Hey guys! I am back! I feel like I am the most inconsistent person in the world with my posting! I am so so so sorry about the wait but ya know how it is. I get lazy or writer's block or I'm just busy but I am sorry again. Now I'm not gonna bother you with all the description and s*** because we all know no one really reads this so please continue reading!
Again this chapter might be slightly boring because there isn't too much action but trust me, I am super super excited about the next chapter. (Read to the end to find out why). Remember I love you guys so so so much and please keep reading. Kiss kiss! Later.
Disclaimer: I still don't own anything. (Unfortunately)
(No One's POV)
Percy and Annabeth stood close together as they watched the Justice League leave the cave; transporting to gods knows where. Once the bright yellow light faded Percy let out a shaky breath. Annabeth looked back at him concerned. When their eyes met Percy gave her a warm innocent smile. He nodded silently telling her that he was fine. She nodded back and turn to walk back into the living room with the rest of the team. As they walked in, all eyes were on them.
"So… are you guys going home today?" Robin asked, breaking the silence.
"According to your uh… Batman." Annabeth paused to clear her throat. "We had to wait for uh Fate to come back which will be about a week." The team nodded, a sense of relief filling the room.
"Well uh… it's early. Is there anything specific you guys want to do?" M'gann said, cheery as usual.
"FOOD!" Wally screamed earning a laugh from everyone in the room. Once the laughter died down, the team looked over to their new friends, asking for confirmation.
"Wise girl?" Percy asked looking over at his girlfriend. Annabeth smiled.
"Let's do it."
(Zatanna's POV)
Zatanna understood perfectly why Batman, the League, and maybe even Percy and Annabeth would prefer to wait until her fathe–Doctor Fate returned from his off-world mission, but some part of her couldn't help but feel somewhat offended in their lack of trust in her abilities. She was the one who brought Percy and Annabeth from their dimension into theirs, not Fate. She was the one who was able to actually perform arguably one of the hardest spells in history, not Fate. She was the one who created this problem, not Fate. So why shouldn't she be the one to solve it?
"Zatanna? You ok?" A voice said pulling Zatanna out of her thoughts.
"Huh? Oh yeah! Yeah! Perfectly fine." Zatanna answered Annabeth as they walked together towards the kitchen.
"Really? Cause it doesn't look like it." Annabeth said with a small smile. Zatanna returned the warming smile, staring into Annabeth's intense gray eyes. Zatanna soon realized how Wonder Woman was able to tell Annabeth was the daughter of the goddess of wisdom. Annabeth's piercing gray eyes showed intelligence. Always calculating; kind of like Artemis's (except more threatening).
"Well, I mean I guess you could say I'm a little stressed." Zatanna chuckled, Annabeth soon joining in. Taking Zatanna by surprise, Annabeth stopped and put a hand on Zatanna's shoulder.
"Look Zatanna, I know what it's like to be told you can't do something. And I know what it's like to want to do something so bad because you feel like no one else can do it better than you." Zatanna looked down. A sense of guilt permeating her body.
"You're pretty good at reading people huh?" Zatanna looked back up towards the older girl.
"Pretty much a pro." Zatanna laughed again. Zatanna was an only child. She had no siblings and the few cousins she had she was not very close to. Both her father and mother were no longer here for her, and though the team is a great family to her, she occasionally felt that they were not the type of people she looked up to (mainly because they are all relatively close in age). At this moment, talking with Annabeth, she realized she had been yearning for someone to look up to. Someone to go to for advice, someone to see and an older sister figure. A thought soon flashed through Zatanna's mind. Could Annabeth now be that figure for her? She had doubt in her mind that Annabeth must be like that for someone back on her earth. Maybe dozens of kids.
"I'm sorry." Zatanna apologized.
"For?"
"I just feel like… I caused this problem. Shouldn't I be the one to fix it?" Annabeth was quiet for a moment before she spoke again.
"Through my years of going on quests and winning wars I've learned that sometimes, it's ok to take a step back and let someone who might be more capable fix the problem." Zatanna smiled at the older girl. "But between you and me," Annabeth said with a wink. "I'm sure you could have done just fine getting us home."
