ROSE R. C. M
It has been a few days since Kaldur and I have started our relationship, and the two of us couldn't be happier. I initially feared that things may be awkward, but it seems our bond has grown even greater. Now the two of us have made it a point to call each other every day, as opposed to simply texting as we normally do. We decided it may be best to hold off on telling our friends and family that we are in a relationship, just until we figure out the parameters of our relationship. When I first brought the idea up, Kaldur was not so sure about the idea until I explained how my lack of experience may unintentionally cause others to feel the need to insert themselves into the relationship. Kaldur was completely understanding about it, knowing that telling people could unintentionally put a little more pressure on the two of us. It won't be forever, and we aren't necessarily going out of our way to hide our relationship, but for the time being we both think it's best.
The only person we did tell was Roy, and Marqueis. Roy told me that he knew it was going to happen eventually while Marqueis was over the moon. Since the day we helped him and his family, everything has felt so much more open between the two of us. Kaldur also made an effort to apologize, and be nicer to Marqueis which has made me so much more happy. Marqueis of course forgave him, and promised to keep our hero lives a secret. The day I told him that Kaldur and I were together, he was practically planning our wedding date and giving us "ship names". I could tell it was killing him to keep it a secret from the band, but he's been making it work. That never stops him from talking about it with me when it's just the two of us.
Today was one of those rare days where everything just fell into place. After my last class, Marqueis met up with me and we started to walk together to meet the rest of our friends, as usual. This time I was pestering Marqueis about Ashton before we met up with them.
"Today could be your day, you know? September 22nd isn't too hard of a day to remember." I said, giving Marqueis a playful wink. A deep blush set onto his face, but of course Marqueis played it off with a laugh.
"Not as good as September 16th, but I'll think about it."
"Think about what?" Ashton's voice sounded off from behind us, causing me to have an uncontrollable smirk. Ashley gave me a curious look, but walked up beside me all the same.
"Just trying to reschedule a day to work on our project. Rosey is trying to get out of work today, but I won't allow it." I gave him a subtle look at the story he gave at the expense of my work ethic. If I weren't so impressed with his quick thinking, I might have been a little offended. All eyes were on me, including Eric who had slid in beside Ashley as we walked, so I played along.
"You got me. Guilty as charged." Eric chuckled, causing Ashley to jump a little.
"Dang Marq, if Rose's dad ever goes out of town, I'll let him know you're willing to fill in for him." Marqueis playfully put Eric in a headlock, laughing along the way. Ashley stops in her tracks and tugs onto my shirt suddenly.
"Uh Rosey, I think you may want to see this." She pointed out the window, by the statue in front of our school, at Kaldur and to my discontent, Casey. A pang of jealousy hit my core from the sight of her feeling on Kaldur's arm. I hate to say it, but now I know how Kaldur felt when he saw Marqueis and my interactions. I took a deep breath and observed the two. From his broad shoulders, I could tell that he wasn't comfortable. His facial expressions seemed strained and forced. Kaldur continuously glanced around looking for what I assumed to be me.
Casey was another story. She was very clearly flirting, batting her eyes and touching Kaldur as much as possible. She would give her sweet smile, and flipped her long red hair gracefully. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the girl. At this point, I can't tell if she's trying to make me upset, or if she's genuinely trying to move in on Kaldur. I would understand if she was, as Kaldur is very handsome. It's only natural for girls to flock to him. Ashton crossed his arms and shook his head.
"That girl is shameless. You ok, Ro?" I gave Ashton a forced smile, before making my way outside towards the two. Through the crowd of students that were moving towards the buses and walking home, my friends and I managed to make our way outside. Once Kaldur laid eyes on me, his false smile melted into a real one, and his eyes softened, causing me to nearly swoon. I could never really stay mad at him, especially when it's with something out of his control.
"You know I could probably let you take me out. There's a long line of course, but I'm willing to let you move to the top of that list." Casey gave Kaldur a wink, and I had to admire her confidence for a moment. It took Kaldur and I a whole month to finally say how we feel, and it likely would have been longer if not for the bioship incident. Casey, however, asked within 30 minutes and made her intentions, though kind of pretentiously, very well known.
