken nose then maybe I could accept that but if Adriana wasn't as tough as she is, she would've been dead long before me and others arrived at that store."
"Barely back on the active roster for a day and you're already putting my sister through her paces?" Claudia asked as she watched her younger sister exchange blows with Black Canary. "I know her healing got a boost in time for her to save our asses but are you sure about this?"
"I understand your concern for her Claudia, but she entered those battles as they were winding down." Green Arrow pointed out as Black Canary and Adriana backed away from each other. "We need to make sure that she hasn't lost a step in drawn out battles and the sparring match against Canary is the first step towards that."
"I'm not disagreeing with that, but if she gets injured during training then it's back to square one." Claudia responded with a nod as Adriana resumed brawling with the older woman. "Granted, I seriously doubt that Black Canary would go out of her way to incapacitate Addy like those Supervillains did but for all we know that leg could still be giving her trouble."
"Looks fine to me but I can see your point." Green Arrow nodded in understanding as he watched the action. "We're still not sure how she was healed by her power sauce either."
"Si, from what I could gather, the healing came with the power upgrade." Claudia nodded as she folded her arms. "I think the real question is, how powerful will we be when we're fully upgraded?"
"That is the million dollar question, and unfortunately the only one who knows the answer is the woman residing in Addy's head." Green Arrow nodded as Adriana won the first round with a roundhouse kick. "And the last time J'onn asked her anything, she got cranky."
"You can say that again." Claudia nodded before pausing. "How do you know that anyway? I thought the only ones who knew the results from that session were me, Addy, J'onn and Professor X."
"When me and Canary mentioned to J'onn that we were planning to put Addy through her paces, he gave us the gist of what happened in that session." Green Arrow explained and Claudia nodded. "And whilst we're at it, weren't you on Monitor Duty?"
"Things are kinda quiet right now so J'onn let me take a break." Claudia shrugged her shoulders as she watched her sister resume the brawl with Black Canary. "But if you really want to put Addy through her paces, I can think off a couple of things."
"You mean like include some Supervillains? Because I'm not about to get on my girlfriend's bad side." Green Arrow pointed out and Claudia shook her head. "Then what do you mean?"
"I mean, let me go a few rounds with Addy once she finishes with Black Canary." Claudia responded as she cracked her knuckles and Green Arrow raised an eyebrow. "After all, who knows her better than her twin sister?"
"If it weren't for her recent behaviour issues, I'd agree with you." Green Arrow nodded as they watched the two women exchange blows. "But you know as well as I do that Addy hasn't been herself lately, she seemed back to normal after her upgrade but then the anxiety attack happened."
"I noticed I mean I'm her roommate for god's sake." Claudia nodded as she got the idea. "But Addy was in high spirits this morning so who knows?"
"Ready to give up yet?" Adriana asked cockily as she wiped some sweat from her brow and Black Canary smirked in response.
"How's this for an answer?" Black Canary asked rhetorically before she charged at Adriana and before the younger hero could react Canary speared her down to the ground and pinned her down by pressing her body against Adriana.
"Usually this is where the clothes start coming off." Adriana thought as she noticed how close Black Canary's face was to hers. "But even if Black Canary wasn't straight and dating Green Arrow, this is a sparring match and not a night alone with Rachel so…" Adriana's train of thought was interrupted when she found herself in a submission hold by Black Canary, rather than risk further injury to herself Adriana submitted tying the fight at two apiece as Black Canary let go and helped her up. "You won't get that lucky in round three."
"I'm not so sure there will be a round three." Black Canary stated as she folded her arms earning a confused look from the Mexican Teenager. "Your performance issues flared up again, I'm not going to remind you of what would've happened in a real fight in that same position." Black Canary added and Adriana bit her lip. "Seriously Addy, even before the ambush you haven't been yourself, is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong!" Adriana responded defensively as she backed up from the older hero. "I slipped up and it cost me the round, I don't make the same mistake twice!"
"Except this isn't the first time this has happened." Canary pointed out as the doors to the holochamber opened. "Whatever your going through, the League can help you."
"Sorry to interrupt but we're going to have to cut this short." Green Arrow chimed in over the microphone and the two heroes looked up. "Wonder Woman needs a fourth person for a mission, and she wants you Addy."
"I just know that my lesbo mind is going to be running wild with that sentence." Adriana thought as she glanced up towards the chamber before nodding. "I'll take it, who else is on the mission?" Adriana asked at which point Wonder Woman took the mic from Green Arrow.
"Star Girl and S.T.R.I.P.E. will be accompanying us, I'll explain on the way." Wonder Woman responded and Adriana nodded before she went off to join Wonder Woman, once they had left Black Canary joined them in the control pod.
"Claudia, didn't you say that Adriana had been getting defensive when questioned about her actions?" Black Canary asked as she entered the control pod and Claudia nodded. "And now that's back in full force."
