Roy
"So, the two of you almost kissed, and she hasn't talked to you since?" Kaldur had decided to come with me to arrest Brother Blood in a sense. Brother Blood is a cult leader of the church of Blood. He's been secretly hypnotizing people to steal different pieces of technology around Star City, and moving them to Midway city. Brother Blood was trying to make a seismic convulsion osculator, a device that can cause an 8.0 earthquake. A police Captain from Midway city herself had been on the case, after finding some of the parts being smuggled. Luckily for her, I had already been tracking Brother Blood's activity in Star city to connect all the dots. Aqualad had volunteered himself to help after asking me for advice about his and Rose's situation, which I was a little surprised I hadn't heard about. Rose, ironically, makes it a habit to talk to me about the more emotional stuff, but apparently she didn't find it necessary this time. Anyway, we were waiting behind a huge shipping container by the railroad for Brother Blood himself to check out his shipment, which one of his goons told us about.
"I fear that I have overstepped and made her uncomfortable. Perhaps…perhaps I was wrong in thinking that she felt the same." Aqualad looked down to the ground, clearly heartbroken about the entire situation. With a sigh, I turned toward Aqualad, a little sympathetic about the whole thing. I'm not sure when it happened, but I somehow became the voice of reason between the two. I'm hoping it's just because I know both of them pretty well, and not because they think I give them the best relationship advice. Even though I did tell him that he should wait, I do feel for Kaldur. It's not his, or Rose's fault that she didn't have a normal human life with emotional experience. She's had to basically teach herself the emotional aspect of things like romance, and she's still learning.
"As much as I want to tell you that I told you so, I'll hold off. To be fair, I do think she feels the same." I pulled out an arrow and prepped it into my bow. Aqualad gave me a look before letting out a breath and put his head in his hands.
"Then why is she avoiding me?" I gave him a dumbfounded look before leveling with Kaldur. These two are going to drive me crazy.
"It's Archangel. She's probably freaking out and overthinking it." As smart and talented as Rose is, she can be really spazzy. Aqualad thought about it for a minute before chuckling and pulling out his water bearers.
"You are right, my friend. I wish I would have held off on telling her, but now that she knows, I should just tell her directly how I feel and explain everything to her."
"Just take things slow with her. You're my best friend, but I think of Rose like a little sister. Off of principle, if you mess up, I have to hurt you." From the corner of my eye, I saw a figure coming out from the shadows. A group to be more specific. In the middle, the tall older man, with a black suit on, and a blood red tie. His white hair and red eyes stood out. He was muscular and had a military confidence that lacked humility, but no one could argue it wasn't rightfully so. Luckily for us, Captain Hayes had taken the last part of the osculator in Midway city, where she was holding it until she could be sure that Midway city police wasn't compromised. She insisted, as she was far in the case, that she be the one inside the container to confront and arrest Brother Blood herself.
It was a moment of pure and utter chaos on the railroad. In an instant, the peaceful moment had turned into a moment of violent power struggles. It started when Brother Blood opened the door revealing Captain Julia Hayes of the Midway City Police department. She stood in the connex as smug and more confident than any other officer could be against a superpowered human. With a sly smirk, her arms crossed and inhibitor collar in hand, Captain Hayes stood proudly as if to mock Blood's failure. He had been caught, and foiled without even thinking someone was onto him. The obvious attack on his pride was enough to spark an angry scowl across his face.
"Sorry, were you expecting something else? You're under arrest Blood, for conspiring mass destruction. Put your hands in the air and come quietly." You would think Captain Hayes had so much more than a handgun and a few extra magazines on her person. She was going against the Brother Blood. The man with telekinetic powers, and superhuman strength. The very same Brother Blood with his own cult dedicated to him and his bloodline, who can control minds, and make illusions. The very same with vampire-like abilities to steal abilities through taking blood. Brother Blood is a menace, and Captain Hayes had more guts than most to step up to him. Even as the villain growled at the cornered Captain, she did nothing but smirk cockily at him.
"Get her out of my sight and find the stabilizer!" Without hesitation, I shot three arrows to stop the three cloaked henchmen coming at the Captain. Aqualad and I jumped down from our hiding place so that we could end this. Captain Hayes took out her gun, full of rubber bullets, shaking her head.
"I guess we're going the hard way." Shots were fired and without hesitation, everyone went into action. Aqualad and Captain Hayes took out each of the cloaked cultists, knocking them down as fast as they were coming. It's obvious Brother Blood came prepared for a fight as he brought multiple of his followers with him to make sure that the stabilizer was in hand. I went for Brother Blood himself, avoiding his punches and attempts to cut me. Without missing a beat, I managed to keep just out of touch with all his attacks, while throwing in a few hits of my own. The Cult leader kept an even look not showing frustration, or annoyed at his progress. It wasn't until I was backed into the corner did I realize what he was trying to do. WIth a smirk, Brother Blood grabbed a nearby crate and threw it at me. I quickly rolled out of the way, still back into the corner.
"You really think you can beat me?" Aqualad and Captain Hayes finished up the cultist with ease. Aqualad met my gaze, giving a curt nod, knowing what to do.
"I'm Sebastian Blood. You can't hope to beat me with a few arrows, boy." Brother Blood was closing in on me now, with larger, unavoidable objects. I took another arrow and quickly shot it at him, but he easily dodged it. Aqualad quietly came up behind him and I smirked.
"How about with an atlantean?" Aqualad brought his mace down onto Brother Blood only to go directly through him. My eyes widened and I realized what had happened, Brother Blood can make illusions. A deep, dark chuckle echoed around us, as Captain Hayes ran up to the two of us.
"How underwhelming. You don't understand the enemy you all just made." Three large conex came our way fast. Aqualad grabbed the captain while I moved to shoot a grappling hook arrow towards where the voice was coming from. Landing on top of a large stack of shipping containers, I had another arrow in hand ready to shoot at Brother Blood, only to find him gone.
"I may not know the identities of the two of you, but I happen to know the dear sweet Captain Hayes has a beautiful family that I would kill to meet." With that I lowered my arrows and looked over to the Captain and Aqualad. The Captain's confident and smug look was replaced with fear and anger and I can't say that I blame her. If I had been quicker then the Captain's family wouldn't be in danger, but none of that matters now. What matters now, is getting to Midway city.
Rose: R. C. Midway High School
Eric was typing away on the computer in the small office type space he has set up in his basement. The rest of us, I.e. Marqueis, Ashley, Ashton, and myself, all prepared to play one last song for today's practice. We had been playing new songs Ashley and Eric had written for the last hour, and all of us were excited for the new rhythm they had created. Normally, we played more alternative rock, but the new songs have had more of a pop rock feel to them. All of us agreed that though their old music was good, this would be a good change. After sipping a little more of my water Ashley took her place at the drums.
"Alright guys, let's play Edge Of Great one more time." We all took to our instruments, and I nodded to Ashton who played the first note on the keyboard.
"Running from the past
Tripping on the now
What is lost can be found, it's obvious
And like a rubber ball
We come bouncing back
We all got a second act, inside of us" My voice came out smoothly for the beginning. The three of us started to join in with our instruments, bringing the song to life.
"I believe
I believe that we're just one dream
Away from who we're meant to be
That we're standing on the edge of
Something big, something crazy
Our best days are yet unknown
That this moment is ours to own
'Cause we're standing on the edge of great" Ashley, Ashton, and Marqueis all joined in on the chorus. I moved around rhythmically as we all started to get into the song.
"(On the edge of great) Great
(On the edge of great) Great
(On the edge of great)
'Cause we're standing on the edge of great"
"We all make mistakes
But they're just stepping stones
To take us where we wanna go
It's never straight, no" Ashton sang into the mic matching showing his amazing voice. Then we began to sing together,
"Sometimes we gotta lean
Lean on someone else
To get a little help
Until we find our way"
"I believe
I believe that we're just one dream
Away from who we're meant to be
That we're standing on the edge of
Something big, something crazy
Our best days are yet unknown
That this moment is ours to own
'Cause we're standing on the edge of great
(On the edge of great) Great
(On the edge of great) Great
(On the edge of great)
'Cause we're standing on the edge of...
Shout, shout
C'mon and let it out, out
Don't gotta hide it
Let your colors blind their eyes
Be who you are no compromise
Just shout, shout
C'mon and let it out, out
What doesn't kill you makes you feel alive" I strummed my small solo carefully.
"Ooh-oh
I believe
I believe that we're just one dream
Away from who we're meant to be
That we're standing on the edge of great
Something big, something crazy
Our best days are yet unknown
That this moment is ours to own
'Cause we're standing on the edge of great
(On the edge of great) On the edge of great
(Great, on the edge of great) On the edge
(Great, on the edge of great)
'Cause we're standing on the edge of…" Ashley, Marqueis and I all stopped playing as Ashton played his solo and sang the last part.
