Oh my gosh this is actually pretty long! :D YEAH! Please enjoy, i guess this one is a bit angsty. i dunno.

Sorry for the meh-ness of this chapter. Please tell me what you think. :)

L.L.A.P

~Laces

"Why do you wear those aviator glasses all the time?" Ramon inquired as he, Paige, and Athena sat under a tree at the park.

"Because you can never see my eyes, meaning you never know what I'm thinking, which makes me unpredictable, which means I'm like a ninja, and ninjas are awesome." Paige explained with a smile. Aside from her glasses, Paige was wearing a blue bandana around her long curly strawberry blond hair, a pink shirt and some overalls.

Ramon had on a baseball hat, some jeans and a red t-shirt, while Athena wore jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and boots. Since she was in public, Athena wore her short curly brown wig and brown contacts.

Paige held a notebook and a pen, writing happily as Athena strummed on her new Ukulele that Bruce had gotten her. She was happy to practice strumming on the instrument, and she was a fast learner.

While Paige wrote, and Athena strummed on her Ukulele, Ramon drew.

Usually when Athena and Ramon went to the park, it was very quiet. They did talk, but only some small conversation here or there. However, with Paige along she seemed to never stop talking. Ramon didn't know how she was able to focus on writing as she talked.

"So Ray, how did you and 'Thena meet?" Paige inquired. "Was she singing a song and then you heard her voice and then followed it to see her and then you started to sing along with her and then you two started dancing and she was all 'You're a stranger' but she doesn't care because you seem like a cool guy, and then…"

"We met at the Science and History Museum. They were holding an event that we could go to." Ramon informed shortly. "And it's Ramon, not Ray." He corrected.

Paige just smirked at him and noogied his head.

"You're funny, Ray." She giggled.

"Paige, why did you describe Ramon and my meeting as something out of Sleeping Beauty?" Athena inquired as she lazily strummed on her instruments. Paige smiled as she looked at the two.

"Because he likes- OW!" Paige exclaimed as Ramon kicked her leg.

"Sorry, my leg twitches sometimes." Ramon apologized.

"Because he likes what?" Athena inquired, looking at Paige, but Ramon quickly said,

"Because I like music. That's why she thought I'd follow your voice and all that. I like music." Ramon said quickly.

Paige picked up on the sudden shy looks Ramon got when he was with Athena, and she knew what they meant. Sure, Ramon was only nine, but he did have a small crush on Athena. Now, he would never tell her that.

To say "I don't just like you, but I like like you." to a girl was hard for a nine year old.

Before Athena could ask anything else, sirens started to ring and the three looked across the street at the bank.

"A bank robbery?" Ramon questioned.

"A bank robbery during the day. This is Gotham City, all robberies happen at night." Paige stated, crossing her arms as if some unspoken law had been broken. She then turned around to look at Athena.

"You should do something!"

"I can't. I'm still in training, and I don't even have an alias yet." Athena explained. "Besides, the police can probably handle a bank robbery."

They watched as the police arrived, but the three watched as the occupied police didn't realize that another man was getting away.

"Okay, now that I need to do something about." Athena sighed as she handed her Ukulele over to Ramon. She knew it was wrong to just sit around and let a guy get away.

"Ramon, can I borrow your baseball cap?" Athena inquired, and the boy quickly complied.

Athena stuffed her brown hair from the wig into the baseball cap, then looked at Paige.

"Can I borrow your bandana?" she inquired, and her friend quickly handed the blue piece of fabric over.

Athena quickly tied it around her mouth and knotted it in the back of her head. The bill of the hat shaded her eyes and the bandana covered the rest of her face.

"I'll be back." She said quickly, then ran towards where she saw the other man from the robbery run off to.

Her heart was pounding in her chest and she felt adrenalin rushing through her veins.

She followed the man into an alley way and tackled him to the ground.

"Turn yourself in to the police!" Athena exclaimed as she pulled off the man's black mask, but her eyes widened as she realized who she had just tackled.

The man smiled at her happily.

