Scene 45 - Confrontation
Ember stood with Superboy, Guardian, and Bumblebee against the wall, hidden from sight as the summit had taken a turn for the worst when both Kaldur and Artemis were exposed and seemingly killed. A holo-recording slipped out of the Atlantean's grasp to reveal the Light's plans for the Reach. The brunette had to hand it to him for his acting prowess. If he quit being a hero, maybe he could an artiste.
Brianna was surprised that she was the first to sign up for this mission. The pyro recalled the moment when Nightwing brought the senior team members to the Watchtower, including Kid Flash, when the last flash drive was presented to him. All of them sat eagerly in the tower's library as he connected the drive into a USB port and Kaldur's report was projected onto a screen. They shifted in their seats in awe from the revelation and agreed with Aqualad's plans.
No matter how furious she was with the Atlantean, she was impressed by his idea. "I'm in," Ember stood up first when she was done reading the report and Dick nodded, "Everyone will be there to ambush them."
Get ready. Nightwing's voice interrupted her daydream and she heard Miss Martian saying she didn't want any permanent damage done to her friends. Aqualad walked towards the red-headed alien and proclaimed, "For we value our true friends and unlike you, we are not short on them."
That was their code phrase and her squad and Nightwing's squad emerged from both sides of the cave.
Wally waved and teased in a sing-song voice, "Hey there Vandy, ya miss me?"
Savage stared at Aqualad and Miss Martian stoically, "Well played, well planned but the Light always has contingencies."
The Brain lit up brightly and for a moment, Ember thought the cave would explode but the doors behind both squads slammed down, blocking their exits. The roof of the cavern opened and a horde of League of Shadows henchmen jumped down.
"I've had my fill of your interference. Do not expect to survive," Vandal's tone of voice dropped dangerously low.
Even though the Shadow assassins surrounded them, Ember was a picture of calm and waited for Jaime to intervene. Boy was she glad that his scarab was cleansed in a sacred ritual at Bialya a few days before. Both he and Green Beetle were rather relentless with their attacks, promptly targeting her when they found her fire could hurt them. She couldn't have survived if not for the help from the Team who timed their attacks perfectly.
Her thoughts were interrupted once more by Savage addressing the grunts, "Kill them all. Superboy will present a problem but we'll deal with him when the other children lie bleeding on the ground."
Brianna frowned at the thought of being called a child but Kaldur spoke what was on her mind, "Still you refer to us as children. No wonder our successes mount, you consistently underestimate us."
As if on cue, a Shadow member pulled off his mask to reveal Blue Beetle himself and he flew up, using his sonic blasts on the Reach contingent in the cavern. All hell broke loose and everyone began fighting.
Ember and Superboy fought back to back as they walked around in a circle, casually knocking down any Shadow agent who jumped in their way. It was a little awkward that they were working together after having broken up but their bond of friendship was still there and they used it to fuel their objective. Guardian and Bumblebee were in charge of taking care of the Reach soldiers as they agreed that Brianna would be targeted and become a liability if she had to battle the Reach. There would be another time for her to attack those pesky conquering aliens but right now, the priority was to take down the enemies in the cavern.
A rogue Reach soldier charged towards the duo and Conner split away from Brianna to take the alien down. As he did so, he left an opening for the assassins to gang up on Ember who did a quick spin on her heel and raised her arms out to shoot fire as a deterrent. The brunette saw a golden lasso wrap around the waist of a Shadow grunt and he was pulled down. The other two assassins beside their fallen comrade were swiftly taken down by a bo staff and a speedster. The trio pulled off their masks and the pyro gave Wonder Girl, Robin, and Impulse an appreciative smile before they all went off in separate directions to assist their teammates.
Brianna overheard Savage voicing his disappointment but she was preoccupied in pulling the arm of an assassin away from Batgirl. Then, she heard Black Beetle making a comment about meat being useless and she turned her head briefly to see Black Beetle retracting his blade from the back of Ra's Al Ghul. Ember quickly whipped her head back to fly upwards as an assassin who was running towards her crashed into the wall behind the brunette. There were just too many grunts to count.
Over at the pool of water in the cavern, Kaldur stood face to face with his father as the older man spoke in disbelief, "I cannot comprehend this betrayal, Kaldur. How could you?"