"Running from the past
Tripping on the now
What is lost can be found, it's obvious" (I do not own this song, it's from the show Julie and the Phantoms, which is on Netflix.) I turned towards Ashton excitedly.
"Ashton, I love your voice! Why are you not the lead singer?" I asked as we all began to pack up. Once accepted into the band, I began to bring my own guitar to practice. It was an average light blue and white guitar that I had named Barry, after the Flash since was the one who introduced me to music. The twins' mother was the owner of a music store, so they actually worked at their shop from 12 until they were 16 to fully pay for all the instruments they have for the band. Ashton looked at me with a small smile before ultimately giving a shrug.
"I don't mind singing for a little while, but I've never actually felt interested in singing for the band." Marqueis snorted as he put up his bass.
"Please, I've heard you belting out our songs while you were in your room. You should definitely sing more for the band." I could see a small tint of red form on Ashton's face while Marqueis smiled at him bashfully. I glanced between the two and Ashley, Eric, and I all shared knowing smirks. I had discovered a few days ago that the two definitely had feelings for each other. No one has necessarily told me to verify, but I would see the two giving strange glances at each other, and the small blushes in between conversations. The conversation is something I definitely wanted to have with Marqueis tonight as we did our project.
"Also Eric, you and Ashley have written the most amazing songs, I wonder why the two of you don't sing them in the band as well?" Eric gave a small blush as he leaned back in his chair.
"I have major stage fright when I sing on stage. It took a lot of me to speak at your audition, let alone do a full show. I'll just stick to managing you all. I'm good at it after all." Ashley rolled her eyes as she mumbled some words under her breath that I chose not to listen in on. Sometimes she would get like this when Eric doubted himself, but I leave it off to the fact that the two often have their own little world. A little like Marqueis and—ohhhhhh. Well this certainly makes a lot of sense.
A small sense of jealousy washed over me as I watched the four interact. It was not necessarily about the fact that they each had a crush on each other, or even how close they were as a group, but because it was not Kaldur and I. In fact, I don't think it could ever be the two of us. I have been avoiding talking about the moment we had for three days now and the more time I spent avoiding it, the more I thought of all the interactions we have ever had. That was not the first intimate moment we have had. There were the times on the Santa Prisca mission, the walks home, the time in the desert, and especially our day in Columbus. The moment we had in the bioship was just the moment I finally understood just what those feelings meant. I realized that it meant that we wanted to do things like hold hands, hug, and kiss to express the feelings we have. I realized that it meant we wanted to cherish each other, and bring out the best in each other. It means that just having these feelings for each other were no longer enough and that things would change between us. The most important thing I realized, however, was that in order for him to be happy with me, I needed to be as complete as he is otherwise I will only bring him down.
The sad truth is I am not that complete of a person. I am nowhere near put together, nor am I stable. I have too many insecurities, too many flaws. I get too upset over the smallest things. I get frustrated so easily, and I can get so narrow minded when it comes to events such as Dr. Oz. Besides that there are plenty of more beautiful women than myself that he can be with. I know all these things, I understand I am not the logical partner for Kaldur….so why do I feel so sad?
"Yeah mom what's up?…wait, slow down. Ok, ok! I'm on my way." Marqueis said frustratedly on his cell phone before turning to me.
"I'm sorry Rosey, it looks like my mom wants me to come home so I can help with the project today." A frazzled look came across Marqueis' face as he grabbed his bag.
"Is everything ok?" I asked curiously
"Oh yeah, my mom just has a work problem, which means I have to go straight home. Probably just another threat from some guy. It'll probably pass over by the morning." I raised a brow at him, steadily getting a little more confused.
"Oooo. Must be so hard to be a police captain's son." Ashley said with a jokingly sarcastic tone. My eyes widened in surprise as Marqueis gave the girl a playful glare.
"Wait, your mom is a police captain?" I asked shocked at the information
"Oh yeah, she was dad's old partner before she got the position. That's how our families know each other." Ashton explained.
"….and threats are normal?" I asked clearly shocked by the nonchalant mention of the facts. Marqueis grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder.
"Well, it happens every now and then. My mom is very aggressive with solving cases. She always feels like she has something to prove being a cop in a world full of superheros. At this point I'm used to it, I guess Hawkgirl is busy, I think mom said Red Arrow and Aqualad are helping us out this time." My body unintentionally stiffened at the mention of my best friends. Was this the task he asked for my help with tonight? This could get complicated.
"So who is it this time? Last time it was Brainwave right?" Ashton asked curiously
"Mom wouldn't tell me, but if she has Red Arrow and Aqualad coming, it must not be too serious." Well. That certainly wasn't flattering. I mean, I know we are not in the League yet, but we're nothing to sneeze at either. Marqueis grabbed his bag to get ready to go, but I could feel worry fill my gut.
"Uh Marqueis! I know you guys are probably used to it, but I would feel so much better if I went with you. Just you know, to walk you home?" I said nervously, All eyes were on me as they took in what I said. Admittedly, in my human form, I probably didn't look like much of a threat. Though I am more athletic and actually know dozens of fighting styles, my gentle personality and kind nature probably gave off a defenseless air. It is no wonder they all are skeptical about my offer.
"Rosey, don't take this personally, but I doubt you'd be much help in a fight." Ashley said bluntly. If only they knew. A sarcastic laugh came out of my mouth that likely sounded nervous to anyone who doesn't know me, despite the irritation. I walked over to a stack of pallets Eric had laying in his basement with a smile.
"Do you need these pallets?" I asked kindly with a smile. Eric raised a brow before shaking his head. I raised my leg above my head, and in a sharp, precise motion, I brought my leg down, breaking all 3 pallets. Without another word, I grabbed my bag and Barry, before looking at Marqueis with a smile.
"Ready to go?" Marqueis wordlessly nodded, still staring at the pallets with shock. We walked out of the basement leaving our other band members to sit in shocked at my handwork.
The two of us walked through the streets of Midway city, chatting and laughing as I secretly stayed vigilant watching for danger. The street lights lit our way while we stayed on the main streets as best as we could. Marqueis explained to me his family dynamic. His mother and father were both cops, his dad was a Lieutenant in internal affairs, while his mother was a Captain of a department that specializes in affairs involving supervillains, The Metahuman, Extraterrestrial Crime Unit, or MECU. Her department is called in whenever there's a possibility that super villains could be involved in a case, and if she determines that it should be a League level response, she contacts Hawkgirl and it's taken care of from there. Apparently Marqueis' mother works hard to make sure it stays in her department, and has a fairly good track record in closing most cases that come to her, making her both a great informant and well respected twins father was her partner for years until she became the head of the unit, and he became the Lieutenant of the unit still working very closely with her.
It was nice to hear something about such an amazing family, and it helped to make sense of why Marqueis was so nonchalant about the threat. Him and his two 7 and 8 year old sisters, Kennedy, and Nara had gone through this multiple times before, but whoever gives them the threat never makes it to them. The closest Marqueis had ever gotten to any who wanted to hurt him was being within reaching distance of Jonathan Sterling after he beat him in a gym class basketball game. If I was lucky, tonight would be no different, and I can avoid the risk of exposing my secret to him.
As much as I wanted to think of the possible dangers of the current situation, the fact that Kaldur and I haven't spoken about the incident in the bioship still lingered in my mind. My heart feels so heavy when I think of him from the sadness that even though I believe I really like him, but I can't be with him. I know that he will eventually realize that he can do so much better than me. I can't hold him back, not when there are people like Casey, or Artemis, or Tula in this world who are much more together than myself. No matter how much it hurts.
"Sooo you want to tell me what's wrong?" Marqueis said, catching my attention. My eyebrows scrunched up in confusion at Marqueis statement.
"How do you know that something is wrong?" I asked curiously as we walked.
"You don't normally zone out, but for the last few days you've been doing that a lot." I let out a sigh realizing that now is as good a time as any to get this all off my chest. Then I told him as much about the bioship situation as I could. Of course I gave him a fabricated story with the same elements. Like instead of the bioship, we were in the company van. And instead of us waiting on M'gann and Superboy to get information of a prison breakout, we were simply waiting on the two to finish a few minimal tasks before we could drive them home. All in all, the cover story and the real thing were surprisingly pretty close. Marqueis took all of it in as I spoke, occasionally asking questions for clarification.
"So you and Jackson almost kissed in a van at work, and you want to date him, but you keep making excuses as to why you can't? Clearly, he likes you enough to want to kiss you at least, otherwise you both wouldn't have had that moment." I puffed out my checks for a second. Marqueis had been given the civilian version of what happened at "work" twice now, but he insisted that I am merely making excuses.
"They're not excuses, Marqueis, I'm serious. Jackson deserves better than me." Marqueis gave me a questioning look, as we continued our long walk to his house..
"Ok, explain the problem one more time.." I let out a crisp, annoyed sigh to reiterate my points. He still was not understanding the complexities of the situation. Granted, it is hard to explain all of this with a cover story, and with the assumption that I am human, but still it was not complicated to understand.
