Hiii! I'm back! But, school starts tomorrow, so don't be sad if I don't update a lot... I already don't, but-

sowwiesez!

(saw-we-ziz)

I own nothing besides the usual. Duh.

WARNINGS: mentions of rape and abuse.

Yeah, this chapter started out happy and funny, but turned kind of sad... sowwiesez, again. :)))

Three hours.

Three. Hours.

Three hours of training, on a Saturday, when they could be hanging out, watching old Christmas specials and snow falling, drinking hot chocolate, and the Team was training.

No one, even Kaldur'ahm, seemed fond of the idea. But, when Black Canary pursed her lips, cocked her hip, and folded her arms over her chest in the ultimate feminine glare of doom, you did what she said.

Now, they were all done and sweating like pigs, even with the freezing temperatures outside. Kaldur was getting dehydrated, his face pale and eyes wide. Wally had zoomed off, leaving his sweat behind him, for several moments to get much-needed food. Richard had taken his shirt off much earlier and was panting like a dog as he stole Blaine's water bottle, chugging it down. The blonde yelped and stole it back, throwing the remainder on his face, which the thirteen-year-old didn't seem to mind.

Wally appeared back in the room, handing out water bottles to everyone (two to Kaldur). Artemis, sweat pouring down her face and over her tank top, smirked and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek before reclining, making a face. "Ugh. Sweaty."

Richard cackled and rolled his eyes. "I think that's an understatement."

M'gann, having already finished her bottle of water, cleared her throat for attention. "I think we should all 'hit the showers', huh?" She spoke the saying with an innocent and dragged-out tone, making her teammates smile.

"Sure thing, Miss M," Richard spoke, swiping wet bangs from his face. "Let's go, guys."

"Just don't drop the soap-"

"Wally!"

"What?"

M'gann, confused by the statement, opened her mouth to comment. But, before she could, Artemis and Blaine had dragged her off. Connor turned to glare at Wally, who looked at his feet sheepishly. Richard rolled his eyes and followed Kaldur to the showers, the ginger and ebony following shortly.

…

Girl's Locker Room

…

M'gann shed her organic clothes, switching out for a fuzzy yellow towel instead. She telepathically turned on the water heater, then turned to the shower heads. "Hot or cold?"

"Cold," Blaine said, unbraiding her hair just as Artemis said, "Hot."

The two looked at each other for a few moments before giggling. M'gann just stood there, holding her towel up with one hand as she furrowed her eyebrows, a finger to her lips. "Um..."

"How about lukewarm?" Artemis compromised, smiling.

The Martian nodded before turning on the shower.

The locker room was separated from the boys', across the hall way. There was only one way to get in, but there were several 'secret' doors to get out, towards passageways and such that could be used for emergencies. The door led into the changing rooms, where red, white, and- get this- blue metallic lockers waited next to wooden benches. In all, it looked a lot like a high-school locker room, besides the nametags. The larger lockers had names such as 'Wonder Woman', 'Black Canary', 'Hawkwoman', and several other small-town heroes like 'Fire', 'Vixen', and 'Star Girl'. Artemis and M'gann didn't even recognize most of the names, but Blaine did- after all, she was Batman's protege. Of course she would know who all of these people were. The locker room had a large cubicle-like 'building' in the center, with four doorways on each side that led into the showers. A central pillar had ten shower heads all in a circle, which managed to reach out to the edges of the shower-room.

M'gann shed her towel, throwing it out into the locker room, just as Blaine and Artemis stepped in- naked as newborns. It wasn't awkward, though. It was just like showing with your sister, or something or other. Plus, the shower-room was a 10' by 10', giving them plenty of elbow-space.

Artemis grabbed up a pink bottle of Bath and Body Works shampoo, flavored Sweet Pea, and lathered her long, golden locks as the steam began to rise. M'gann, instead, chose Cucumber Melon, while Blaine went for the Midnight Kiss.

Artemis purred sultry as she raised her eyebrows at Blaine. "Goin' after someone?"

Blaine rolled her onyx eyes, smiling softly. "Not really- well... I don't know. It's..."

"Complicated," all three girls spoke at once.

"What's so complicated about it?" M'gann asked, frowning as she put matching conditioner into her red locks.

Blaine shrugged. "It's just... It brings up bad, bad memories, okay?" Her voice was pained a bit, and Artemis sighed as she began to shave her legs.

"B, you can't put your dad and Kaldur in the same ranking."

Blaine jumped, then growled softly to herself, grumbling something.

