Ignite [Book Three In The "Fire And Lightning" Series]

Chapter Fifty- Business as Usual

February 13, 2019. 10:27.

Watchtower.

~~Emma~~

"Can I see your necklace?"

I paused. No one had asked me that in a long  time. In fact, I'd kind of forgotten about it. I still loved it and treasured it as much as I had when Kaldur first gave it to me, and I wore it everyday, but in doing so, it had become a little "normal" (whatever that meant). 

Tugging the silver chain out from under my uniform, I undid the clasp and held out the pendant for Tammy to see.

"So," Tammy ran her finger over the two birds carved into the locket, "Kaldur gave this to you, huh?"

there was a teasing hint to her voice. This was a new side of Tammy, one that had only come out since being adopted by Aquaman and becoming a princess of Atlantis. Being Aquagirl seemed to give her more confidence.

"Yes, we're together, Tammy. This isn't new." I tucked the necklace back under my uniform. 

I got enough from Jason, who seemed to think that "fish-fingers" wasn't good enough for his big sister. He got an even bigger kick out of teasing Barbra and Richard about their relationship. They'd been together for a little over a year now, and had comfortably gotten past the awkward stages of their relationship.  My twin could be such a dork sometimes, it was cute.

"Perhaps..." Tammy caressed her serpent's tail, "but this little tidbit I learned from Mera certainly is."

I rolled my eyes, not really paying attention to Tammy while I pulled up the algorithm that Batgirl and I had created for tracking criminals related to the Light.

"Nightingale, did you know that in Atlantis, people prop-"

"You'renotsupposedtotellher!" I turned around at this outburst to see that Lagoon Boy had slung Aquagirl over his shoulder. 

"La'gaan, put her down." Despite my gradually decreasing dislike of La'gaan, I had to struggle to keep from laughing, since Tammy was too.

"But she knows that she's not supposed to spoil it, don't you AG?" He asked, bouncing her up and down. 

"Maybe..." Tammy giggled as La'gaan put her back on solid ground with a twirl.

"You're doing it wrong, chum." Jason walked over and set his helmet on the floor at Tammy's feet. 

Without warning, he bent down and scooped up Tammy Artemis-and-Wally style, making her squeal in surprise.

"This is how you sweep a girl off her feet." He smirked.

I flipped my bangs out of my eyes. "I thought that the fish-people weren't good enough for the bat-people." I teased him.

La'gaan burst into laughter as Tammy's pale face turned pink, and Jason's face went as red as his helmet.

"W-well, she's....not..." Jason trailed off. At a loss for words, he set Tammy down and stalked off, leaving his helmet behind in his rush.

"Tammy!" Mara, Rachel, and Terra came to her rescue.

"You ready?" Terra asked as she hugged Tammy. None of the girls seemed to notice her moment with Jason just a second earlier.

"Y-yeah, I think so." Tammy recovered her pride by adjusting the diadem resting on her head. Her whole uniform had changed to reflect the new Atlantean heritage she'd gained. 

Finch cackled, taking after Rick. "Your sisters are gonna be so jealous!"

Tammy shrugged. "Eh, I don't mind them so much anymore."