"Listen Jackson may actually like me, but he may not understand that I am a complicated person. I have a lot of "baggage". My biological parents and I are at each other's throats, and it will likely be that way for a very long time. I am not that pretty, nor am I very feminine. I don't understand a lot of things as far as social skills go because of the homeschooling thing, and to make matters even worse, I have no idea how to deal with things romantically. I've never liked anyone before or been in a relationship.I'm not like Casey or Ashley. I'm not confident, or charming, or flirty, and I clearly don't really get social interactions that well." I said looking off to the side. Marqueis gave me a confused look as he thought of what I said.
"Rosey it just sounds like you're scared, and you're making excuses because of that." My eyebrows knitted together. What am I possibly afraid of? Kaldur has always been someone I felt close and safe with, to fear him would not make sense.
"I don't understand. Why would I be afraid of Ka- I mean Jackson?"
"Because you think eventually he might see you the same crazy, stupid way you see you. None of it is true, but I think you're making up these crazy excuses about not being as good as Casey or Ashley because you're afraid that he does think that, and you'll get hurt." I let out a breath taking in everything Marqueis said. Of course, Kaldur has never given me a reason to believe he does subconsciously feel that way about me, but am I truly making excuses because I'm afraid of getting hurt? Could it be that I am simply allowing fears and emotions to cloud my ability to read this situation for what it really is?
"Regardless, you should just talk to him about it. You can't just take the decision to be with you away from him. Let him see who you are, and make those choices on his own, good or bad. Even if you do end up getting hurt, me and the guys will always be there for you." I thought carefully about Marqueis' words of wisdom. Maybe I should think about all this more before talking to him.
"Maybe you're right. I guess I should think all of this over again…Sooo when are you going to tell Ashton about your feelings for him?" I said with a sly smirk. Marqueis instantly turned towards me with shock in his eyes.
"How did you know?" I let out a small giggle crossing my arms.
"I wasn't aware it was a secret. I think Ashton is the only one who doesn't see it." Marqueis let out a small sigh before giving me a small pleading look. I could see the worry in his eyes as clear as day. .
"Please don't tell anyone. I haven't come out to my parents yet." I raised a brow. Is coming out actually a thing in this day and age? I always assumed it was just a movie topic, but I suppose I can see how it is real. Some people can be very cold hearted by hating those just for who they are and who they love. From how Marqueis describes his parents, I don't believe they are those types of people.
"Marqueis, I can understand the fear of people not liking you for who you are, but from what you tell me, I don't think your parents are like that. Besides, no one should stop you from loving who you want to love. If you want to tell Ashton how you feel, tell him." My hand gently laid on Marqueis' shoulder as we walked in comfort. He relaxed a little, looking over to me with a little less worry in his eyes, and a playful smirk all the same.
"Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black… You know, I've dated plenty of girls before, but I don't think I've ever felt anything for them. Everytime I talk to Ashton, I feel like he just gets me, like no one else does. He's funny, and sweet, annoyingly playful but still amazing in his own way. I'm just afraid of messing everything up." I looked down and for a second we were both silent. I completely get where Marqueis is coming from. In a way, we have similar situations. We have our reasons for not confronting our feelings with the person we like, and our fears if we do. I suppose that I can find comfort in knowing it's normal for humans to feel this way. I turned to Marqueis and gave him a sweet smile.
"I guess we won't know until we try." Marqueis gave me a thankful, understanding smile as he adjusted his book bag straps, now having a clearer head than before. A small tint of red covered his cheeks for a second as if an artist painted it on him with subtlety. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a person in a large red hood come out of the alleyway. The person kept their head down, hiding their face. Looking forward, I see 2 more people, walking toward us in the same red hoodie, hiding their faces as well. Something's not right. The familiar rush of adrenaline that I get from the instinctive feeling of an upcoming battle filled me to my core. It looks like I will be having a harder time than I hoped helping Marqueis to his home. I moved my eyes to the left side of the street seeing an opening. Moving quickly, I grabbed Marqueis' hand and ran across the street.
"Rosey, what-" Without missing a beat, a multitude of gunshots rang out in the street. I pulled Marqueis behind a car and he shook beside me as I took a deep breath opening up my purple messenger bag, grabbing a book and placing my guitar next to me.
"Oh shit! Shit, Shit, Shit. Rosey we're-"
"Marqueis calm down. We need to get out of here. When I count to three, hide. There's only 3 of them, so I can take them out. One, two-" I said, glancing from around the hood of the car.
"Take them out? Rosey this isn't the matrix, you can't just-" Rolling my eyes, I pulled out the weapon of Gaia, of which I need to rename and waited for the reload.
"THREE!" Without a second thought, I threw the book out to the left side as I took the opportunity to run at the first hooded man. In a quick motion, I kicked the first man down knocking the wind out of him and the gun he had out of his wasting any time I zig zagged my way to the second person as they shot at me, easily evading their bullets. The second one was just as easy to take down. Grabbing his hand gun, I forced him to aim upward before he could shoot, then landed a solid hit in his stomach with the end of the cylindrical weapon. He slumped over in my arm and I noticed the last hooded figure running towards me. I focused my energy on my weapon, extending it into a staff, to make it as inconspicuous as possible that it's a magical item. This one was a woman, and I can tell she had a little more fight in her. She threw the gun away herself and came at me in a boxing pose. I used the staff as momentum to catapult myself over her. Within seconds I had grabbed her by her arm and flipped her on her back before finally punching her hard in the face for a quick knockout. Suddenly I heard the familiar buzzing noise of electricity echoed behind me followed by a loud pain filled groan. I quickly spun around to find Aqualad next to an unconscious hooded man to my complete and utter shock.
"A-Aqualad?!" I involuntarily stammered. My heart felt as if it was going to hope right out of my chest. Even at the worst time, he still manages to put these butterflies in gut.
"Rose how fast can you suit up? We have a situation-"
"Suit up? Rosey, what does he mean?" My eyes widened and I mentally kicked myself for forgetting about Marqueis. I turned my head to see Marqueis running towards me with my guitar in hand. Marqueis gasped when he ran up to the two of us.
"Rosey?" Aqualad sounded very confused as he looked at me. I could feel my face heating up, slightly embarrassed, but mostly nervous under Aqualad's gaze.
"Wait, wait, wait. You look a whole lot like…OH CRAP! You're a SUPERHERO?"
"I- uh-" Looking between the two boys nervously. My mind drew blanks as I thought of who, what, and how to confront either situation. Marqueis took in a loud, shocked gasp as he connected the dots.
"Oh my god, it makes complete sense! Jackson looks and sounds like Aqualad, he's always wearing high collar jackets. You being able to fight so well, and being so perfect! Being homeschooled and now telling you to suit up?" Shots began to fire behind us and I could see a group of red hooded figures running towards us. Not having any time to waste, I looked at Aqualad and he nodded at me. I grabbed Marqueis hand and pulled him along as the three of us ran off.
We didn't stop running until we reached a safe abandoned apartment. Marqueis' house was still a solid 6 blocks away. It seems like whoever is after the Hayes' clearly has a large array of followers behind them, because there had to be at least 15 people coming after us. I pushed a large, old bookshelf in front of the rickety fragile door before turning to Marqueis. He was slumped onto his knees, in the middle of the room, gasping for air either from the chase, or from the anxiety of the situation itself.
"Are you ok?"I asked, kneeling down beside him.
"Rosey, you're a 170 pound girl who just took down 2 grown men, and moved a huge old bookshelf 10 feet without breaking a sweat, all to protect me from people who want to kill me. No, I'm not ok." I froze and moved my hand away from his shoulder.
"I understand this may be… a lot, but I can explain."
"Rosey, I'm not hurt that you didn't tell me at first. I get that superheros need their identities to be a secret, but you and I both know that I am smart enough to know that you can't give me a believable cover story and protect me at the same time. So just tell me the truth. You too, Jackson." Aqualad and I exchanged worried looks before I finally let out a sigh and stood up.
"Esor." I could feel my wings come out into full view and my dark hair fell back into its normal white hue. Marqueis let out a small gasp and I could see him visibly scoot back away from me. Slowly, I bent down and pulled out my mask from my bag.
I tried not to tell him everything. Of course, exposing my and Kaldur's identity in general is taboo, but I could never take the risk in telling him about my true heritage. While he sat and listened to my explanation, Marqueis was nothing but kind and understanding. He held my hand and encouraged me to go forward when I struggled to see where his head was during it all. This is a lot for anyone, but Marqueis was taking it like a champ. Aqualad however, stayed completely silent alternating between guarding the door, and watching the two of us, which felt off to me. He only spoke when it came time to explain what was going on and who was after us. The only saving grace is that Red Arrow was with Captain Hayes at a police safehouse on the other side of town. We just need to make it there and we easily find Brother Blood and bring him down.