"I was hoping to drawl out the bats into the day time, but you're new." He chuckled evilly as his green hair glistened in the sun light that was peeking into the alley.

"Y-you're…"

"The Joker, at your service, girly." He laughed as he stood to his feet, and looked down at the girl.

Athena heard stories of the man. She saw some of the things he did on the news, and Bruce had told her about how dangerous he was.

She was in over her head.

Athena was so scared she didn't even know what to do with herself, and all her adrenalin disappeared in a heartbeat.

"Didn't expect to catch me, huh kid?" he questioned with a laugh as he started to approach Athena. She took a step back, but then quickly pushed her hands out, sending Joker against the wall.

"A meta huh?" Joker questioned with a smile. "You just made things interesting." He ran at Athena and she threw a punch, which resulted in Joker dodging and punching her in the gut.

He quickly lifted her bandana up and sprayed some gas in her face, then pulled the bandana back down.

Athena coughed several times, expecting to start laughing, however her vision only started to get hazy.

"I might just have some fun with you later on." He laughed as he played around with a knife in his hand, then lifted a groggy Athena up.

"No." she whispered, shaking her head and kicking Joker, sending him flying backward. She staggered to her feet, but leaned against the wall.

"Conner." She whispered. "Conner help." Joker threw a knife at her, but it bounced off her chest. However, the gas was still effecting her.

"Conner I… I need help." She mumbled. "Superboy…"

Joker grabbed her by the neck and pinned her to the wall. Athena was too groggy to do anything about it.

"Little girly wants to be a hero?" Joker questioned with a chuckle. "You do know that some heroes die, right?"

Athena felt the man squeezing her throat, and she was having trouble breathing. She gasped for breath, praying that help would come. She was to groggy to think straight or use her abilities.

Next thing Athena knew, the pressure was off of her throat, and she saw Conner, throwing Joker against the wall, and quickly knocking him out.

"Athena?" he questioned, and the girl looked up at the sound of her name.

Conner was quickly in front of her, and was looking at her with worry.

"I thought he was a… a regular burglar." Athena mumbled. "I didn't know he was… I got scared… I'm not ready to fight. I'm not ready."

Conner sighed. He was upset that Athena went after the guy, but he understood her reasoning behind it.

"The cops will find him here, let's get you out of this alley." Conner whispered as he jumped onto a rooftop and took the bandana off of Athena's face, letting her breath in fresh air.

"Athena, you have to understand that you need to train more before you can go out and try to take down people." Conner stated, and Athena nodded.

"I understand. I'm sorry." Conner was just relieved that Athena wasn't hurt. He knew that Joker could have done some unimaginable things to her.

"We're not going to speak of this to anyone else, okay?" Conner questioned, and Athena nodded.

"Okay."

Conner knew that if anyone else were to save her, she would be in trouble. However, he was worried about Superman finding out above anyone else. They had just started to get along, and he didn't need Superman to think of her as stupid, or anything else.

Conner took Athena back to the park where she met up with Paige and Ramon.

"What happened, are you okay?" Ramon questioned in concern, quickly running over to Athena.

"Did you kick his butt? Did you throw him against a wall and then toss him around like a rag doll? Did you-"

"I almost died." Athena whispered and her friends looked at her in shock. "I got too scared."

"It's okay, Athena." Ramon said as he gave her a hug.

"Did you save her?" Paige inquired, looking at Conner. The man nodded his head.

"Then thank you." Paige smiled, giving him a hug as well.

Conner patted the girl on the head, but couldn't tear his eyes off of Athena. She looked humiliated almost.

"I shouldn't have done that. I was too scared." Conner heard her say.

"How about I get you guys some ice cream?" Conner suggested quickly, trying to lighten the kid's spirits. He gave Athena a smile and she slowly smiled back.

"None of this happened, alright?" Conner questioned, and the kids nodded.

Athena held Conner's hand as she held Ramon's. Paige stood next to Conner happily talking about something no one practically cared about, but it got everyone's minds off of what happened previously.