Calmly, the blonde replied, "I admit to be conflicted, father. I have seen your noble side but you left me no choice." Aqualad's voice lowered menacingly as he withdrew his water bearers to form mace constructs, "As long as you waste your gifts on villainy, I will stand against you."
Black Manta then said coolly, "It seems I have been too permissive. Clearly boy, you require discipline." He put on his helmet and fired a beam of laser towards his son.
Aqualad had already anticipated that move and he brought up a wall of water to intercept the laser. The liquid evaporated and fell on him like rain. With determination, Kaldur'ahm walked forward to confront his biological parent, "You still have a chance to redeem yourself, father."
Black Manta retorted angrily, "Ignorant boy! This is not a world, a universe in which a free man can afford to be soft! I will teach you to be ruthless, Kaldur'ahm, even if I must beat that lesson into your SKULL!"
Once more, the older man fired a laser beam and Aqualad dodged to the side to hide behind a rocky formation. He then ran out from behind the pillar to slam his hand into the water, forming a huge construct of a fist which he sent punching towards his father. Black Manta jumped away easily to avoid the attack and fired another laser in retaliation. Kaldur formed a water shield with one hand to block the laser but the force was so great that it caused him to slide backwards on the water. With his other hand, he drew up more water and used it as a platform to raise him upwards through the air and when he was at the peak of the jump, the water platform transformed into several eel constructs which shot down towards Black Manta.
His father released a few rockets to get rid of the eels easily and there was so much smoke in the air that Kaldur used it as a cover for a sneak attack. The blonde formed a water mace in his hand and slammed down on Black Manta's helmet as he landed on the water. With another yell, he swung his mace upwards, knocking off the older man's headgear and rendering him unconscious. Aqualad walked forward and said bitterly, "I believe that was fairly ruthless, father. I hope it made you proud."
Ember was getting rid of the remaining Shadow agents and she thought that Ra's Al Ghul really ought to train their assassins a little better as they were dropping rapidly like flies. The brunette sent a fire knife in the direction of the remaining assassin in her radius and the grunt cartwheeled to dodge the attack. Before he could complete the full somersault though, Brianna tackled him by the waist and sent him flying against the wall where his head collided with the surface and the grunt's world went black. Her head turned towards Aqualad who looked down at his defeated father.
Sensing someone was watching him, he turned around and met Brianna's gaze. She looked back at Kaldur passively and without acknowledging the Atlantean, the brunette flew up to assist Blue Beetle and Miss Martian in apprehending Black Beetle. Kaldur sighed and returned his focus back on Black Manta. Unfortunately, Black Beetle aimed an energy blast at the trio chasing him and they dodged in time to avoid the attack. It would seem they would have to fight the final battle another day. Miss Martian, Blue Beetle, and Ember then descended to join Wonder Girl and Robin who were at ease as every enemy in the cave was taken down. The battle was over.
Nightwing entered the water to join his friend and the Atlantean heard him approach, "I had hoped to end this tonight but Savage escaped with Klarion, as did Black Beetle and the Reach's head scientist. Luthor and Queen Bee never showed and even Ra's Al Ghul no doubt-"
Before he could finish his words of self-pity, Nightwing interrupted, "Are you kidding me? Kaldur, you won!"
Kid Flash joined in the encouragement, "Won? Dude, you triumphed!"
Artemis spoke too, "You crippled the Reach and literally broken the Light in half, even took down Deathstroke before the summit." The blonde archer bent down to retrieve her glamour charm, "And since we holographically recorded the entire deal, we'll be able to use the bad guy's own records against them to clear the Justice League."
Beast Boy ran up to Artemis and gave a hug, much to her surprise, "What was that?"
Garfield replied happily, "I'm still just so glad you're alive, and that Aqualad's not a traitor! No more faking anyone's deaths for at least a year, okay?" The young boy pointed threateningly at Nightwing and Wally replied, "Yeah, second it."
The Atlantean sighed, "Agreed."
Dick slapped a hand on his shoulder, "Kaldur, this has been a good night. Maybe the best we've had since the three of us first took off for Cadmus five plus years ago."
Brianna watched the whole scene from a distance, not wanting to join in. At least, not yet. The speedster rested a hand on his other shoulder, "C'mon, enjoy the moment my friend. You've earned it."