"So you're telling me that you're from Thanagar, Hawkgirl is your mom, you're from Atlantis, your part time job is a covert operations team with other teenage superheroes AND Brother Blood is trying to kill me and my family." I gave his hand a squeeze before standing up and going around the corner to get changed.
"Uh, yeah. That accurately sums it all up." Marqueis slowly nodded before standing up as well.
"Huh, my Rosey the Thanagarian hero. This is so cool." A smile played on my lips as I could almost hear the smile forming on his face. It feels nice to have a friend outside my superhero life that I don't have to hide anything from, and considering he isn't fuming at the moment.
"I trust you won't tell anyone about mine or your Rosey's secret?" Aqualad's voice sounded a bit irritable and slightly hostile. I turned the corner to even see Aqualad giving Marqueis a hostile look. My eyebrows knitted together as a shot Aqualad a look of my own before smiling at Marqueis, who smiled back.
"Of course I won't! I'm pretty sure Ashley would kill me if I lost our new guitarist and singer." Marqueis threw his arm around my shoulder for a side hug. I could see Aqualad's eyes narrow to my utter confusion. Does he not trust Marqueis to keep my secret, or does he not like Marqueis? He didn't seem to have a problem with him prior to today, and I can't imagine why Aqualad would suddenly have a grudge against him today. Perhaps I am simply overthinking it. Aqualad typically has my best interest at heart.
"Ok, we need to get you across the city and to the safe house."
"But there's still a bunch of cultists running around on the streets, and the closest main street is still two blocks away." Marqueis said, surprised. I weighed our options for a moment before finally settling on a solution.
"I can fly us all the way there." I said Aqualad gave me a concerned look.
"Are you certain? I have never seen you fly with such a weight on your wings." He wasn't wrong. Since I have only been awake for less than a year, my wings have yet to gain the strength necessary to carry a large amount of weight while flying. Unlike the rest of my body, my wings were not as developed when I escaped so I have been growing their muscles in order to withstand my strength. Eventually, it will all even out, but until then I have been taking it easy.
" I may need to stop in between, and I won't be able to protect us, but it will be fine. Don't worry." I gave Aqualad a smile as we moved towards the stairs, Marqueis going first. I grabbed onto Aqualad's arm, getting him to look at me. Marqueis' words played in my head as I carefully thought of my next words. My heart beat faster as I stared into his green eyes. I know he is more than likely upset with me for avoiding him for the last few days, just as I know I can not hide from my feelings any longer. Talking with Marqueis and taking the leap of faith to tell him my secret identity gave me the courage I needed to take Marqueis' advice. I have to give him the choice in deciding if he'd like to be with me, not take the choice from him because of my own insecurities.
"Um, I am sorry for being so distant these last few days" At this point, I was certain that my cheeks were red and I could see a hint of red on Aqualad's cheeks as well.
"There is no need for you to apologize. I believe…. I believe I now understand why you have been so hesitant, so I will not interfere any further." Aqualad looked at me with both hurt and understanding in his eyes, much to my confusion. He turned forward and I took in what he was currently saying, and thought about the night in the bioship, where we almost kissed. Was Marqueis possibly wrong about this situation, or did I wait too long to tell him that I feel the same? My heart broke as I looked at the hurt on Aqualad's face, the last thing I would want is for Aqualad to think that I don't care for him.
"Interfere? Aqualad I-"
"It is well, Archangel. If being your friend is as close to you as I can be, then I will happily do so. I simply will need time to… adjust." My eyebrows knitted together in confusion as Aqualad continued up the stairs leaving me to myself. Is he saying that he just wants to be friends? Why would he need to adjust? I do not understand the reasoning, but it seems to me that Aqualad clearly feels that the other day was a mistake. And my heart truly aches at the fact.
I decided that it may be best to simply hold off on the conversation with Aqualad until after this whole ordeal was over. Needless to say, it has a very awkward atmosphere. Aqualad had not necessarily said it, but I could tell that he was upset by the way he tightened his jaw whenever Marqueis said something. Then whenever he looked at me I could see the underlying hint of sadness and longing in his eyes. I want nothing more than to try and have another conversation with Aqualad to try to tell him that I like him, and that being with him would make me more than happy, but he seemed so dismissive when I brought it up before, and give the life of my friend and his family is at stake, the issue seems a little more than trivial in the list of priorities. Unlike both Aqualad and myself, Marqueis was either completely ignoring the tense atmosphere, or completely oblivious to it. Marqueis was handling the whole, cult led manhunt, and friend being a superhero thing better than most. Even with his whole glass half full mantra, I would have expected him to be more overwhelmed by the situation. Especially with Aqualad clearly having an attitude towards him this entire flight. Marqueis had taken a comfortable spot on my back, just for a little added protection, while Aqualad was holding onto my arm as comfortably as he could.
"This is amazing! You are so lucky to have wings, flying is the best!" I chuckled at Marqueis' excitement as I flapped my wings as hard as I could. The weight of both Aqualad and Marqueis was a lot more cumbersome than I had originally thought it would be. My breathing started to become more and more uneven. I could hear a beep coming from Aqualad's communicator.
"Aqualad... I'm with Archangel, and we have Marqueis, the Captain's son…Yes. Copy that. We'll rendezvous there. Archangel, can you make it to Midway city's hall?" Midway City Hall was only about a mile and a half away from where we are now. Even though I am pretty winded from carrying this much weight, another mile and a half should not be a problem.
"Yes. That should be fine."
"Uh guys? I think we have a problem!" Marqueis said as he tapped me on my shoulder. I glanced down to the rooftops around us to see a large net coming towards us from the left.
"Archangel, there's another one coming on the right!" Aqualad yelled.
"Hang on tight!" With that sole warning, I flapped my wings even harder than I had before and took us further up at a surprising speed. Marqueis yelped before tightening his grip around my neck. Gun shots sounded off around us and I swerved and dived around bullets and nets alike. My wings began to burn from the over usage, but I couldn't stop nor could I stay up as high as I was. I was now at rooftop level, zigzagging around the nets being thrown.
"It looks like there's four of them on the roof adjacent to us!" Aqualad yelled to me over the winds. Finally coming up with a plan, I flapped my wings with the last bit of strength that I could manage, going straight up and building the electricity in the air.
"What buildings?" I yelled through tired breaths.
"One is that old candle factory to your left, and the other one is the restaurant on your right. 50 meters ahead!" Marqueis yelled. I spotted them both, two hooded figures on each building both with weapons aimed right at us. I could feel my hair start to rise and the electricity in the air sparked furiously. Without a second thought, I unleashed two powerful bolts of electricity down on the hooded figures, which hit them successfully, but certainly gave away our position. Without a second thought I looked around for City hall rooftop to find it just a few meters away.
"Get ready for a rough landing." We were losing altitude fast and before I knew it, all three of us were rolling onto the city hall rooftop. I rolled and rolled until I hit the hard wall knocking the wind out of me even more. All the sound around me sounded muffled, and I believe I blacked out for just a moment. Flying with that much weight really took a lot more out of me than I believe it would. My wings throbbed from pushing them so hard, with weight that I probably wasn't ready to take, but all in all I wasn't hurt.I just need to rest for a minute.
"Archangel!" I could hear three different footsteps rush towards me. I opened my eyes to see Red Arrow, Marqueis, and Aqualad all rushing towards me. I propped myself up against the wall quickly as they rushed to my aid. Aqualad was the first to reach me. For a second, I felt complete comfort in the fact that everyone was ok, but I felt utterly relaxed when I saw Aqualad in particular. He cupped my face, checking me for injuries, much to my surprise. It wasn't even an hour ago that he was telling me that the other day was a mistake, but he clearly cares for me. I mean, I have never seen him do this for our other teammates, or even a civilian. Boys are so confusing. Red Arrow, who I suppose was waiting on the roof for us came second, giving me a quick glance over for my injuries, then Marqueis came very visibly freaking out with a small scratch on his face.
"Are you ok?"
"Are you hurt?"
"You have electricity powers too?" Everyone looked at Marqueis in confusion and a visible blush formed on his face in embarrassment.
"Right, right, priorities. Sorry." Despite the rough landing we had, I honestly was not too hurt. I mainly feel weak from the overexertion, but other than that, I had no injuries. Thankfully, it should not take too long for me to recover from the exertion. Maybe 5 minutes at the most before I am able to walk and run on my own. In fact, I can feel myself feeling a little stronger already.
"I just need a moment to rest my wings." I said through heavy breaths.
"Nice flying Sparky. I could've taken the four on the roof though." Red Arrow said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes before giving him a sassy scoff.
"Thank you for communicating that after the fact, Speedy." I only ever call him that to get under his skin. Even now, after being shot at and chased, he still makes time to give me a glare and smack my arm to which I chuckled. Aqualad looked at me worriedly before scooping me up in his arms. This time a heavy blush formed on my face, as we took off down the stairs. Marqueis gave me a knowing, smug smirk and I shot him a playful glare. Once we made it down to the bottom level, Red Arrow checked outside the door before turning back to us.
