Sorry for taking awhile. Please enjoy and tell me what you think!

L.L.A.P

~Laces

Chpt.5

Conner had paced back and forth in the kitchen, nervous of what was going on in the other room. They had been in there for over an hour. He was tempted to listen in, but he didn't want to be rude, or hear any other horrific things from when the girl was at Cadmus.

"Why are you so nervous?" Gar questioned, and Conner sighed.

"I'm just worried how they'll treat her. When Superman found out about me, well, he wasn't exactly thrilled." Gar shook his head.

"We're talking about Black Canary, and Wonder Woman. I can't see them being mean too her."

"Well, when you think of Superman, do you think he's a mean guy?" Gar frowned at that.

"No."

"Exactly." Conner sighed, slouching his shoulders, but then perked up when he heard footsteps approaching the kitchen.

"We'll visit again soon, Athena." Wonder Woman smiled.

"Hopefully next time we can bring the entire league with us." Added Black Canary as she bent down to hug the girl.

Conner felt an enormous wave of relief. They were treating her like an actual human being instead of some unnatural lab experiment.

The women walked into the transporter, and were beamed back up to the watch tower.

"How'd it go?" Conner inquired, looking over at the girl. She smiled brightly and ran up to him.

"Great!" She hugged him tightly. "They… gave me a name!" she informed with excitement. "Athena." She hugged Conner even tighter. "Athena Laurel Prince."

"Athena." Conner smiled. The name seemed to fit the girl.

"Isn't Athena the name of a Goddess or something?" Gar inquired. "Like… the Greek Goddess of Wisdom, and law and Justice?"

"No surprise that Wonder Woman wanted to name her that then." Conner smiled, then turned back to look at the girl.

"Athena, do you want to go outside?" he questioned, and her eyes widened and she jumped up and down in excitement.

"Can we?" she squeaked with hope, making Conner chuckle, and he started to walk towards the exit.

"Of course." He answered, and Athena was quickly at his side, along with Gar, who could use some time outside.

"Wait." Athena paused, then sprinted up to her room. Conner waited patiently as she ran back down with Ralph in her hands.

"He's never seen the sun either." She informed in a small voice when she noticed the strange look Gar gave her.

"Well let's not keep you two waiting." Conner grinned, and he could see the excitement building in the girl.

He understood why she was excited too. Conner's first day out in the sun was so much better than when he was stuck in the lab, growing in a pod. The sun itself was beautiful, and it felt nice on his skin, warming him. He could only imagine how Athena was going to react.

Conner opened the doors and Gar quickly flew out as a bird, but Athena stared at the entrance, and Conner held his hand out for her to take.

She slowly grasped his hand, then followed him outside, taking timid steps.

Athena's bare feet were suddenly warmed and cushioned by a strange sensation she didn't know how to explain. In front of her was a large mass of water that crashed down in waves, but Athena wasn't paying attention to that.

Her attention was quickly on the giant bright orb in the sky. The sun warmed her face and skin, and she felt as if it were concentrating it's heat and strength all on her.

"Ralph, it's the sun." she said in a whisper, talking to the stuffed bear in her hands. She then turned to Conner, filled with excitement and happiness, pointing at the sun.

"Conner! Sun! It's the sun! I not could believing the sun to be beautiful! So beautiful!" she exclaimed happily, jumbling words and ignoring grammar. "And anything was is opened! And the air smelt salt and other things! And what's under me feet? Is it dirt? Is every dirt like this? The sky so blue! Why is the sky blue? Where do the stars go when the sky comes out? What am me smelling? This is the best day of my life!"

Conner stood and smiled at her, not being able to answer her questions due to how one came quickly after the other, and how he wasn't sure what she was exactly asking.

She then froze, frowning slightly.

"I… said most of that wrong… didn't I?" she questioned in a low voice, and Conner shrugged.

"You did pretty good. But ignore how you speak right now, your excited. Go and run around, it's all open space." He informed. "Oh, and what's underneath your toes is sand."

Athena took Conner's advice and was quickly running around the beach, observing the sea grass, and sea shells, and kept looking up at the sky as if it were going to disappear.

Conner was smiling as he watched her run around, and Gar was next to him.

"I'm taking it this was a good day for her." Gar stated with a grin.

"Considering she was given a name, and saw the sun for the first time? Yes. I think that this was a great day for her."

They watched as she fell to the ground, but before they could run to her to see if she was okay, Athena quickly stood back to her feet laughing, then started to run around again.

Conner was happy for the girl, but he noticed something. She was keeping a wide berth between herself and the water.

Gar noticed this too and was quickly running up to the girl.

"Hey, Athena, wanna go for a swim?" he inquired with a smile as he morphed into an octopus.

