Constructive criticism is appreciated! Please enjoy and tell me what you think! Sorry for any OOC in this chapter if there is any. I'm trying to stay as close to the characters as possible.

L.L.A.P

~Laces

Chpt.8

Conner never expected Athena to be so in love with music. Especially Elvis. She had memorized all of his songs and would often sing along with the CD when she was alone in her room or in the shower, but she was too nervous to sing in front of anybody else.

However, Conner was grateful for the music. It was helping Athena with learning English as well, and she often didn't have breaks in her sentences.

After Elvis came the Four Seasons, and then Cassie introduced her to Kelly Clarkson, and Bumblebee said that it would be a sin not to have Athena listen to Michael Jackson.

Mal noticed Athena's passion for listening to music, and asked her what her favorite Disney song was. When the girl replied that she didn't know what Disney was, he was adamant that she should watch all the movies in order to have a proper child hood.

Mal got his way and had a week long Disney movie marathon.

Athena's favorite movies after she was finished watching them all, were Lilo and Stitch, Hercules, and Mulan. Her favorite Disney Princess was Tiana.

Athena felt an odd connection with Stitch in Lilo and Stich. He was an experiment that people wanted to destroy, and he felt just as lost as she sometimes felt. There was plenty of Elvis music in the movie as well, which made her smile.

Despite loving the movie, she always cried at the end. Mal saw her crying, but didn't address it. He knew that if he did, she'd crawl back into her shell and hide away, and she was making a lot of process with being more open. He didn't want her running and hiding again. However, Mal always wondered if she was crying out of happiness or sadness at the end of the movie.

Three weeks had passed with her listening to music, watching Disney movies, and going outside to soak up the sun on the beach, however she remained to steer clear of the water.

Everyone noticed this, especially La'gaan.

"By Neptune's beard, it's only water." La'gaan stated. He was planning to go for a swim when he noticed the girl staring at the waves with fear as she sat on the beach.

The team trusted her on the beach alone. Not many people were ever allowed access onto the beach, and they didn't have to worry about her getting hurt in the ocean due to her fear of it.

Athena sighed as she stared at the water, then looked down at Ralph.

"I know Ralph. I wasn't thinking about it." She then looked up at La'gaan. "I'm not good in water." La'gaan raised an eyebrow.

"But do you not have part of my king's DNA?" he questioned, and Athena tilted her head, confused.

"Your king?"

"You know him as Aquaman." La'gaan sighed, looking at Athena like she was stupid.

"Oh." She nodded. "I do have some of his DNA." La'gaan sighed, shaking his head in disgust.

"You have my King's DNA, and yet you are too afraid of the water. Truly pitiful." He sneered.

"I'll drown." Athena whispered, looking over at Ralph. "Yeah. I remember, Ralph."

"That's an excuse, minnow." La'gaan stated as he walked off to the ocean.

Athena watched as he jumped into the ocean and swam with ease. He made swimming through the terrifying waves look like child's play.

"Actually Ralph…"

"Don't be an idiot, Athena. You'll die."

"Who knows. It's been awhile since I tried." Athena said with some hope, looking at the bear with a small smile.

"And don't you remember the last time you tried? You drowned several times. You tried as hard as you could, but it was no use. You can't swim! And I don't want you to get hurt!"

"But maybe I won't get hurt, Ralph! Maybe it's a skill that comes with age. I have to try. Then I could swim with Gar, and Cassie. Maybe Conner could swim with us too." She explained.

"But you can't swim, Athena! I don't want you to get hurt!" Athena sighed, looking over at her teddy bear.

"I have to at least try." She then smiled slightly. "Maybe La'gaan might like me if I could swim."

"Don't do things just so he can like you."

"But I didn't do anything wrong. And M'gann likes him a lot. We could be friends." She said softly.

"Athena…"

"I'm swimming today, Ralph." Athena stated sternly, then stood to her feet, leaving Ralph on the sand. She was barefoot, wearing mesh shorts and a green tank top. She didn't bother wearing her wig and contacts while on the beach.

Athena reached the water's edge, and took in a deep breath, walking foreword.

"I can do this." She whispered as she continued walking deeper into the water. Athena thought that she was doing pretty well.

Unfortunately a wave knocked her over, and started to drag her out into the ocean. She felt as if the ocean had hands and it was pulling her down and further into its mouth. She flailed her arms and legs, trying to imitate La'gaan how he swam, but she couldn't get the motion down.

Her head bobbed to the surface and she was able to get a breath, but then she was quickly pulled back down.

Her lungs filled with water when she attempted to breathe again, and she felt herself sinking deeper.

A memory quickly flashed before her eyes.

"Please! D-do not… put… put me in there… again. Please" Athena pleaded, and Milo sighed.

"Project Power, I know you can do this. Just breath underwater. Or hold your breath. You're only going to be submerged in there for fifteen minutes."

"I… cannot… breath in there. Or… or hold… my breath."

"Only you can decide that." Milo stated as he dragged her back to the water tank.

Athena felt a pair of hands grab her and pull her up.

Conner? Athena thought as she felt herself be pulled above the water and dragged onto the beach.

She coughed and water poured out of her throat.

"By Neptune's Beard! Were you trying to get yourself killed?" La'gaan shouted, then slung her over his shoulder. He then picked up Ralph, then walked into Mt. Justice.

Nobody was there except for Beast Boy, and M'gann, who were both in the training room.

He placed Athena onto her bed and handed the bear to her. He left the room and quickly returned with a towel and wrapped it around her.

"You stupid creature! You almost died!" La'gaan shouted, and Athena grasped onto Ralph tightly.

"I just thought-"

"It doesn't matter what you thought! You almost died! I thought you told me that you'd drown!" Athena looked down at her feet.

"You said that that was an excuse." Athena whispered, and La'gaan's eyes widened.

"I didn't think you'd…" he started, but then shook his head. "Minnow, you know your limitations. Don't try to do something when you know you can't. Got it?"

Athena nodded, then looked up at La'gaan.

"Thanks for getting me out of the water." She said softly. "And for remembering to grab Ralph."

La'gaan rolled his eyes.

"I only grabbed the stupid toy because I figured you'd be in some sort of catatonic shock by now, and you'd need something to calm yourself." La'gaan informed. "Why aren't you panicking? Most people would." He questioned gruffly.

"This isn't the first time I almost died in the water." Athena sighed. "I guess you could say that I am used to it."

La'gaan suddenly felt a twinge of pity for the girl, but his heart hardened again.

Experiments can't be trusted. She can malfunction at any time. She could turn, just like… La'gaan pushed the thought out of his head.

"Don't let it happen again. I might not be there to get you out next time." He stated, then stormed out of the room.

"You scared me." Athena looked down in her hands at Ralph.

"Sorry. I guess you were right. I just thought…"

"I know what you were thinking, Athena. And you know why. I'm you." Athena shook her head, droplets of water falling from her hair.

"Ralph, you know I don't want to believe that. You're Ralph. You're my friend." She said quietly.

"I'm you, Athena. Only you decided to hear your voice come from a bear."

"Ralph… I'm not ready." Athena whispered sadly.

"Alright, Athena. But one day you'll realize that I'm just you. But it'll be okay because you won't need to talk to me."

"But right now I need you." Athena said softly, holding the bear tighter in her hands. He was the only one who never left her. He couldn't leave her now.

"Okay, Athena. I love you." Athena hugged the bear tightly, shivering slightly from the cool air on her wet skin.

"I love you too."