"Blaine!"

"Sorry, Meg."

M'gann pursed her lips, eyebrows furrowed at her younger friend. "Blaine, it's not complicated. You like Kaldur'ahm, and Kaldur'ahm likes you. But... what's this about your da-"

"Nothing."

"It's not nothing," Artemis scolded Blaine. The latter looked away, tears in her eyes.

"It- It still hurts to talk about it... I- M'gann, do you know what rape is?"

Topaz eyes grew wide, and the Martian girl turned serious. "Oh, oh Blaine... I'm so sorry-"

"It's fine. It's in the past, and I have Bruce now. I have Bruce and Richard and Jason and Terry-"

"Then why is accepting Kal so hard for you?" Artemis butted in, now conditioning her hair. Blaine's eyes met Artemis's, and the two had almost a psychic link for a moment.

"Well," M'gann began, unsure, "none of those are... romantic relationships, right? I mean, it's just different, Artemis."

The archer turned away, upset at being corrected. Blaine groaned. "Can we just not talk about it for right now? Anything else, okay? M'gann, how's your butterscotch candy recipe coming along?"

The older girl beamed at being asked about her cooking as she rinsed out her hair. "Oh, I'm working on it! Mr. Pennyworth is a great teacher, but- uh- I'm not the best student. But I'm trying!"

Artemis giggled, combing her wet hair with some sort of spa oil treatment. "That's... great, Meg. How's the Bumblebees?"

If possible, M'gann beamed even brighter. "Oh, it's amazing!" She began to float a bit with excitement. "They wanted me to be co-captain, but I've got a lot going on with the Team... I mean, I'm disappointed, but I'd much rather be with you guys rather than the Bumblebees. I mean, I love them too, they're my friends, I just mean-"

"It's okay, M'gann!" Blaine spoke, laughing. "We understand. I love my family, and patrol is great, but this Team is just something other."

"I can be myself," Artemis spoke softly, smiling.

M'gann fidgeted uncomfortably, turning around to grab a rag. Artemis and Blaine eyed each other before the archer took a single step forward. "Meg, what's wrong?"

There was several pauses before the Martian's shoulders began to shake. She turned and faced her friends, her body suddenly... morphing.

Her skin turned a sickly white color, scales forming on her elbows, forehead, hands, and knees. And, her hands. Her hands were elongating, changing into sharp claws, the same happening on her feet. Her jaw dropped down slightly, her teeth becoming fangs. A tail spurted out behind her, and Artemis was sure that wings would come next- but they didn't. (:P)

M'gann shuffled her feet backwards before whispering, "I'm a... a white Martian..."

There was a long, painful silence.

Then, Blaine snorted. "Yeah, and I'm a rape victim with short-girl complexes."

Artemis chuckled. "And I'm an ex-assasin with Daddy issues."

M'gann jumped slightly and looked up, her red eyes blinking with three eyelids. "Wh- what?"

Blaine giggled as she nonchalantly turned off the water, pulling a towel in to cover herself up. Artemis did the same, using a second to dry off her hair. "Really, Meg, you're worried? Sure, white Martians are known for being violent-"

"-murderous-"

"Blaine."

"Sorry..."

"-But who cares?"

M'gann was shocked. She even took a step back, eyes widening by the second. "You- you mean... You're not mad?"

Artemis snorted. "Really, Megan, I'm in no position to judge. And Blaine is just some sweet little angel that would never be mean, right, B?"

"Sure. Let's go with that."

M'gann morphed back into her green form and telepathically dried herself off before grabbing her towel, coming to sit next to her friends on one of the benches. "So... you don't hate me?"

"How could we hate you, Megs?" Blaine exclaimed, throwing an arm over the girl's shoulder, grinning. "We're your team-"

"-your friends-"

"-your sisters."

Artemis, standing in front of the two with her hair and body wrapped up tightly, smirked as she folded her arms over her chest. "Face it, M'gann: You're stuck with us."

The Martian only grinned.

…

Boys' Locker Room

…

Wally moaned as he unstuck his undershirt from his sweaty body, orange hair falling into his face. "I think I've got bruises on my bruises..."

"Stop whining," Richard teased with a grin, already stark naked and in the showers.

