Chpt.21

"Athena, are you sure you're comfortable wearing a t-shirt and shorts?" Conner inquired as they were heading out to the beach.

Athena was wearing black mesh shorts and a red t-shirt instead of her usual long pants and long sleeved shirts. Conner knew that she was often self-conscious about her scars, so the change in wardrobe surprised him.

"Yes, I'm sure. Everyone has scars… I just happen to have a lot of them." She shrugged as she opened the door to get to the beach while holding Conner's hand.

Conner grinned as he gently gripped the girl's hand, following her outside. She was making so much progress. She was getting more comfortable with people, she was better at speaking the English language, she was getting more confident in herself… everything seemed to be looking up.

Athena stood on the beach, smiling as she felt the sun light and warm up her body. Her feet were in the water.

"So this is how far you will go out to? You're feet?" Conner questioned, and Athena nodded.

"It's better than nothing." She informed. "Small steps."

Conner took a small step forward, and Athena followed. Conner took another small steps deeper into the water and Athena followed him.

This proceeded for about five minutes until a wave splashed up onto her chest. She was up to her waist in the water.

She looked back at the beach, forward at the ocean, then looked at Conner with fear. Her grip on him tightened and she started to float out of the water.

"No." Conner said in a soft voice as he pushed Athena down from the air, and back into the water. "You're not hurt. See? You're safe. And I'm right here holding your hand, so you can't be pulled away."

Athena stood rigidly still in the water as she stood firmly on the sand under the water. She then took in a deep breath, and looked at Conner.

"You…" she paused for a moment. "I…" she looked down, trying to get her words straight. "I call Batman father." She said quietly.

"Well… that's great to hear." Conner shrugged. "He technically is sort of your dad, so it makes sense to call him so."

Athena looked back down at the water, as if she had more to say, but was just too nervous to actually say what she was thinking.

"Why did you want to tell me that, Athena? Was there a reason?" Conner inquired. She gripped onto his arm tighter for a moment due to a bigger wave, then looked up at Conner.

"Can I think of you as a Dad?" she inquired in a small voice, and Conner's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry, it's just… other than Batman….you're just very much like a father figure to me. I'm sorry." She whispered, but Conner picked her up and spun her around in the ocean water.

"That's perfectly fine by me, Athena." he smiled, kissing the top of the girl's head. Athena hugged him tightly, happiness swelling in her stomach.

"Uh, Athena?" Conner questioned, and she looked up at him.

"Hmm?"

"You're uh… floating." Conner informed, and Athena looked down to see she was hovering over the water, but she was still hugging Conner. Conner wasn't flying with her, she was holding him up.

"S-sorry." She whispered, floating back down to the ocean. Conner looked at her curiously with a raised eyebrow.

"Did you just get Super strength?" he questioned. Athena looked at him also a bit perplexed, and tried to pick Conner up again, but couldn't.

"Maybe… I'm not exactly sure." she said quietly. Conner frowned at the scared look on her face.

"It's alright." He said with a soft smile. "Let's head inside, alright?" Athena nodded, holding Conner's hand tightly.

~*~*~*~*~*~Later~*~*~*~*~*~

"Thanks for letting me draw with you." Athena smiled as she walked next to Ramon, coming from his art class.

The art classes were for free and was ran by a small organization that wanted to get kids off the streets and into something productive. Thanks to a generous donation from billionaire Bruce Wayne, the organization was able to get some new art supplies and fix up the deteriorating building. It wasn't very cutting edge, but it was nice.

Athena enjoyed going to art class with Ramon. It also got her mind off of how earlier she lifted Conner in the air.

To her, her abilities kept getting scarier and scarier. She first started to float, which wasn't too bad, but then came the telekinesis when she accidentally hurt Cassie. Now she had some sort of strength and Athena didn't want to hurt people at all.

However, in art class she was able to relax and drawl whatever she felt like (which just so happened to be a picture of Elvis singing in some concert.)