"Again, I find myself lamenting the fact that we didn't get mind-reading abilities as part of our power set." Claudia sighed as she folded her arms and turned to Black Canary. "I thought we had gotten past it after the ambush but nope, something's still bothering her, and I'll bet good money that whatever it is caused her anxiety attack."
"Sadly, I don't need to be a mind reader to know that your right." Green Arrow sighed as he let out a deep breath. "We have to get through to her somehow, otherwise her behaviour and performance will keep getting worse until she makes a fatal error."
"And she came close to making such an error when she entered that store." Claudia sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "Much as I hate to do it, I'll do some snooping around Adriana's room once I'm off shift, you guys know as well as I do how long League Missions can take."
"If you need me to play peacemaker on the off chance that she comes home early, call me." Green Arrow nodded as he walked up to Claudia. "On top off not wanting either of you to get hurt over a misunderstanding, I don't want to explain the damage done to the apartment to the landlord should you and Addy duke it out."
"You've got no argument from me there." Claudia nodded before she started to walk off. "I'd better get back to monitor duty, it sounds like J'onn will need my help with the mission." Claudia added before she left the holochamber.
*elsewhere in the Watchtower*
As that was going on Travis was waiting for Fire to meet up with him in the cafeteria but as the Brazilian hero was taking forever to meet him there (from his perspective) Travis was trying to pass time with the album "Shotgun Justice" by the Canadian thrash metal band Razor.
"Sometimes you just can't beat some old school thrash." Travis thought as he drummed his fingers on the table along to the guitar riff of the opening track, he likely would've continued into the second track if Fire hadn't cleared her throat to get his attention. "Sorry, I got lost in my own world for a second there." Travis apologized as he pocketed his iPhone and Fire nodded as she sat down opposite him. "Let's get down to brass tacks, I'm deeply sorry for what happened back in Stevenage."
"Hmmm?" Fire asked before she got the idea. "It's fine Travis, and if Wonder Woman and Shayera had come down I would've been the first to defend you, it's not like you did that intentionally."
"If I had I wouldn't have gotten off her so quick, but I'm not sure the ass kicking from Wonder Woman and Shayera would've been worth it." Travis thought before he breathed a sigh of relief. "That's a relief, but if that's not what you wanted to talk about then what is?"
"I suppose that's a fair question." Fire nodded before she shifted her weight. "Your comment about your hometown's police force caught my attention, you have history with them."
"Technically North Herts Police deals with Stevenage and the surrounding area but yeah, I do." Travis nodded before letting out a deep breath. "Some background first, in England there was this rather notorious case where a young woman called was attacked by a gang of youths alongside her boyfriend because they were wearing gothic clothing, the boyfriend survived but the woman fell into a coma that she never woke up from."
"That's terrible." Fire responded with a remorseful nod. "Are her murderers in prison?" Fire asked and Travis nodded.
"Last I checked, yes, every few years there's rumours about them being let out with new identities but nothing really comes from it." Travis added as he let out a deep breath. "I don't know if you've noticed but most of my clothing falls under that category even when I'm not in costume, comes with the territory of being a metalhead I guess, before I moved to the US I was ambushed by a gang of youths in a park in a copycat attack of the Sophie Lancaster murder, obviously I survived but they left me with a few nasty injuries, once I was out of the hospital I tried to report it to the police."
"Is this where your issues with the North Herts Police come from?" Fire asked and Travis nodded before taking a sip from his drink.
"To be fair, it went well at first, they took my statement, I provided descriptions of my attackers to the best of my ability and that was that." Travis added before sighing. "Or so I thought, I heard that they had found the scumbags who had attacked me a couple of days later and I was in the middle of putting my shoes on so I could identify them in a police line-up when I was told to not bother coming in by the police officer who had taken my statement, turns out that the leader of that gang just happened to be the son of a high ranking police official."
"But surely that would've been a conflict of interest, right?" Fire pointed out and Travis nodded in agreement. "What did you do?"
"I tried to fight the system and get those bastards in prison, but the police weren't having any of it, I did at least get some payback on them though." Travis added as he grinned broadly. "Those idiots picked a fight with the wrong person, someone who's dad was far above the leader's dad in the totem pole, they weren't getting away with that and I finally got to identify them, then the leader's dad got caught up in corruption charges and well, let's just say that the only places he can find work nowadays is a greasy spoon restaurant, British equivalent to an American diner, but even that wasn't enough to keep me from moving."
"It wasn't?" Fire asked and Travis nodded. "So why did you move?"
"I had been planning to move to the US before the attack, Stevenage might be a large town with many restaurants but there's not a lot to do in that town and I wanted to go somewhere a bit more exciting, once I moved to New York I discovered my powers." Travis added as he ran a hand through his hair. "Even if I had remained in England, I couldn't have done much, back home the majority of the heroes are based in the US and I couldn't make much difference back home."
"I guess that's fair, though I am curious as to how you discovered your powers given their nature." Fire commented and Travis shook his head.