"As much as I wish we could take a break, we have to get Marqueis to the safe spot and stop Brother Blood. Given Sparky's light show, I give it 5 minutes before they find us." Red Arrow stated as we started to make our way down to the ground. My strength started to come back to me slowly and the weakness in my extremities started to fade.
"I should be fine in a few minutes. Take Marqueis to the safe house, Aqualad and I can lead the cultist away and start tracking Brother Blood." Red Arrow gave me a nod, but Marqueis immediately interjected. I could see the fear in his eyes as he looked at me.
"Wait what? No! You just crash landed onto city hall not even 5 minutes ago! I can't do much, but I can at least try-" I moved to get out of Aqualad's arms, giving him a soft smile.
"Marqueis, it's fine. I recover much faster than humans, and I'll be with Aqualad. I'll see you when this is all over, just make sure your family is safe." Besides the fact that I was feeling better, it was still a decent enough time at night that we could blend in with the crowd, if they stayed on the main streets. So far, we've been moved to residential areas, both abandoned and occupied, where there wasn't much foot traffic. So if they stay on the main roads we should be able to confuse the cultists. Marqueis gave me a soft, unsure smile.
"Ok, when this is all over then."
It was easier to confuse the cultist than one would've thought. Once we went onto the street, Red Arrow and Marqueis went one way, and Aqualad and I went the other. Aqualad and I didn't need to talk in order to know what our plan would be. We had to figure out where Brother Blood was as well as pull the attention away from Red Arrow and Marqueis. Red Arrow just had to throw on a coat, and the rest was easy. Since the cultist probably didn't know that Red Arrow had met up with us, the attention was already on Aqualad and myself so we let the cultist follow us, and then get the information about Brother Blood's whereabouts from them.
"You should not have pushed yourself too hard, Archangel." Aqualad scolded me as we ran. Without looking at him, I gave him a scoff. Sometimes, it seems to me that Aqualad forgets that I am not fragile. I am made to be durable, and resilient, which is why I take so many hard injuries. Even my enemies know it, that is why they waste no energy in attacking me. So why is it that he feels the need to scold me? By now a decent four cultists were following us. I nodded towards an empty alleyway for us to go to and Aqualad nodded back.
"I never said that doing that was ideal. I had to make sure you and Marqueis got to safety, and flying was our safest bet." Once we got a good distance into the alleyway, we turned around and got ready for a fight. The cultist came at us full force, with bullets flying and swords at the ready. Aqualad pulled out his water bearers, as I pulled out the weapon of Gaia. I transformed the weapon into a boomerang and threw it before rolling out of the way of the bullets. The boomerang knocked both of the hand guns out of the cultist hands and I caught it with ease.
"Marqueis safety was important, but not more important than your own." Aqualad had easily taken on the two cultists with swords, turning his water bearers into dual swords of his own. Being very skilled in swordsmanship himself, he took them out with ease. I had taken the two cultists who previously had guns, and now had knives. Transforming the weapon into gauntlets, I took on a boxing stance and rushed them with no difficulties. The first one was easily knocked out with one punch. The other caught onto my fighting style, so I quickly turned the weapon into a whip, dodging his own swipes and slashes. When he finally lifted his arm above him, I used the whip to wrap around his wrist and pulled him towards me with great speed. In a swift motion, I used his momentum to collide right into his stomach, knocking him unconscious.I turned to Aqualad to find a cultist sneaking behind him as he took care of the last of the four, a knife raised above his head. I used the weapon, still as a whip, and launched it at the assailant's hand, knocking the knife out of his hand. The cultists looked at me shocked, as I smirked before transforming the weapon into a naginata and used the blunt end to knock the cultist unconcious. Aqualad turned towards me surprised, but I simply placed my hand on my hip.
"You know, Marqueis wasn't the only person that I wanted to keep safe." I moved to tie the cultists up with a rope Red Arrow gave us before parting ways. Aqualad didn't respond, but instead took in what I said and helped me tie up the cultist. Once we had them all secure, I smacked one of the cultists lightly to wake them up. He groaned and I pulled my mask down once again, naginata still in hand. The cultist had shoulder length blonde hair and beady blue eyes. He looked scrawny, and helpless. I let Aqualad do the talking, providing the menacing demeanor needed for interrogation. The cultist stirred then looked up to see me and jumped.
"Tell us where Brother Blood is hiding and what he is planning."Aqualad stated directly. The cultist scoffed before glaring up at us.
"Why would I tell you?" I stood and pointed my naginata directly at his throat, causing him to freeze in fear. His beady eyes widened like saucers and he looked Aqualad fearfully pleading.
"Because my friend is not in the mood to be kept waiting." It didn't take long for the cultist to figure out his best option. Obviously, I wouldn't resort to torture necessarily, but the act was enough to fool him.
" He's at a warehouse, near the edge of town! Master Blood is using the catacombs to hide so that he can rebuild the stabilizer and destroy Midway city. He's waiting for us to bring back the Hayes family to do it, but it won't keep him from using it." Aqualad and I shared a look before I moved my naginata closer to his neck.
"Take us to the entrance." I said threateningly
The edge of town was desolate, and secluded, the entrance to the catacomb was no different. Hidden behind the large shipping containers, the passage to the catacombs were lit by small candles. Aqualad had taken the liberty of knocking the cultist back out, and tying him back up. We figured he'd make a great marker for Red Arrow to find the passage way, and Red Arrow agreed. So Aqualad and I cautiously walked down there through the catacombs. It was around a mile of a steady drop down under the city, so steep that I feared that if either of us tripped that we would roll the rest of the way down. Yet we treaded carefully the rest of the way down to a very open cavern. Aqualad and I hid behind a large rock as we surveyed the area. The pathway continued around the possibly natural hollowed out area leading to various tunnels that went God knows where on a few different levels. There were numerous cultists working on a large machine that looked similar to that of a tesla coil. The middle of the machine was open and looked like a piece was still needed to get the machine to work. Above them all, standing on a scaffold, was the man himself, Brother Blood. I have read case files on the villian myself and I couldn't deny that his powers were impressive, and formidable. I can honestly say, with the cult, and vampire-like powers, I expected a little…more. He wasn't as scrawny as I expected, in fact he was a decent build, with broad just didn't look as intimidating as I thought he would be. His white hair was slicked back revealing his blood red eyes. A signature red and black cloak with a red coat like that of a military officer with black pants.
"How much longer on the stabilizer?! I want to make this city ground zero." Brother Blood yelled to a cultist holding a clipboard. The cultist was a female wearing a long black and red hood was down showing her long black hair tied back into a loose messy bun.
"The stabilizer should be complete in just a few minutes. Once it's in, it should create a stable field around the next mile and a half and emit an 8.0 earthquake in the city." The female said, Brother Blood paused for a minute, and for a moment, I could have sworn I saw him turn in our direction.
"What is the status of the Hayes'. I want that captain to be the first to suffer." Anger started to fill my every fiber as I thought of Blood hurting my friend. My nails began to dig into my hands, and I started to feel more and more tense from Blood's words. Unwittingly, I could feel Aqualads hand on mine, giving it a small squeeze as if to tell me to calm down.
"Be calm, Archangel." I glared down hard at the ground trying to control my breathing. The sparks that I had unknowingly unleashed began to wither away.
"How can I be calm when he speaks of hurting one of my closest friends?" I whispered back harshly. I never once moved my hand, instead I chose to tighten my grip around his. It was a small gesture attempting to show that my anger wasn't displaced to him,and when Aqualad put his other hand on top of them both, I knew he had not misunderstood.
"I think you'll find that I have an easy solution to that problem." My heart stopped as the two of us sprang apart into a defensive position. There, towering over is on his large platform, was no other than Sebastian Blood. I mentally scolded myself, allowing emotions to affect me knowing that my powers depend heavily on my emotion. Of course Brother Blood noticed the random sparks of electricity going off around him. Readying my weapon, I glared up to the man who looked at me in interest.
"Oh? What do we have here? An angel with a death wish. Although we are a church, we have no interest in following a false prophet." So they follow a murder, fixated on mass destruction and himself. Sounds like they need to get their priorities straight. I rolled my eyes as the man's eyes took in my appearance. It was slightly creepy how he looked at me, but I stood my ground.
Without warning, Aqualad and I were pulled up and backwards, making us fly directly in front of the female with the black hair. Her odd purple eyes looked down on us with a small mischievous look, and an ax in her hand. With eyes widened I took no time in pushing Aqualad out of the way and rolling to the side myself. The female brought down the ax just as I moved out of the way, and let out a small giggle.