The guys' locker room was designed different than the girls'. There were two doors out (because the League cared more for the men's safety than the women's), one leading towards a hall that led to the training room, the other going to a hall that led to the entertainment room and kitchen. The lockers were pretty much the same as the girls', designed like a high-school with red, white, and blue in the American spirit. Name tags, metallic and scratched up, read 'Superman', 'Batman', 'Green Arrow', 'Aquaman', and many more names of Leaguers like 'Elastic Man', 'Hawk', and 'Booster Gold'. An empty doorway led into a cubicle-like showering room, also like the girls' locker room, only different in that its shower heads were along the north and south walls. Blue tiles ran up and down the walls and flooring, a large drain in the center of the 'room' on a miniscule slope.

Connor and Kaldur were already in the shower, the latter in the back of the 'room' as he took and icy shower while Connor preferred scalding. Richard swore and winced as he walked by Connor, some of the water slinging onto his hand. "Dang... Indestructible means burn-proof too, right?"

Superboy shrugged and turned the heat up, making Richard roll his eyes and go to the opposite shower head. In an awkward moment, the youngest teen realized Kaldur was staring at his back- thankfully, the steam made sure it was just his back.

"Um... Kal? What-"

"Your scars."

Richard looked over his shoulder to see the numerous white scratches and pinkening bullet-marks. "Yeah. So?"

Kaldur'ahm shook his head and said softly, "Why do you have so many?"

Richard cackled and said, "Well, Kal, I've been doing this job for almost five years! I'm human, too, which means scars are a definate possibility."

Kaldur, seemingly not satisfied with this answer, bit the inside of his lower lip. Richard rolled his sapphire eyes and said, "If you're worried about Batman treating me right, don't be. Heroes pay a price, right Wall-man?"

Wally, having just joined the trio in the shower, muttered a 'yeah' as he face away from them. Richard frowned, his eyes piercing. "Wally? Wally, wh- God! When did that happen?"

The ginger winced, instinctively putting a hand over the now-white scar that ran from one side of his stomach to the other.

Unashamed, Richard darted over and pulled his friend's hand away, inspecting the wound. "Dang it, Wally! Did he do this? Did he?"

"Who?" Connor asked, only to be ignored.

"Wally, when did this happen?"

"It's nothing, Dick. Really. I'm fine. Terry said-"

"Terrence knew and he didn't tell me?" Richard's face was bright red, now, his eyes wide and jaw clenched with anger. "Are you frickin' serious? I'm gonna kick Apollo's a-"

"Richard. Wallace." Kaldur's stern voice pulled the two out of their seemingly one-sided argument. Richard turned, his face angry still. Wally was pink, facing down. "What is going on?"

"Nothing," Wally quickly interjected, shooting a pleading glare at Richard. "Dick..." he whispered, even eluding Connor's hearing. "Please... later."

The younger teen growled, but nodded all the same, walking back over to his own showerhead.

"Off the subject of scars," Connor droned on, "but what do guys talk about in the locker room?"

Richard blanched, looking over at Wally. The two had completely switched pages, and were now trying not to crack up.

"What?"

"Nothing, my friend," Kaldur quickly said as he held a hand up to Connor. "I do not believe you wish to know."

"How do you know, Kal?"

"Wally, Atlantis's average culture is not too different from your culture."

Richard, snorting, whimpered through his laughter, "Change of subject!"

Connor suddenly donned a mischevious grin. "Alright... Wally, how're you and Artemis?"

Kaldur'ahm could see where this was going.

"Great!" the ginger exclaimed, grinning as he wearily rubbed his muscles with some sort of herbal tea-thingie that was supposed to relaz your body. "We've got a date scheduled for next Saturday, actually. You and Meg wanna' double-up?"

He shrugged, beginning to shampoo. "I'll have to ask her."

Wally nodded, then turned to Kaldur. "So... how's Blaaaaaine- ouch!"

Richard had thrown a soap bar straight at Wally's head, hitting straight on and knocking the older teen back into the wall. "What? You know they've got it bad on each other!"

Kaldur's whole face was turning a dark shade of red, his eyes almost bugging out of his head. "I- I-"

"I saw you two... under the mistletoe," Connor teased, his voice as serious and innocent as possible as he faced the wall, trying not to smile.

The whole time, more and more steam was flowing out of Richard's ears as he death-glared at Kaldur.

The leader cleared his throat before quickly finishing and grabbing up his towel. "I will see you all later." And as quick as the Atalantean's feet could carry him, he darted from the showering room. Wally, meanwhile, was cracking up as Richard turned his glare upon the speedster and the clone. Connor, even, was chuckling for once, his cheeks full of air as he bit back an actual laugh. Mumbling something that Connor wished not to repeat, Richard finished up his shower and left, leaving Connor and Wally alone.

