Making Waves

Chapter 13

"I will," he promised, and bumped his shoulder to hers in apology. Glancing down, he saw a small dark thing dart under the water. "How are the fish, any updates?"

The distraction made her perk up, or maybe it was the silent apology, but either way, Perseus straightened, and pointed a few inches to her left, where another tiny shadow swam, slowly this time, across their view.

"James has a new girlfriend, Lula, also a black sea bass. His mom doesn't approve because Lula's not so good at hunting and asks her boyfriend to bring her worms all day," she explained, then rested her chin in the palm of her hand and sent him a sharp grin, "James isn't really on speaking terms with his mom anymore."

Dick snickered, dragging his foot over the ripples, 'Lula' had made. "I don't know how you come up with this stuff," he said, then before he could think about it too hard, continued, "By the way, do you have another way I can reach you? Or am I going to have to come say hi to the happy fish couple every time?"

"Why? In case you need me to save you again?"

Dick just grinned back. "Maybe."

Perseus huffed, like she was laughing but was very much not amused. "Yeah, I—" She stopped, and a nervous grin overtook her previous expression. "Um. Only have a civilian phone. And I don't really keep it on me when I'm out."

Dick startled, whipping his head over to meet her eyes. "Are you saying you have no way of contacting anyone if you're in trouble?"

She shrugged. "I've been okay so far."

He just looked at her, utterly scandalized. Dick's instilled paranoia usually had him carrying several methods of communication on patrol at all times. What was Perseus thinking? Did she just go out into the city every night completely winging it?

Perseus returned his stare, confused, and fidgeted slightly as the seconds passed by. Finally. she threw her hands up.

"Fine," she groaned, "If it's such a big deal, I'll ask a friend to make me something. He's good at that tech stuff."

So, she did have someone on the outside, it seemed, that she knew well enough to request gadgets and wasn't seemingly worried about the consequences. Which meant that they probably knew who she was under that mask.

"Oh, is he?" Dick raised his eyebrows, trying to get some more information about her contact.

"Yep," she replied, drumming her nails on the wood, "He made my suit and my weapons. He's a godssend."

As Perseus tilted her head, and smiled to herself like referencing another joke he didn't understand, Dick involuntarily gritted his teeth. Was there an extra 's' in there or was he hearing things? Then he relaxed his jaw, realizing how weirdly tense he was, and shook it off. 

"I got the all-clear to talk to Kai tomorrow morning," he announced, wincing at how abruptly it had come out.

He had spoken to Dinah just earlier that day, who relayed the message from Dr. Helding that the boy had regained consciousness and was being introduced to his new temporary living space and nurses.

"Wait really? He's awake?" Perseus exclaimed, taking her feet out of the water and moving to stand, "How is he?"

Dick bit back a laugh at the enthusiasm.

"He's not fully mobile," he clarified, "But he's doing okay, given the circumstances. They're still monitoring him pretty closely, but he's going to be fine."

Perseus let out a relieved sigh, and Dick felt the exhale in his bones. He understood the feeling all too well. He was so grateful they had been able to reach Kai when they did, but he couldn't help the glimmer of guilt that berated him for not being there years ago, helping Kai get off the streets and into an actual loving home after his parents had passed.