"She's more like a little bird, my lord. An ugly one at that. Her friend on the other hand.." She trailed off, giving Aqualad a smirk. A growl escaped my lips as I regained my balance. The female was beginning to make me mad. The two of them likely have the power of telekinesis, which is how this woman was able to fly us over here. One was already going to be hard, but the second one is going to be extremely tricky. I have to take out the girl first. Brother Blood walked over to the two of us calmly before lifting up his hand.
"Jinx. The boy has no use for us, and both of them are nothing to my plans." Aqualad painfully stood up, glaring at the two of them. He pulled out his waterbarers turning them into twin swords.I did the same, keeping the weapon as a naginata.
"You may find it unwise to underestimate us." With that I lunged at the girl, using the naginata to come down on her. The girl, Jinx, used her ax to block my attack before snapping her fingers. Suddenly the floor underneath my feet gave way making me drop down, but not before having unfurled my wings to keep myself from hitting the ground, despite my utter confusion. What happened? The floor was sturdy and strong when I kicked off on it. Could it be the way the girl snapped? I looked up to see Jinx staring down at me with a smirk.
"Oh no. What rotten luck." Gun shots sounded from the other cultists around me and I swiftly dodged them and headed back up to the scaffold to avoid them even further. Within seconds, Jinx came at me with every bit of force she could. Enough force that I was knocked back onto my butt. Jinx brought down her ax and I blocked it with the naginata before kicking her shin and pushing her to the side. Without skipping a beat, I rolled back onto my feet, changing the weapon into a knife. Her hand to hand combat skills aren't the best but her powers seem to be centered around making bad things happen, i.e a sturdy scaffold collapsing specifically under me. It would make sense considering her name is Jinx. another snap sounded, but this time a bright, purple light came speeding towards me. I jumped out of the way, allowing the light to hit a different scaffold behind us. In seconds, the scaffold began to fall apart, landing on the cultists below. For a split second, I took my eyes off of Jinx and noticed Aqualad fall to the ground. He was struggling to stand and looking tired, with a few cuts and bruises forming. Brother Blood walked towards the edge of the scaffold with his hands behind his back, looking down to the cultist.
Suddenly I was knocked backwards into the railings. Jinx walked towards me slowly, but with confidence, like a lioness hunting their prey. I looked over to Aqualad, who caught eyes with me. I suppose neither of us were doing well at the moment. Brother Blood, truthfully, had no scratches on him. Jinx wasn't doing the best, but she certainly had gotten the drop on me. Without any warning, Aqualad's eyes widened and he began to float up into the air. My heart raced in fear as I watched Brother Blood walk towards Aqualad with his hand raised. He's killing him, choking him with telepathy. The thoughts of all the things I haven't been able to say, the things I wanted him to know were fleeting before my eyes. I could see Kaldur reach out to me and the fear that I once felt had quickly turned into pure, unadulterated rage.
"Aww. Were you trying to find your boyfriend? Lord Blood will take care of him, and then your friends the Hayes', but don't worry. I'm sure you'll be able to watch." As Jinx tried to land an overhead kick, I lifted my hand and grabbed her leg before it hit. Glaring up, I took a low voltage of electricity, enough to knock her out, before tossing her off the side of the scaffold. With Jinx out of the way, I lifted my hand towards Brother Blood, not necessarily caring about the damage I was about to cause, and shot out a powerful burst of electricity at the cult leader. It hit the wall behind him causing the cavern to shake and rubble to begin to fall. Aqualad dropped to the scaffold gasping for air. I steadily flew towards Brother Blood. Without even realizing it, I had let my anger take such a strong hold of me. This man single handedly had threatened the lives of my friends, and tried to kill the boy I care for the most. My blood boiled, and raw animalistic rage filled me to my core. The electricity around me was sparking rampantly, so much so that my hair had risen upwards and the mask that hid my face rose as well. Everything within arms reach of me was kept floating by the electricity given off by me. Below me, the cultist all began to panic and exit the cavern, yelling in fear and terror as they escaped the collapsing area. Still I persisted, my anger completely clouding my judgment. I did not care about the cultist beneath me or the instability of the cavern itself. This raging fire inside me leaves me feeling nothing but ruthless and uncaring causing the electricity around me to seem like I was a moving plasma ball. Anything around me simply floated, suspended by my electricity. Brother Blood kept a straight face, as I slowly moved towards him and this time I was the lioness on the hunt. It was a strange thing, having my powers completely untamed and free. It felt as if I was in a way, becoming electricity itself. I could feel even the smallest electrical impulses around me, including those in a person. So when I noticed the lack of electrical impulses in the Sebastian Blood Who was reaching towards a large piece of rubble that had fallen next to him, I couldn't help but feel offended. With a loud scoff I lifted my hand and fired a large amount of electricity at where I saw the false image.
"Do you truly think you can hide from me? After all you've done?" My voice came out vicious and menacing as I turned my head around to search for his electrical impulses. It wasn't hard given that most if not all the cultists had fled the cavern. When I finally found him by the convulsion osculator, I silently glided down to him with my hand raised, ready to blast him with as much electricity as I could manage. He hurt Aqualad. He tried to take him away from me. He deserves it. Every last ounce of electricity as I could muster, he deserves.
"There you are." Brother Blood's eyes widened when he began to float up, but I didn't care. I was going to hurt him like he hurt Kaldur. Hurt him worse than he tried to do. He tried to take him away from me. Right now, all I cared for was vengeance. Vengeance for the fear of a mother for her family. Vengeance for the boy who I knew felt he had to endure the burden of being fine with a situation he never asked for. Vengeance for the boy that I cared for, who the man before me tried to kill. The fear in his eyes gave me all the more strength to move forward. He should be feeling this fear. He should feel as small as a measly mouse.
"Archangel!" A voice sounded out above all the static I had not realized had flooded my ear. A hand had grabbed onto my wrist and pulled me closer to the ground. I looked down to see Aqualad awake and well. Dark circles lay under his eyes, and I can still see a few cuts and bruises on his face and bare arms, but the look in his eyes was still the same. Worry. A deep set of realization hit me as I looked into Aqualads eyes. I lost control of my powers, and almost let it consume me. The way I was thinking, and moving, none of that was me. That felt like the being Dr. Oz was trying to create. The weapon of mass destruction that Had no regard for life, and emotions. I am not that person.
The electricity around me began to calm, but the rumbling around us continued. Yet, through the falling rocks and shaking earth, everything fell silent and it was like I was viewing the world in a fresh pair of eyes. Most of the cultists had escaped, with a few stragglers running towards the tunnel. Brother Blood had taken the opportunity that came with Aqualad calming me down to escape, but that didn't stop me from thinking of how he was a mere moment before. I thought of the way that Brother Blood was shaking and nearly whimpering in fear, huddling close to the osculator in blatant petrification. Most of his lab equipment was destroyed, and the osculator itself seemed to be shielding us from having boulders falling on us. Although my anger wasn't all displaced, a sense of dread filled me as I thought of how the cult leader looked. The fear in his eyes when he looked at me. What have I done? I almost took the life of a man who honestly was not necessarily his fault. I wasn't about to hurt this man because I felt the need to avenge someone. I was letting go and projecting my fear and frustration from the last three days on someone who deserved every ounce of fear and panic but not necessarily by me or my reasoning. I truly had no real reason to exact revenge on this man other than for trying to kill Aqualad, but even that reason isn't as reasonable as it sounds. Truthfully, the two of us are constantly in a battle in which someone is trying to kill us. Perhaps, at least for a moment, when I looked at this man I felt a representation of the utter uneasiness that has plagued my mind for the past 3 days. The moment that he attempted to strangle Kaldur, Brother Blood became the personification of the anger, the sadness, the legitimate sorrow that I allowed to keep me from someone I truly do care about. Now, however, as I think about the man whose life I held in my hands, I could only understand it as being a petty and small obstacle that should have never gotten me so worked up. This man did personally deserve to be beaten and locked away, but what I did and how I reacted was more than I should have done. I almost crossed a line, and if Kaldur had not been there, I might have. My eyes met with Aqualad's, filled with sorrow, and regret. I could feel myself shaking even under Aqualads hold in fear of myself.
"I-I'm sorry! I should have had a better handle on my emotions. I've put us all in danger." Aqualad's eyes softened and I could feel his hand on my cheek.
"I am just happy you are well, but we must leave quickly. The cavern is about to cave in!" I nodded shakily and started to take a hold of Aqualad so that I could fly us out when I heard someone yelling out above the chaos. Aqualad and I looked at each other, before running towards the voice that was calling out. After dodging some of the rubble that was falling, Aqualad and I managed to make our way close to where the call was coming from.
"Please! I'm sorry! Please help me!" I glanced down to where a large pile of rubble was, held up by the remains of the scaffold. Beneath the rubble, and chaos was the dark haired, purple eyed angry as I was with the girl, I couldn't just leave her to die. The cavern was beginning to collapse even faster than before. Without the electricity to help hold most of it together, a cave in is sure to happen at any moment. I looked at Aqualad and weighed our options. More than anything I want to keep him safe, and with his fight with Brother blood I'm sure he needs all the strength he can get to get out of here.