"Apologies, but I believe the phrase is 'I am taken' by another." Kaldur moved slightly past Casey, who stood stunned at his rejection, and I rushed forward and wrapped my arms around his neck. Kaldur lifted me off the ground slightly, snaking his arm around my waist. I pulled back and placed a kiss on Kaldur's cheek, hoping that Casey fully got the message.
"Hello." Kaldur chuckled lightly as I stared adoringly into his eyes.
"Greetings." I slipped his hand into mine as I pulled away, staying close to him. Completely ignoring Casey, I turned to my friends with a smile.
"I'll see you guys tomorrow for band practice!" The others gave me a smile, while Ashley simply held back laughs at Casey's shocked expression. Giving her a quick glare, I turned away from her and began to walk away with Kaldur. After we had gotten a few blocks away, my jealousy faded and turned into infatuation for the boy holding my hand. I hardly even cared that I essentially just told my entire school that Kaldur and I were dating, if Casey got the picture it was totally worth it.
"I see why you dislike her. She does have a sense of disingenuousness about her." Kaldur chuckled and rubbed his thumb sweetly, across my knuckles.
"She certainly didn't sway my opinion of her by flirting with you." My nose scrunched up and held Kaldur's hand a little tighter.
"To quote a beautiful girl, 'There is no need to be jealous. I only have eyes for you.'" Kaldur stopped and leaned in, giving me a kiss on the forehead. I was sure I was blushing, as I'm not quite used to being able to be so affectionate towards the atlantean. Still, I felt a desire to do more affectionate things with him to feel that warm feeling again. Giving him a mischievous smirk, I pulled Kaldur with me into an alley and transformed into my normal form. I flew us to the top of the building and leaned into a wall. Kaldur gave me a smirk, knowing full well I was getting at, before placing a hand on my right cheek and placing his lips on mine. Instantly, I returned his kiss and the irritation and discernment that I felt about Casey completely disappeared. After about an hour of kisses and fun conversations later, Kaldur and I made our way towards the cave. I was in a euphoric bliss as we walked hand in hand to the zeta tube. The two of us gave each other one last peck before I took my turn in walking into the zeta tube.
Recognized Archangel B04
I pushed my hair behind my ear, and patiently waited for Kaldur to walk in behind me. Moments later, He walked in sending me a quick smile before returning to my side. There was a slight distance between the two of us, but it didn't bother me. Regardless of what happened at school, the two of us still think it's best to keep things seemingly platonic while with the team. At least until we get settled into our relationship, especially considering neither of us have anything to worry about with our teammates coming between us. I spotted a Red Tornado at the large computer in the cave and I gave a small wave.
"Hello Red Tornado! I hope all is well." Red Tornado turned towards me, the lack of expression being something I am used to by now.
"Greetings Archangel, Aqualad." I smiled warmly before turning towards Aqualad.
"I'm going to go get changed, I'll see you in a bit." Aqualad gave me a small subtle smile and I waved at Red Tornado and moved towards the locker rooms.
After turning around the corner, I hummed happily to the tune of one of our band's songs. Everything really felt so in place, despite the information I obtained at Oz's laboratory, my human life, and hero life felt so at ease. With my purple messenger bag on my arm, I walked lightly until I got to the locker rooms. Unfortunately, I was so full of bliss, that I had not noticed Wally standing right in front of me until I ran into his chest, dropping my messenger bag.
"Oops! Sorry Wally!" Wally gave me a smile before bending down to get my bag for me.
"You seem happy! Did Kaldur finally ask you out?" A deep blush set onto my face but I kept a straight face. Was Wally just saying this because of what he saw in the bioship, or was he saying that because he somehow knew we were together now? Logically, it made no sense that he would know that. I mean I try to visit the cave as often as I could, as does Aqualad. However it's barely been a week since we had started our relationship, and we had only seen Wally twice. There's no way he would know.