It was awkward for the two. There wasn't much to talk about, and Connor wasn't quite one for a lot of talking. He had pretty much already used up his words for the day teasing Kaldur'ahm and making Richard shake in his metaphorical pixie boots. So, Wally super-sped out of the shower and dried off before dressing into fresh pants and a long-sleeved thermal. He turned and zoomed off to his room in a blur of blue, black, and red.

…

Opening the door to his room, Wally turned to reach for his cell phone-

And shrieked like a little girl.

Richard, in his signature skinny jeans, sweat shirt, and leather jacket, was sucking on a peppermint stick and playing 'Batman: Arkham Break' on Wally's DS, jerking as he tried to kick Clayface's butt. "Hey, Wally," he spoke, not looking up from the game. "We need to talk."

The red-head groaned, face-palming.

Richard quickly saved and tossed the DS to the side, saying, "I've got you past Two-Face and half-way through the Clayface level."

"Maaaan! I wanted to kick Two-Face's butt."

Pulling the peppermint stick from his lips in a very matter-of-fact way, Richard frowned at his friend as he spoke, "I kick Two-Face's butt on a regular basis. It's not as amazing as it sounds. Especially the virtual version- he sucks. And the coin always lands on the scarred side! It makes no sense!"

Wally grumbled to himself, just loud enough for the younger hero to hear, "I like it..."

Richard sighed, and patted the spot beside him. Wally took it, very reluctantly.

There were several minutes of silence. Maybe about five. The whole time, Richard was just sucking on his peppermint stick while Wally twiddled with his thumbs. The ceiling fan made the only noise, a bit of squeaking here and there, but not a lot otherwise. The elephant in the room was growing bigger by the second, and it threatened to take in all the air and suffocate the two best friends as they sat, silent, in each other's presence.

Then, Richard cried.

A single tear rolled down his cheek, shocking Wally to the extreme.

"Wally..." Richard bit his lip, wiping away the tear. "Wally, I'm s-scared... I don't want him to h-hurt you... Why are you letting him hurt you?"

The speedster looked away, at the ceiling, at the floor, at his Justice League lamp, at anything but his surrogate little brother. "I- I just... Dick?"

The thirteen-year-old refused to meet his friend's eyes. He felt ashamed of his tears, and ashamed that he was ashamed. "Wally... Please, please, please, tell Uncle Barry. Let him h-help you. D-Don't let your dad... Wally, what if he kills you?"

Wally jumped at this, turning to face Richard. "Dick. Dick, that wouldn't happen-"

"What if it does?"

Suddenly, the red-head was standing, his hands out and up, face the image of anger. "What am I supposed to do, Dick!" He was screaming, now. "Let him hurt my mom? Let him beat her while he's frickin' drunk?"

Richard looked straight into Wally's eyes, and the speedster was reminded of all those years ago when the ebony was eight. He could remember the fear in little Robin's eyes when he saw that Barbara had been shot in the knee, when he saw his foster father beaten and bruised and captive, when he saw his substitute aunts and uncles all wounded. That was what he saw now. That was the pain in Richard's eyes as he bit back tears.

That was what changed Wally's mind.

He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "I-" his voice croaked. "I can't let him hurt her, Dick..."

"We'll help."

Wally jumped, then whipped around to see Jason, Roy, Barbara, and Blaine all standing at the door. Roy and Jason both looked out for blood- Barbara, too, actually. Blaine, instead, darted forward and pulled Wally into a bone-crushing hug, crying on his shoulder.

Roy stepped forward, putting a hand on Wally's shoulder while Jason went to grab Richard up, pulling the boy over into the on-coming group hug.

"We'll protect you and her, Wally," Barbara promised, smiling as she hugged Roy and Jason into her sides. "We will, Barry will, Bruce will-"

"God will," Blaine interjected, grinning.

"We're all here to help, Walls," Roy whispered as he stepped away from the hug, smirking at the sight.

Us and our... extended family.

I know, the ending is fluff to the point of poop, but I wanted to adress Wally's abusive-daddy-problem. What happens (in extent) like the court-dates and stuff and poop like that won't be mentioned, but what happens that's really big (like where he lives and all that good chiz) will be in the beginning of the next chapter.

Hope you liked the Kalaine! (Kalaine? Bladur?) And Supermartian! And Spitfire!

Any ideas for the next chapter? Something happy and funny, please, as the last SEVERAL chapters have been angsty...

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