Ramon's picture that he drew was more about nature. Ramon was very big on drawling nature scenes, and he always said he wished he could go to the places he saw in his head.

The picture he drew during the art class with Athena was a lush jungle with a small stream running through it. For a nine year old, Ramon's attention to detail was very impressive.

"You should come to the art classes more often." Ramon grinned. "It was fun having someone to talk to there." Athena tilted her head to the side, looking at him confused. Ramon was used to the look and he couldn't help but giggle a bit at it. However, Athena questioned,

"But there are tons of people there you could talk to." Ramon looked down at his feet, shaking his head.

"I… I'm not sure about some of the people there. They don't really like me much." He whispered.

"How come?" Athena inquired, but just then two of the boys she recognized from the art class ran up from behind Ramon and one gave him a noogie while the other laughed.

"Hey there Ramy." The kid who was giving him the noogie chuckled.

"That your girlfriend?" the other taunted, but Athena pushed the one kid away from Ramon.

"Stop doing that to his head. He obviously doesn't like it." She stated firmly.

"Aw, you're so cute." The one boy taunted.

"D'you feel special being able to hang around the most talented kid in art class?" one of them chuckled.

"Little Ramy so special. Thinks he's better than the best of us."

"But I don't…" Ramon started to say but one of the boys pushed him to the ground.

"Listen kid, I suggest you don't hang around little Ramy." One of the boys said to Athena, while the other was laughing at how weak Ramon looked. "He brings around trouble, and you don't want trouble, do ya?"

The boys were used to the kid always saying no and never hanging out with Ramon again. Every time Ramon looked like he was about to make a friend, the two boys would bully the kid away from Ramon. Keeping Ramon alone was something the boys did for fun. Not to mention they did it out of spite, hating that Ramon's skills were better than their own.

Instead of answering the boy (who was about a half inch shorter than her) Athena pushed him to the side, and walked over to the boy who was laughing at Ramon.

"Stop laughing at him." Athena growled.

"I ain't scared of you, ya sissy girl!" the other stated. Athena stomped on his foot, sending the boy to the ground, screaming in pain.

"You should be, now you better leave Ramon alone!" Athena shouted, and the boys scrambled to his feet with the help of the other boy and the two ran off.

"Are you okay?" Athena inquired gently. Ramon stared at her in shock.

"You didn't leave me." he whispered and she smiled at him.

"Of course I wouldn't leave you. You're my best friend." Athena smiled as she held out her hand for Ramon to grasp.

She swung it back and forth, humming a song as if she had not just intimidated the boys who had been torturing Ramon for the past several years.

"Hey, Athena?"

"Yeah?"

"I know you told Mom that the people who used to look after you were really mean, but what did they do?" he inquired.

"I… I don't really want to talk about it." Athena informed in a soft voice, looking at the ground. Ramon immediately wished that he didn't ask.

"Well, how about the people you stay with now. I mean, I know about Dick, but what about your new Dad. How is he like?" Ramon inquired quickly, trying to cover up his previous question.

Athena's face instantly brightened as she thought of all her Fathers (excluding Clark). However, she knew that when living in Gotham, she only had one "father" which was Bruce Wayne.

Bruce never flaunted the fact that he was caring for a young girl, but he didn't hide it either. He had over a billion cover stories as to why a little girl was staying with him if he was ever asked.

"My father's great. He really cares for me and always wants me to be safe and happy. I feel lucky that I'm able to have him as a father." She informed, but noticed the small sad look on Ramon's face. Ramon lost his father and never got to spend much time with him. It left an empty hole in the young boy.

"Do you want to stop at the candy shop, Ramon?" Athena inquired, pulling out a five dollar bill from her pocket. "We can get some lollipops and skittles." She smiled, and Ramon smiled back at her.

"Thank you, Athena." he grinned, but the thank you was for much more than the candy.

Athena just swung their hands with a small spring her step to whatever Elvis song was playing in her head.

"No, thank you." Athena smiled, then walked into the candy store before Ramon could question,

"Thanks for what?"