"Wally, I told you Kaldur and I are just friends." Wrong. We're definitely dating. Wally gave a goofy, flirtatious smirk before leaning against a wall.
"Well as long as he doesn't make a move on M'gann we're all good." I chuckled nervously at the thought of his nativity. It seems to me that M'gann and Superboy have made some sort of connection during our last mission. Since then, they've seemed especially close, but I figured the two would become a couple soon. Poor Wally has been a bit oblivious to the two's clear attraction.
I went ahead and got dressed into my normal crime fighting outfit. My leather jacket fit comfortably around my wings and my pants still felt snug as well. The only thing I did not have was my mask. Ever since the incident with Brother Blood, I haven't even thought about getting a new one. Perhaps I don't need one anymore. It is clear that Oz knows that it is me behind the mask, and most people don't know that I'm a superhero with the disguise Zatara gave me. I looked at my reflection in the mirror gauging the situation. There is no practical reason for a mask anymore, but maybe I should just ask my mother what she thinks. Placing the cylindrical weapon on my thigh holster, I happily walked out of the locker room and made my way out to the Bay Area.
Wally was laying down on the ground right by Conner's motorcycle, making me think he was doing some kind of repairs in it. M'gann was standing awkwardly across from Conner, who was standing by Sphere. Sphere was not necessarily doing anything, I truthfully have a hard time reading him. Kaldur was facing M'gann with his back towards me.
"Artemis starts school today. Do you think she will have trouble maintaining her loyalties?" My eyebrows knitted together as I came closer to the group. This is the second time Kaldurs asked about someone's loyalty in the team. Why would he be inquiring about everyone's loyalties? Did I perhaps miss something? It almost feels as if he is trying to investigate something. A strange feeling filled my gut, as I approached the group.
"Eh, she'll manage all right. I mean, how much more hostile and annoying can-" without any warning, a blast interrupted Wally and threw us all against the floor. I rolled across the ground, and before I had time to do much to look to see who was attacking us, a powerful ball of fire came right towards me. As quickly as I could, I threw my own bolt of electricity at the fireball causing a small explosion, and knocking me into the wall. All the air escaped my lungs, and I fell to the ground catching my breath. I looked up to see a red feminine looking Red Tornado replica in front of me. The rest of my teammates stood up and prepared to fight, just as three large pillars of water came crashing down on us, I used my wings to pull myself up, avoiding the water just to be knocked back to the ground near Miss. Martian and Aqualad. Not wasting any time, I rolled onto my feet and pulled out the weapon of Gaia.
"Who are you?!" Aqualad asked angrily. The weapon smoothly morphed into a chained Kunai, and I stayed in a low crouch ready to defend my team. The blast happened right where everyone was standing so the rest of the team got the bunt end of the explosion so I am sure they are worse than they might seem. We have to go on the defensive, and try to send a distress beacon out. I have no idea who this person is or if there are more assailants, but if a league member can get here then we will survive. The female launched a beam of fire at us.
"Move!" I yelled as I instinctively, I rolled out of the way, throwing the kunai. It wrapped around her middle, and using my strength, I pulled her towards me l, kicking her as hard as I could. She was knocked backwards onto the ground several feet away from me.
"We have to send a distress beacon!" I morphed the weapon into a sword and made a run for the computer, but I was suddenly blasted to the side with water. My body landed on the ground so hard that I truly wasn't sure if it was just water that hit me, but the Weapon of Gaia had been knocked out of my hand and was now a few meters away from me. I got up on my hands and knees unsteadily but still just barely able to go on.
"Archangel!" I heard Aqualad yell, I looked up to see a large wave of cold water crashed on me once more. Without any remorse, my body crashed down on the ground, hitting my head on the hard ground of the hanger, rendering me completely unconscious.