(No One's POV)
As Annabeth and Zatanna entered the living room, they saw as every teenager was spread out on the counters and dinner table. Annabeth sent Zatanna one last smile before they parted ways. Annabeth going to sit next to Percy and Zatanna taking her seat next to Artemis.
"So…" Artemis said while taking a bite of a cookie. "What are we going to do today?"
"We could go to the beach?" M'gann offered. Percy sat up straight, a giant smile plastered on his face, making his girlfriend shake her head in amusement.
"It's kinda raining outside." Wally countered in the middle of shoving two cookies into his mouth.
"We could play a game." M'gann offered again.
"Or we could just continue to sit in silence," Connor said in his monotone voice.
"Ok! I give!" M'gann exclaimed. Shrinking into her boyfriend's arm that was laid out behind the chair.
"Well, I mean." Percy started. "Annabeth and I kinda don't have many clothes. Maybe we could go out into town and buy some." Annabeth rolled her eyes beside her boyfriend. "Obviously shopping is Annabeth's favorite thing to do."
"I would not mind going into town," Kaldur said politely.
"And we almost never do that," Artemis added.
"But the mall is boring!" Wally whined covering his eyes as he laid on the floor.
"All in favor?" Robin asked.
(No one's POV)
"I hate you all," Wally said as the team and the two visitors walked through the open mall.
"You are so lazy Baywatch!" Artemis grunted. And with this small comment, yet another argument commenced between the two.
"Do those two have like a thing for each other?" Percy whispered to the group around him.
"It's like an unspoken thing between them," Robin answered back. Percy shrugged and continue to walk with his arm around his girlfriend.
"Wally, Artemis. I am not sure if you are aware but we are in public. So if you wouldn't mind saving this argument until later." Kaldur said in his usual calm voice.
"But–" Wally started.
"That is an order," Kaldur said, a bit more stern, shutting both teens up.
"Well, maybe we should do what we were meant to be doing in town," M'gann said. The teens looked back at her with confused looks. "Get Annabeth and Percy some clothes." The teams displayed different "oh's" and "ah's". "Now I assume that the boys don't want to come into girls shops so why don't we split up. Girls and boys. We can meet at the Starbucks in say maybe an hour." The team soon agreed and went their separate ways.
(Girls POV)
"So Annabeth, what do you like to wear?" M'gann asked as she and the other girls walked in a group.
"Uh… conservative. I don't like showing my body off." Annabeth answered as she paused her conversation with Artemis. "Like v-necks and jeans." The three other girls nodded.
"So not super girly?" Megan observed.
"Definitely not skirts… no offense M'gann." Annabeth looked around at the array of shops around her. Annabeth hated shopping. Having to walk around finding different clothes that were expensive, then having to try them on. Don't even get her started on the store clerks that shove things into your face saying "buy this!" or "you need this!"
"You know you're a lot like Artemis," Zatanna commented.
"Is that a compliment?" Artemis asked Zatanna with a pointed look.
"Of course Arty."
"You know Artemis, your name is really ironic," Annabeth stated bringing all the girl's attention.
"How so?" M'gann asked moving behind Zatanna to avoid a group of people walking past.
"Well I mean, your name is Artemis like the goddess of the hunt who fights with a bow. Like you do."
"Uh, thanks I guess?" Artemis smiled tightening her ponytail.
"It's a compliment. I highly respect Artemis." Annabeth said looking around at the different shops. "I think I want to go into H&M. It's one I know the best."
"Really? You have an H&M?" Zatanna asked amazed.
"Of course. I think it's too important which is why both dimensions have it." Annabeth smiled.
"Alright then! Let's go!" M'gann yelled dragging all the girls into the store.
(Boy's POV)
"I can not believe your style isn't surfer boy!" Wally whined as he and Percy sat next to each other waiting for the girls. Percy laughed and shook his head.
"Nah man. That's far far off."
"Wally you only guessed that cause his dad is Poseidon." Robin cackled taking a sip of his coffee.
"Well, it was a good guess," Wally said in defeat.