"That is a story I'm going to have to save for another time." Travis commented before he took a sip from his drink. "If you thought the story of why I moved to the US was long, then I'd recommend bringing a cup of coffee to that story."
"It's one of those stories, huh?" Fire asked and Travis nodded before she stood up. "I'll keep this in mind, but I've got to go, I'm taking over from Claudia on monitor duty."
"Yeah sure, look forward to the next time." Travis nodded before he watched Fire walk off. "Two weeks ago, if you had told me that I'd have an extended conversation with a drop dead gorgeous Brazilian Superhero I would've called you crazy." Travis thought as he finished his drink and leaned back in his chair. "Maybe this dimension won't be so bad after all."
*a few days later*
It was late at night in Star City and Claudia had just returned home from her shift on the Watchtower, Adriana's mission with Wonder Woman had finished a couple of days ago and they were on their way home.
"Swarm and Stegron, the Dinosaur Man showing up in Argentina of all places, what next?" Claudia thought with a chuckle as she put her El Sombre costume away. "Okay, I guess Swarm is actually kinda appropriate since he's a Nazi and they liked to flee to Argentina but still, he's also a Nazi made of bees and Stegron's a guy who's made it his life's work to turn everyone into dinosaurs but what do I know?"
"More than you think." A new, male voice rang out in Claudia's mind and Claudia paused as she went to leave her room.
"If the voice in Adriana's head is our mother, then the voice in my head must be our father." Claudia reasoned before she left the room. "And that's one of the strangest sentences that have ever gone through my head, especially considering that I was just thinking about a Nazi made of bees and a dinosaur man!" Claudia thought before looking around the messy apartment that she shared with her twin sister. "Addy's not back from Argentina yet and I've been spending most of my time on the Watchtower, off course we haven't had time to clean the apartment lately! May as well make a start on it." Claudia thought before she grabbed some cleaning utensils and got to work.
Once she was done with the main room Claudia moved onto the bedrooms starting with the spare bedroom as that required the least amount of work since the twins never had guests over, once that was done Claudia moved onto her sister's room but as she was cleaning under the bed something caught her eye, a little see through bag with a white powder inside it, Claudia used her powers to pull it towards her to confirm her worst fears and immediately grabbed her phone and calling Green Arrow over Facetime. "Green Arrow here, what's up?"
"Arrow, as much as it pains me to say it, I think I know what's been causing Adriana's recent behaviour problems." Claudia said as she used her powers to hold the bag up to the phone. "I take it you know what this is?"
"Cocaine, I'd recognize that stuff anywhere." Green Arrow nodded as his frown deepened. "Where did you find it?"
"Under Adriana's bed, found it whilst I was cleaning her room." Claudia responded as she set the bag down on the table. "Is she back from Argentina yet?"
"She got back right as you got off shift, last I heard Adriana had beamed back down to Star City." Green Arrow nodded with a regretful look on his face. "I'm guessing she isn't home, otherwise you'd be asking her about this?"
"Si, I haven't seen her since she left for that mission." Claudia responded with a frown before letting out a sigh. "I hate top do this so soon after she got off suspension and recovered from her injuries, but I don't know what else to do, and that's not even talking her anxiety attack into account."
"The drugs could explain the attack, anxiety attacks are common in drug addicts." Green Arrow reasoned as Claudia sat down on the bed. "I have to report this to the founding members, but when Adriana comes back on shift tomorrow maybe we can convince her to come clean."
"I said it once and I'll say it again, Adriana is not going to take that well." Claudia responded as her frown deepened. "Never thought I'd ask another League member this but what do you want to do with the cocaine?"
"Bring it up with you when you start your shift tomorrow and we can test it for fingerprints, I'll make sure to get up to the Watchtower early so I can explain the situation." Green Arrow responded before another voice rang out from off screen. "And now Black Canary wants to help us confront Addy."
"Before you ask, I overheard the whole thing." Black Canary added as she stepped into view. "I take it you haven't been handling that stuff Claudia?"
"Only with my powers, and last I checked my powers don't leave fingerprints." Claudia nodded once she got the idea. "I'll try Addy's number once we're done here but I'm not looking forward to this."
"At the end of the day, it'll be for her own good, try to keep that in mind." Black Canary assured the younger hero and Claudia nodded. "Just remember, you're doing this for your sister's sake, regardless of how she takes the news."
"I'll try, see you guys tomorrow." Claudia nodded before Green Arrow hung up, Claudia immediately tried her sister's number but when she got no response Claudia shook her head. "For god's sake Addy. I thought you were better than this!" Claudia thought as she left the room having lost any desire to finish cleaning up. "As unlikely as it seems, I hope to every god I can think off that I'm wrong about this!"
Claudia wouldn't be able to get any sleep that night because she was worried about her sister, what she didn't realize was that Adriana had a good reason for not answering the phone as she was spending the night at Rachel's apartment, but she would soon find out the truth.