When I woke up, all I could feel was an extremely cool sensation, causing my body to ache. It sounded as if I was underwater, all noise was just distant and muffled. My vision was hazy and blurred. My mind was blank, as I slowly moved my head to my surroundings. I looked up to see a large machine, roughly 6 feet on all sides, hovering over me. A glass encasing surrounded me, allowing me to see what was going on, if I could get some of the frost off of it. Covering the top of the glass, was the odd machine with vents like an air conditioner. The cold was so unbearable, I could barely hold myself up. Directly in front of me, was Miss. Martian and Aqualad in a cage made of fire. Aqualad held the unconscious Miss. Martian in his arms, both looking extremely flushed and clammy. I couldn't see Superboy and Kid Flash, but their muffled voices made it easy for me to know they were there. I looked up, towards the machinery above me. It looks to be some kind of large freezer, one that likely blows below freezing cold. I tried to use my electricity to short circuit the system and at least stop the cold from going, but a heavy weight settled on my chest. My hands touched a cool metal around my neck and I realized that they must've placed an inhibitor collar on me. My strength started to abandon me and I realize I have to conserve my energy. The body's natural defense of essentially focusing all efforts into maintaining homeostasis in the core should help keep from getting frostbite, along with my expedited healing. Given the situation, I would likely only last about another 30 minutes at this temperature. My entire body hurts, and my world feels like it is slowing. I know I have to stay awake, and hope that my teammates can get us all out of this mess.
Aqualad
I held the unconscious M'gann in my lap, as the fire prison's heat beat down on us. My skin was dry, and I was weak from the heat, yet all I could think of was Rose lying still in the large ice prison the two androids held her in. It seems that the androids knew exactly how to neutralize all of us. Perhaps the only thing they did not expect was for Artemis and Robin to elude them. Kid Flash and Superboy were being held closer to the water, where the male android planned to drown them. Suddenly, the female android turned away from us, and began to throw fire down into the water. I could hear the voices of Artemis and Robin below us.
"You guys okay?" Robin asked
"Forget us. Help M'gann." Superboy responded worriedly.
"Aqualad! Is she?" Artemis yelled up to me. I looked over to Archangel, her hazed figure not moving once.
"She is unconscious. I believe Archangel is too. I fear they... We cannot survive much longer." The female android began to attack Robin and Artemis again, making them run away. My eyes studied Archangel's figure in the small containment unit built for her. My heart raced with fear as I thought back to how she was doing. The cold neutralizes electricity, the source of her powers, which has a negative effect on her body. The longer she remains in the cold, especially without any cold weather gear, the more her body will shut down. My only hope is that Archangel stays as strong as I know she is, and holds off until Robin and Artemis can free us.
Archangel
I floated in a familiar darkness with only my mind to keep me occupied. There was a bit irony in being back in darkness in what could be my last moments, just as my life began in darkness. It is hard to not feel as nostalgic as I do sick at the thought of being back in this darkness. Instantly, I thought of the fear I never realized I held in such darkness. I thought of my life up until this point, and I thought about how I found a family with my new mother and father. My friends at school, and how I never got to perform with them. My best friends and teammates, who I never told my secret to. Then I thought of the one boy who I have ever had feelings for. We never got to go on our first date, or spend our days together. He never got to take me to a school dance like they did in the movies. I never got to meet Kaldur's mother or father, or his friends. In fact, I never even realized how much I wanted to do and share with Kaldur until just now. I don't want to leave him without exploring everything with him. There's so much I want with him.
"...ose!" I looked around in the darkness for the familiar voice that spoke my name. In front of me was a light, growing brighter and brighter by the second.
"Rose!" It was Kaldur's voice, calling out to me. The joy I momentarily fell warmed my heart as I walked towards his voice.
My eyes fluttered open slowly, revealing alluring green eyes of Kaldur, staring down at me laid all around the two of us and steam from my cold body being held by his extremely hot arms, both warming me and cooling him down. I weakly moved my shaking hand up to his face, giving him a faint smile. My loneliness fading as my heart swelled, extremely grateful to be alive and with the boy that I care for.
"I-I'm o-o-ok." My voice was weak and small, but I could still feel my body repairing itself as the world came to view around me. I was out of the cryogenic freezer, thank god, but the rest of my teammates looked a bit worse for wear. Aqualad, and Miss. Martian were clearly dehydrated and overheated, if Kaldurs dry skin wasn't a big clue to that. Robin looked as if he had decided to try his hand at being an Atlantean, while Kid Flash and Superboy both were becoming…contemporary art? They were stuck in metal, from what I can only assume was the remains of Superboys motorbike. All the while, Artemis simply looked stressed and tired.