"Well, I prefer plain t-shirts and jeans, especially in this weather. But you know I don't like things that are too pricey." Percy said running a hand through his hair. As they continued to sit and wait, Robin couldn't help but notice how most of the girls around them seemed to be staring. He wasn't completely sure who they were looking at first but soon saw that they seemed to be looking over in Wally and Percy's direction. Then the unexpected happened. A girl walked over to them. The group stopped their conversations as she walked over to Percy and Wally. Percy looked as if he was about to rip out his sword but soon relaxed.
"Hi." The girl directed at Percy, fluttering her big brown eyes.
"Hey," Percy said casual and relaxed.
"Uh. I kinda lost my phone. Can I borrow yours? I need to call my mom." She said innocently. Her group of friends laughing behind her, not going unnoticed by all the boys in the group.
"Sorry. I don't have a phone." Percy replied nonchalantly. The group of guys around him chuckling.
"I have a phone!" Wally piped in. The girl turned her gaze to him. Her expression immediately turning sour.
"I'm not talking to you."
"Rude," Wally mumbled sitting back down, earning a nice shoulder pat from Connor.
"You really don't have a phone?" The girl started again at Percy.
"Nope." Percy said popping the "p". "But there is something I do have," Percy said faking a flirtatious tone, leaning forward on the table.
"What's that?" The girl flirted back.
"A girlfriend," Percy said with a smile. The girl huffed and walked back over to her friends. Percy sighed and leaned back. That was when the other boys fully lost it. Other boys meaning Robin and Wally.
"That was amazing!" Wally coughed.
"Does that happen to you a lot?" Robin cackled.
"Too often." Percy sighed again. "I've had to stop Annabeth from murdering a couple of girls because they were throwing themselves at me."
"Why do the girls not respect your relationship with Annabeth?" Kaldur asked.
"Beats me. But I could ask the same about guys when they hit on Annabeth. I've wanted to run some people through with Riptide." Percy laughed.
"I find that highly disrespectful and rude." Kaldur huffed crossing his arms.
"Me and you both," Percy said putting his arms behind the chair. After a few more minutes the girls flooded the Starbucks blessing the boys with their warm smiles. Soon everyone was settled with drinks and seats.
"Did we miss anything?" M'gann asked sipping her drink.
"Percy got hit on." Wally shouted. All eyes focused on Annabeth. Surprisingly she seemed unfazed.
"What's new?" She said sarcastically, rolling her gray eyes. Percy just shrugged grabbing Annabeth's hand.
"She wasn't even cute Wise Girl." Percy reassured, squeezing Annabeth's hand. Annabeth looked back over towards Percy. Annabeth smiled back at her boyfriend but subtly moved her fingers, squeezing his pressure point making him wince. "Ow!" Annabeth replied with an even bigger more satisfied smile letting go of his hand. "Annabeth!"
"Aw! You guys are too cute!" M'gann squealed.
"She literally squeezed his pressure point." Connor contradicted. "How is that cute?"
"It just is," Zatanna added. "You wouldn't understand Connor."
"Apparently," Connor grunted. Time passed as the group of teenagers continued to sit and chat with one another. Cracking jokes and sharing different stories. Soon they decided to go back to the cave. Content with life, so far.
"Teleporting is so cool!" Percy squealed like a little girl. "Again! Again!" Annabeth walked beside him shaking her head whilst trying to conceal the small smirk playing on her lips.
"Hard to believe this guy is a two-time hero of Olympus," Wally mumbled to Connor.
"It may be hard to believe but it's true. Percy's a pretty fierce fighter." Annabeth said raising an eyebrow in Wally's direction.
"Sorry." Wally apologized looking down.
"So you're both two-time heroes of Olympus right?" Zatanna asked her finger on her chin.
"Yeah…?" Percy trailed off noticing a small glimpse of mischief in Zatanna's sapphire eyes.
"I just can't help but wonder… who's the better fighter?"
"Me." Percy and Annabeth said in unison. At that moment both heroes turned to each other glaring. "It's me!" They said again at the same time. Their glares intensifying.
"Well, there's only one way to settle this," Annabeth stated.
"Whoever taps out first loses," Percy added.
"And they have to admit that the other person is and will always be the better fighter." Annabeth finished.
"Deal." Percy and Annabeth shook hands. Then they both turned to a different corner readying themselves.
"Oh, this is gonna be good," Connor said.