"Aqualad, go! I can get Jinx and meet you out of here." I said getting ready to lift up the unstable structure.
"I am not leaving you behind!" A loud and hard tremble shook the walls of the cavern and caused us to stumble. We were running out of time, the rocks began to fall more and more. It was going to be a situation that came down to the last second, and if that happened I wouldn't be able to fly of us the three of us out. Aqualad was fast enough to make it to the surface if he left now, but with the rate of this collapse, I The situation seemed dire, and even if we were low on time, I knew there was only one thing I wanted to tell Aqualad, just in case things did go south. In a quick moment, I pulled Aqualad into a hug, holding on as tight as I could.
"I won't let Brother Blood, this cave, or anything else keep me from being with you any longer. So please get out of here. I will be right behind you." I pulled away and looked Aqualad in his eyes. His mesmerizing, beautiful eyes stared into mine with a look I now know to be longing. It was as if something clicked, and Aqualad gave me a nod before pulling away. I watched him as he ran through the rubble, towards the exit, that I could only hope was clear. I turned towards the structure contemplating what would be most efficient and ignoring Jinx's pleas. This was going to take every ounce of strength that I had.
The electricity began to spark around me as I put every ounce of strength that I had into lifting the structure off of Jinx. All the rocks and metals that were unsteadily stacked on top of the dark haired girl. Every muscle in my body ached and strained as the electricity around me sparked violently. As soon as I had lifted high enough to crawl under, Jinx scrambled out from under the rubble.
"My lord, I thought you had forgotten me! I knew you wouldn't-" Jinx visibly stopped, and I could almost see her heart break. Her eyes widened as she looked at me as her shoulders dropped. It was as if all her hope had been instantaneously taken from her, leaving a confused and shocked husk in its place. I felt sorry for the girl. As much grief, and irritation as she had given me, particularly when she took to flirting with Aqualad, no one deserves to be abandoned. I feel like Jinx had a sudden epiphany that she had been used, and discarded like a piece of tissue. Through all of her talents and devotion, she had been branded as useless by the one person she would have given everything to. In a way, I could somehow relate to the girl, but I know nothing would make her feel less alone at this moment. The cave shook violently, and I let go of the unstable structure and grabbed onto the girl's hand. She frantically looked up to me, a mix of anger and fear filled her eyes.
"I know that I am the last person you want to see, but we don't have time for the formalities." She looked around and for a second took in the facts and weighed her options, then took my hand so that I could fly us out. With incredible speed I didn't know I had, I flew towards the entrance dodging large boulders and pieces of metal from the osculator and the scaffolds that were around the cavern. While I took to dodging in the air, Jinx had decided to use her powers to hit the falling objects to clear our path. Within about a minute, we had reached the tunnel, with conditions almost worse than the cavern itself. The tunnel itself was only roughly 9 feet wide on all sides, my wings were almost too large to fit, but I managed to twist my body diagonally to fit better, but the problem was much bigger than that. The collapse was affecting the structure of the tunnel, meaning it was much more likely for a boulder to crush us here because of the limited space. My heart sped with each shake and tremble of the tunnel as it became a race of time now. I focused solely on dodging the boulders that began to fall more rapidly. That was until I heard a large crash behind me. I didn't even attempt to look back, but I could feel a large gust of wind hit my wings, pushing me forward to the ground. I yelled out as the two of us tumbled down, but I took the opportunity to look back and see the entire tunnel collapsing behind us.
Aqualad
I should not have left her. That was my only thought as I raced up towards the surface. Archangel is one of the most strong, and durable women I knew. Even with her accelerated healing, if she gets trapped inside of the cavern, I will lose her. I can't lose her. Not yet. Hearing her tell me that my feelings were actually reciprocated makes me realize how foolish I was being to allow my jealousy to stop me from telling Rose. Now she was alone in a cavern trying to save the same girl who had just tried to kill her. The only reason that I did not stay is because Rose has this amazing ability to fight through near impossible situations to help someone.
I always know when she will simply by the glint in her eyes. The look in her beautiful white eyes was the same whenever she's about to do something dangerous, or heroic. It was the exact one she gave me when we were in Bialya, and even back when we went to Santa Prisca. It was the one that said trust me, and everything will be fine. Whether or not it's her confidence, or her optimistic attitude that look reminded me to put my trust in her, and so far she has never let me down.
This did not put me at ease as I sat at the top of the tunnel waiting for her to come out and give me her typical kind smile. Minutes passed like hours and even though I could hear police officers speeding in with their lights and sirens, the world seemingly fell onto deaf ears. At least that was until I heard a large crash from within the tunnel. My heart dropped when the rumbling began to become louder and louder, until I was pulled to the side and onto the ground. A large dark cloud of smoke and dust erupted out of the tunnel pushing out chunks of rocks like a volcano. Even though I knew instantly what had happened, I still searched frantically for the winged girl.
"Archangel!" I yelled out and the dust and smoke filled my lungs. I heard no response and stood up, pushing whoever had pushed me out of the way, off of me to the side. I continued to cough as I walked through the cloud from the collapse.
"Archangel!" I yelled frantically searching. This continued for what seemed like an eternity until I heard light coughing. The smoke had started to clear, and faintly in the distance I could see two figures lying on the ground. I ran over to the two and a large wave of relief washed over me when I realized who it was. Archangel sat propped up on one arm coughing with her wings flapping to clear the air. She was covered in dirt and I could see some tears and cuts all over her. It was even more obvious with her white hair now being a distinct light ashen gray. Even with the dirt and small amounts of blood over her, to me she looked as if she was blessed by the sun. She looked around for a second, nodding towards the girl in relief before her eyes had finally met my own. They softened instantly and she gave me a kind and genuine smile.
"That was not my most graceful rescue." She said with a cough I held out my hand to her to take, and she did so gently. Without a second thought, Archangel turned to the girl, who I believed was named Jinx, and held out her hand. Jinx looked at her hand cautiously, not necessarily trusting Archangel's gesture. Jinx scoffed, giving the two of us a broken, tired look.
"I don't get it. What kind of idiot would save someone who tried to kill them?" Archangel simply scowled at the girl tiredly, but still kept her hand out hopingly.
"That is just what she does. Archangel is kind, optimistic, and caring so much so that she can see the best in people. It does not make her weak, or idiotic. She is the bravest, smartest, and most beautiful woman I know." Our eyes met again, and this time Rose was the one who was in shock. Then I could see a subtle blush dust over her cheeks before she turn away to Jinx with a kind smile,
"Do not misunderstand. I don't expect you to start fighting crime anytime soon, but I do have hope that you might at least think about your actions. I don't think you are all bad, just a little misled." Jinx hesitantly looked up to Archangel, weighing her options and words. As if in an unspoken agreement to consider her words, Jinx took her hand and rose up from the ground. It is not often we see a villain willingly accept a hero's hand, in some ways it was a bit strange. The two girls had been in a heated battle not even an hour prior to this moment and yet somehow it seems as though there was a level of respect between the two of them. It was no small feat, some may never have that empathetic ability to connect with and gain the trust of a villain, but Rose naturally managed to. Jinx gave Archangel a small, almost nonexistent smile, so much so that one probably wouldn't be able to see it from a distance, but it didn't stop Archangel from smiling brightly back.
After that, Jinx willingly gave herself up to the authorities. They were all stunned at the girl's cooperation, but did not miss the opportunity to put an inhibitor collar on her. Red Arrow was more skeptical than stunned, but was surprisingly less vocal about the fact when he looked at Archangel's face. Marqueis apparently had insisted on coming along to see the situation through to the end with his mother. He immediately ran towards Archangel and engulfed her in a hug, much to my irritation.
"I'm so glad you're ok! I was really worried about the two of you."
"Marqueis! Is your family-"
"Yeah! They're all good. I had to argue my way into coming here though. Mom wasn't having it at first, but she warmed up to it." The two shared a small smile, clearly having a better understanding of the others lives. It makes me happy to see Archangel able to fully relax around someone who is not from the team, even if he seems to have gotten too close for comfort with her. She may not say it often, but having to keep her true origins from the team alone is a terrifying burden she carries, let alone all of her school friends. At the very least, I am glad this one person is someone she does not have to completely hide from.
"With the exception that he leaves in the next 5 minutes." Red Arrow interjects with an eye roll as he elbowed me. "If I knew I would end up on security detail, I would've made one of you go instead of me." I chuckled before placing a hand on my closest friend's shoulder.
"I will make it up to you next time, my friend." The archer smirked before turning towards me completely.
"Oh I know. After missing a fight with Brother Blood and giving you two some alone time, you'll be one of my first calls." I stared surprised at Red Arrows words, before realization dawned on me. Without another moment passing, Red Arrow scooped up Marqueis, and dragged him away. Marqueis protested a little but ultimately gave up on the idea of finishing whatever conversation he was having with Archangel. She merely chuckled and waved the two away, giving a genuine smile to the two boys.