"Phew! Good to see that you're alive. We thought you wouldn't make it." Kid flash said, breaking the silence. Aqualad grip on my got a little tighter and I glanced up at him. His eyes were so filled with both worry and relief, and I knew mine were the same. We almost lost each other and as much as I was worried about him, I was certain that he was out of his mind worried about me, the worst of it being that neither of us could reach each other to truly know if either was alive. OF course, I worried for the rest of my team, I know we werent the only ones who nearly died, but this made me realize just how much I truly liked Kaldur. I reached up, with shaky arms, and wrapped my arms around his neck. I could tell he and the rest of the team were a little surprised, but I still held onto him tightly.
"B-b-body heat. I-I n-need to wa-warm up, a-a-and y-you and M-M'gann n-need t-to cool d-down." It was not a total lie. I definitely want to warm up, and they're definitely overheated, but it was mostly for comfort and to relieve the fear of almost losing each other.
"I'm glad you are ok." Aqualad whispered quietly into my ear.
"And I you, Darling." I whispered softly before I reached out my hand for Miss. Martian, who grabbed my hand. I gently pulled her down to us and the three of us just kinda held each other. I could definitely feel myself getting warmer from the huddle, and M'gann started to look a little better.
After what seemed like forever, the three of us felt well enough to at least stand on our own….ish. M'gann was still a little weak and took Robin's support to help her stand. I was getting better, especially after getting a blanket, but with all machines being inoperable right now, being put in a heated environment wasn't an option. Kaldur and I simply leaned on each other for equal cooling, and heating measures, after he had come with me to get the blanket and himself some water to try to start rehydrating himself. Artemis had found a cutter to attempt to free Kid Flash and Superboy, but with the EMP once again simultaneously saving and inconveniencing us, it wasn't working. The still disabled Reds are now on the same level as us, lying there in a slightly unnerving lifelessness. My anger towards the androids knew no bounds at how they had managed to hurt my teammates and I. I mean they went as far as putting me in an inhibitor collar and nearly freezing me to death, not to mention drowning half my teammates, and cooking Miss. Martian and my Atlantean boyfriend. If I had my strength back, I would have dismantled them myself, but I suppose helping my teammates will take precedence. Robin was explaining to us specifically what happened prior to Artemis' absolutely daring rescue.
"Figured my only shot was to surrender, pretend to drown before I actually did." Robin says confidently. "Blacked out though." he shrugs.
"That makes t-two of us. The c-cold was u-unbearable. I tho-thought saving my energy until you guys c-could save us would be the b-best thing, but I eventually uh.. Blacked out. I n-never doubted you both for a second." Kaldur gave me a worried look, and I simply smiled and grabbed his hand subtly underneath my blanket.
"I-I was certainly m-more worried for you all th-though. I couldn't see a-anything. Are you c-certain you all are ok?" Kaldur returned my smile and held onto my hand tightly.
"I am much better knowing that you are safe." His voice was still weak from the situation, and I could tell that he needed to rehydrate as soon as he could. Still the two of us smiled at each other, glad that we were alive.
"Will you quit playing with that thing and cut us free already?" Wally demands of Artemis who was still tinkering with the cutter. She gives him a deadpanned look, almost wanting to smack him.
"It's not working genius. EMP shuts down all machines, remember?"
"All machines present at the time." Red Tornado's voice speaks up as he makes his way across the room, landing beside Wally and Conner. Only when the tornado stops whirring does he continue. It's a wonder none of us heard him coming, but my wonder is how he managed to get here in the first place. Still I felt a little safer knowing the Red Tornado was here.
"What has occurred?" He continued as we all turned to him.
"Had a little visit from your family." Robin looks at the Reds, putting his hands on his hips.
"Your extremely nasty family." Artemis is quick to gripe, likely still frustrated from the situation.