Athena looked at the water nervously. Her eyes focused on the rise and decent of the waves, and she shook slightly.

"I do not… know how to swim." She informed in a low voice, and Gar was quickly back in his human form again.

"It's okay. The water isn't that deep. You can just get your feet wet if you want to." He informed with an easy going smile.

"J-Just my… feet?" she inquired with a small stuttered, and Gar's eyes widened.

"You don't have to go in the water if you don't want to." He said quickly. "I just thought that you'd like it."

The girl shook her head sadly.

"I do not like… large bodies of water." Athena said in a whisper, and Gar quickly grabbed her hand, pulling her further away from the ocean.

"Then you don't need to go in." he then looked over at Conner, who was walking up to them.

"Do you want to see the rest of Happy Harbor? There's a town near bye."

"A town?" Athena questioned. She looked puzzled, and she scrunched up her face in thought. "I… heard the word before… I know that word… what is it?"

"A town has stores and shops and it's where people live." Conner informed, and Athena nodded.

"I… understand now." She paused for a moment. "Town." She whispered, trying not to forget the word.

However, there was a sudden loud bang and the ground shook. Conner looked over towards the town and smoke was coming off of a building.

"Gar, look after Athena, I'll call in if I need help." He stated quickly, then looked over at Athena. "Sorry, Athena. But…"

"Go save people." Athena smiled, and Conner ran off.

Gar looked over at Athena and noticed she was looking off in the direction where Conner ran to with some worry.

"Hey." He said softly, and Athena looked over at him. "He's Superboy. He'll be okay." Athena slowly smiled and then fell backwards onto the sand, looking up at the sky.

"I can't… believe that I'm… free." She whispered, and Gar laid down on the sand next to her.

"What exactly did Cadmus do to you? Why did they never take you outside?" he inquired, and Athena sighed.

"I don't know… why they kept me inside. I… suppose it was to keep my… hope at bay. If it wasn't for Mr. Ralph I… would have thought that there… was nothing beyond the walls." She said sadly. "I… liked Mr. Ralph."

"Where is he now?" Gar inquired, and Athena squeezed her teddy bear tighter.

"I don't know... I wish I knew. He was really… nice." Athena smiled when she remembered the day Mr. Ralph proclaimed that it was her birthday and he slipped her a book and a piece of chocolate.

The book was called A Catcher in the Rye. It was the first book she learned how to read. Athena liked the book. She felt bad for the main character, but she enjoyed it. It was her favorite birthday. She remembered that it was the perfect ending to her day, considering earlier that day she was shot in the arm several times.

"You also… asked what Cadmus did to me?" she inquired.

"Yeah." Gar nodded. "But something tells me I don't want to know." He said quietly.

"I don't think it would be… considered… humane." Athena informed, then pointed to several scars on her arms.

Gar winced, and he can only imagine what happened to her that resulted in her getting them. She was so young too. Gar frowned, thinking about that. His mother constantly loved him when he was growing up. She was always there to quickly bandage a cut knee. But Athena had no mother. She had no one who seemed to really love her.

Except for Mr. Ralph.

"Gar! Project Power! Get in here!" the girl sat up and winced at the name. It was La'gaan yelling from the entry way to the beach.

Gar helped Athena up, and the two ran toward the building. However, when Athena reached La'gaan she said in a proud voice,

"My name is Athena Laurel Prince." La'gaan raised an eyebrow.

"Says who?" he questioned with disbelief.

"Wonder Woman and Black Canary named me." she informed with some excitement, but La'gaan still looked doubtful.

"La'gaan, she's telling the truth." Gar stated, and the Atlantian seemed to let it go.

"Fine, Athena. Get in the debriefing room. The first room to the right. Batman needs to talk to the team and you." La'gaan then turned to look at Gar. "Garfield, I need to talk to you for a moment."

He shooed Athena away, and the girl slowly walked to where La'gaan instructed her to, and Gar glared at his elder.

"What's up with you?" Gar questioned. He liked it better when M'gann was dating Conner, and he didn't like how La'gaan handled things.

"Watch yourself, Garfield. That… creature cannot be trusted." He stated, and Gar's eyes widened.

"She's just a little girl…"

"A little girl created by Cadmus, grown in a lab. What if they have a mind control device in her, and she's really a spy? Or what if after years of having no abilities, she suddenly gains some and starts accidentally killing people. What if she can't control Superman's strength? Or Black Canary's scream?" Gar shook his head, but didn't know how to respond to what La'gaan was saying.

"Face it, Garfield. You know that she cannot be trusted." La'gaan shook his head. "And when she turns on us, I'll be ready for her."