"Perhaps we should also leave, before the news gets here. Without your mask, I would imagine you would not like to be on camera." I said taking her hand gently. Her eyes widened and for a second I feared I had moved too fast. I nearly pulled away, but within seconds Archangel's expression had changed from one of shock, to a bashful yet happy one. Her smaller hand clasped itself around mine tightly giving me all the more confidence that I was doing the right thing.
"Well, that among other things." A small red blush dusted over her cheeks, and I knew that one had settled on my own. She took my other hand and we flew away, knowing the conversation to be had.
Rose
I landed on the roof of the nearest zeta-tube near my house. The flight here was filled with a comfortable silence. Either due to exhaustion, or just deep in thought, we knew that this next conversation we had would be full of clarification, and emotion. On the way, I thought of how good it felt to hold Kaldur's hand in mine, how fondly he spoke about me, and how ran into a smoke filled cloud to find me. The way he looked at me, once he found me, was filled with so much relief. Then I started to think about what happened inside the cavern. How Kaldur was being strangled to death, and how I lost control.
At that moment I was truly unstable. Thinking back at how much power I let out, how I did not care how anyone lived or died. I felt so powerful, but I had such a bad feeling about what else I felt. It reminds me of why I didn't want to tell Kaldur how I felt, and why he should not be with me. He should not have to be with someone as unstable as me.
Once we landed on the roof, our hands lingered as we sheepishly stepped away from one another. It was a little awkward, neither of us knowing where to start. Nervously I rubbed my arm, looking to the side. Aqualad cleared his throat making me look up.
"Rose." My eyes caught his and I felt like I would melt.
"I, um, I am sorry I've been avoiding you." I felt like kicking myself in the butt. Of all the things I could have led with, I choose to lead with that? How pathetic. Aqualad looked at me with knitted eyebrows, clearly confused.
"Rose, your apologies are appreciated, but not necessary. I acted too hastily without asking you first." I gave him a look, before grabbing onto his arm and looking him directly in the arm. With as much confidence as I could muster, I told him,
"Kaldur'ahm, that is not why I have been avoiding you." His eyes were wide with shock, as he turned towards me fully. At this point, we were only about a foot away from each other.
"Then why?"
"You deserve better than me. You are so kind, and strong, and brave. You're compassionate, and honest, you have it all together. Any girl would be extremely lucky to be with you." I turned away, holding myself in my arms. My heart felt so heavy as it beat fast in my chest. "Then there is me. Unstable, artificial me. I am an experiment, and a tool for the end of the world. There is so much about myself that I do not know, but I do know that there is this darkness inside of me. This cold, unfeeling part of me that craves destruction, and death. You deserve so much more than-"
"Rose, stop." I turned back towards Kaldur almost bewildered by his interruption.
"What?"
"Stop. Rose, in all the time that I have known you've never been anything less than thoughtful, righteous. You've done so much good in the world, and have shown nothing but kindness to those who deserve it and even those who do not." My eyebrows knitted together in disbelief.
"You saw what happened in the cavern Kaldur. I lost control and-"
"You did it because you were afraid that you would lose me. Rose, I meant every word I said to Jinx. You are kind, loyal, and brave. You find beauty in everything, and you fight so fiercely for the ones you care about. I do not care about any darkness you have. It will never kill the light that you have. " The space between Kaldur and I was almost nonexistent. Being that Kaldur was slightly taller than me, I peered up into his eyes taking in every word he said. I was speechless. Never have I felt more transparent or seen through words alone. Not even my mother, who has loved me from the first day of my awakening has ever seen me in the way that Kaldur is telling me he does. Every inch of my body, every fiber of my being felt as light as air, so much so that I had not realized that Kaldur had grabbed my right hand. Gently, he placed a hand on my left cheek making me stare into his beautiful eyes.
"I see you. Every beautiful flaw, and perfection." Kaldur trailed off, closing in the little distance between us. For a second time stopped, and my mind went blank. Time seemed to stop to me, and the world disappeared leaving nothing but myself and Kaldur. I never knew a bliss like the one in this second. His lips were so soft almost like a cloud, and his touch left a lingering and pleasant numbness on my skin. As quickly as it happened, it ended without me having a chance to get over my shock. Kaldur must have realized that I stupidly was not returning the kiss, as he immediately opened his eyes and pulled away. He looked mortified at his actions, as I could do nothing but blink as the situation hit me. Kaldur just kissed me, and he sees me. He doesn't care about my flaws, or my origins. His lips were so soft. My fingers grazed my lips as I thought about how good it felt to kiss him.
"Apologies! I neglected to ask you again. I should not have been so invasive without-" Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed onto Kaldurs hand, pulling him back to me.
"Kaldur, stop talking." He looked back into my eyes a little surprised at my boldness. My hands naturally slid onto his broad shoulders and even though I had never done this before, I felt as confident and natural as I could be. My lips found Kaldurs again and this time it felt harmonious. As if so many things in my life led to this very moment, a fluttering feeling filled my stomach. Kaldur wrapped his arms around my waist, his hand sliding onto the small of my back pulling me even closer causing chills to come up my spine. I could have stayed like this for hours, but after a few seconds we broke our kiss and stared into each other's eyes with so much care and longing. I was sure I was smiling wildly with a deep blush on my cheeks, but it felt completely fine seeing one on Kaldurs face too.
"May I be with you?" His forehead fell onto mine adoringly, as he gave me the most pleading eyes as if I might say no. Although I still worry about the darkness I felt earlier, looking into Kaldur's pale green eyes made all of it seem a lifetime away. He makes me want to believe that I'm every bit of the person he sees, and that in turn makes me want nothing more than to be with him. I smiled from ear to ear, lifting my head up to meet his lips once more.
"Absolutely. Although, I have something else that has been on my mind all day." I said with a kiss on his lips. "Why were you acting so hostile with Marqueis today?" Kaldur's face immediately changed from content, to flustered and what I think is embarrassment? He let out a small cough to clear his throat, and I smiled patiently waiting for him, even though I was confused.
"Well, it seems foolish now, but you two were behaving so…close. I believed the two of you had something going on." Kaldur sputtered out looking away from me. The wheels in my head began to turn as I thought of what Kaldur was insinuating. Did he truly believe that Marqueis and I had feelings for each other? Without a second thought, I fell into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Kaldur looked over to me as if he were surprised he had not offended me. A part of the situation was cute at how he got a little jealous, but mostly funny that he could ever be jealous of Marqueis. Of course he does not know that Marqueis is far more interested in Ashton, and sees me as a friend, but how silly is it that he translated our behavior to a romantic connection? Clearly embarrassed, Kaldur refused to meet my eyes. I placed my hand on his cheek, gently turned his face to meet my eyes.
"Kaldur, Marqueis has feelings for another friend of ours. We were actually talking about him before you showed up." Kaldur's eyes widened, realizing even more how wrong he had been. He grabbed onto my hand and gave me a sincere look.
"My apologies. I suppose my jealousy clouded my judgement." I chuckled before placing my forehead on his.
"There is no need to be jealous. I only have eyes for you."
Kaldur walked me home after that, only to have been met with a very angry mother. After explaining the situation, she had calmed down a little, but I was fortunate to not have to have the conversation about our new found relationship with her just yet. We were even more fortunate that my adoptive father was not home, because I am sure he would have been suspicious from the start. Regardless, as soon as Ms. Shayera had turned away, I gave Kaldur a quick peck on the cheek before rushing inside.
As soon as I had taken a shower and managed to crawl into the bed, the events of today danced in my head. First it was the good ones. Like my memories of Marqueis accepting me as I was, and helping him with his family after it was all said and done. Then I smiled happily into my pillow as I thought of Kaldur and our new found relationship. The way he held me, and the sparks I felt when we kissed made me feel as light as a feather. His words filled me with so much warmth. The trust, respect, and care he has for me makes me want to be better.
Be better. A frown suddenly donned my face The anxiety of having to hide my identity from a close friend. Then my thoughts shifted to the cavern, and Brother Blood. Even though Kaldur assured me that my episode was simply due to my emotions I still reserved my worries. That much power was intoxicating, but I felt awful after it ended. I felt so much hate and anger that it felt as if my core was making me sick. The thought of Dr. Oz briefly came to mind, and that sick feeling persisted ever more harshly. I never want to feel like that again, especially not if it makes me closer to what he would want me to be. I can only hope that what Kaldur sees is true.
ANNNNNNNNNd there we have it! I am so sorry that I took me so long to update. I've had a huge case of writer's block for at least a year! But I have never given up on this story. I want to thank you guys for sticking with it, and know that I am truly sorry for not posting anything sooner. The next chapter is already done, and should be out within the next 2 weeks!. Thank you guys soo much for the support!