"I was not aware I had relations." Tornado remarks, observing the two androids. The clear irritation of the team had changed from being one that was grateful to be alive, to frustration turned towards the android who bore the same resemblance of our assailants. I can't blame them, but I had to try to remember that Red Tornado wasn't the one who did this. It was clear we had a mole among us, but to blame Red Tornado simply based on looks would be foolish. He begins to make his way towards them, not necessarily paying us any mind.
"Where have you been?" Conner demands.
"Monitor duty on the Watchtower. When it became clear that Cave communications were down, I attempted to investigate, but your Zeta Tubes were also nonfunctional." he kneels down beside the two. "I transported to Providence and proceeded here." Sphere starts to whir, catching my attention, managing to free himself from his position in the wall.
"Hey boy." Conner greets and gets beeps in return. The cutter turns on in Artemis' hands, making the color in my face drain.
"The pulse has worn off." Kid and Robin say in unison. Red Tornado reaches out to Red Inferno, and a zap connects their fingers as her eyes light back up. Red Tornado's eyes glow in return, before turning towards us and using a tornado to raise him up. Two tornadoes aimed towards us, sucking all the air away from us. Artemis drops the laser cutter, clutching her neck, and it wasn't long before the rest of us followed. I let go of Kaldur's hand, dropping to my knees and holding onto my own neck. My lungs burned for oxygen, only to have no relief as the tornadoes continued to starve us of air. My vision once again became hazy as I quickly lost energy to hold myself up. My head turned towards Kaldur and I reached out, grabbing his hand before my vision darkened and all was lost.
"Rose! Rose sweetheart, wake up!" I slowly opened my eyes, once again, to see my father and mother looking down at me worriedly. I shot up, instantly, remembering the danger that had passed. Red Tornado betrayed us! Although I tried to rationalize him not being the mole and betraying us, that is how they knew exactly how to neutralize us, and likely how they knew where we were. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and tried to look objectively, but he did betray us. My mother and father threw their arms around me.
"We were so worried!" My father said, holding me tightly. I hadn't even noticed the heat packs placed underneath my armpits, and neck, or the blanket that had been placed back on me. I wasn't shivering as much, but I still didn't feel completely back to normal.
"We thought we lost you! Your body temperature was 85 degrees, and you weren't awake! What happened?" My mother said worriedly, I wrapped my arms back around the two of them. They were understandably worried, and it made me happy to have parents that cared for me so much.
"I'm fine! It was a lot worse prior to being choked to death." I said nonchalantly. My father looked at me in shock.
"Worse? What happened?"
"Well, two androids who looked like Red Tornado but had fire and water powers put me in that" I pointed to the remains of the large freezer. "deep freezer, nearly drowned Conner and Wally, and tried to bake M'gann and-" I promptly stopped upon realizing that Kaldur was no longer next to me. Panic rose, as I looked frantically around for him. "W-wait! Where's Kaldur? He was right nex-"
"He's ok, Rose." I turned behind me to see Kaldur getting out of the water, looking considerably better. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as he gave me a small subtle smile next to Aquaman. My worry eased considerably as I then looked at the rest of my teammates. Miss. Martian was awake and talking to her uncle. Batman and Robin were talking to the side, likely getting the same explanation. The Flash and the Atom were trying to get Superboy and Kid Flash out while Black Canary stood to the side. Superman was helping Artemis who was up and just as frantic.
"What happened?!" Artemis yells back inconceivably. "The Reds happened. Tornado and his… Wait, where are they?" Artemis was right to be confused. The Reds had vanished without a trace, leaving an equally ominous tone among all of us. With the Reds gone, a dangerous threat was now out in the world, and one of them was a former League member.
"Gone." Robin said, turning back to Artemis. "All three of them. Gone."
Hello I am so sorry for the wait! I wanted to try to get into the habit of nearly finishing the next chapter before posting the last but I found the next one to be incredibly difficult. I'm nearly done and shouldn't have as hard as a time with the next one. Thank you all for the support!
Anna Blue Ivory