Kaldur'ahm gazed sadly at his father and then glanced to the rest of the Team who were boarding the bio-ship which had just entered the cavern. Ember was not looking back at him as she walked up the ramp to the ship and that thought made him even more solemn.
The brunette perched herself by the window sill, staring out into space as she did her best not to make eye contact with Kaldur'ahm. At his request, she arrived to the Watchtower shortly after Nightwing turned over his leadership over to the Atlantean. She wasn't looking forward to this conversation but both of them had to talk about it like mature adults. There was awkward silence as Kaldur stood across her, looking out of the window as well. The brunette inhaled, "I am still not happy with your decision. Did you think I was so helpless that you had to protect me from the truth?"
Aqualad turned and replied quietly, "I didn't want to see you hurt at all. I-"
Brianna chuckled, "You don't want to see me hurt? Let me refresh your memory Kaldur'ahm, you electrocuted me and cut my shoulder."
The Atlantean was frustrated, "The sword was an accident. I didn't mean to push it upwards as you flew over me. As for the electrocution, I regretted it deeply but it was the only way for me to leave the cave without you following me. I didn't bother to charge up my bolts, you were unscarred."
Ember exhaled sharply, "Do you need an 'I didn't hurt my ex-girlfriend that badly' medal? I knew you were reluctant, M'gann showed me all your memories. I understand what you did but the thing is, you still hurt me; physically and emotionally. Were you that distrusting of me?"
He shook his head and stood up taller, "Brianna, you have no idea the sacrifices I did to keep you and the Team safe. Did you think I wanted to be away from you? Did you think I wanted to hurt you willingly? The Light was growing even more dangerous with each passing year and I had to put a stop to them! It took us so long to finally cripple them! I do trust you, with my life. You've saved me numerous times before. If they knew you still had feelings for me, they would see you as a target and torture you! I had to break it off cleanly to prove to them that I no longer had any attachments left."
The brunette rubbed her arms and sighed, "It's always about the job, isn't it? Missions will forever take priority over your own relationship. It's kind of unfair that Artemis let Wally in on the secret but my own ex-boyfriend thought it was better to make me go through hell and back instead of telling me the truth. You know I would have roped in M'gann to help with all the mental locks. A few heads let in on the plan would have produced better ideas."
Kaldur took a step closer and looked her in the eye, "If I could do it all again, I would have told you and the senior members from the very beginning. I am truly sorry for thinking what I did was for your own good. I see that secrets, regardless of their nature, are still as devastating as ever."
Brianna was uncomfortable at the close distance between them and she flew over to the sofa and whispered, "It's too late, the damage is done. I've lost all my trust in you. No matter how much you apologize, I can never forgive you. All those years of being together, all gone in an instant because you thought I would be a damsel in distress. You destroyed every single thing that I treasured. You were the world to me and you just tossed it aside. I can't read your thoughts, Kaldur. How was I supposed to know all your actions were that of love?!" Her voice cracked and she teared up as the blonde took a step forward.
"Stay back. Don't touch me," She said softly and wiped away the tear trails on her cheek.
Kaldur took a step back to give her space and waited. The brunette composed herself and inhaled a few times to stop her sobs. "I cannot work under a team leader who doesn't trust me. When the invasion is over, I'm leaving the Team. Please respect my decision," Brianna spoke when she was calm enough to converse without crying.
Her words broke any hope he had left in getting back together and he closed his eyes to turn his head away, "I understand…"
The pyro took this opportunity to declare their conversation was over and she flew over to the door. Glancing back at his defeated posture, she couldn't help but say, "Thank you, Kaldur'ahm. Take care."
As much of a jerk as he was, the brunette did care for him once and she felt it was natural to speak those words as closure to their relationship.
Author's Note: I have posted Brianna's profile on my main page. Do check it out if you're curious. It might be periodically updated when we head to a specific point in the story. ;)
Very brief mention of "Intervention" and I re-enacted the latter half of the "Summit" episode in this chapter. Hope it was to everyone's liking.
Finally, they reunite but it's not what you expect is it? Brianna is understandably still angry at Kaldur. It'll take more than just an apology for them to get back together...
To piggythelaw: :D
To murdercrowther: Aww, don't be sad. You can re-read this story as many times as you like to get the warm fuzzy feels. Thank you for the compliment though!
To Molly Grace 16: I agree. It's a good thing she doesn't go around setting things on fire. ;)
To Eszra: You're weclome. :)