Mount Justice
August 8, 09:58 EDT
"First a moment of silence for our absent comrade."
M'gann bowed her head. "Poor Wally."
I grew uncomfortable with the way my feet sank into the ground, shifting on my heels left and right to gain some bearings.
"If you don't like the sand, you should get in the water."
"Uh..." I looked forward to the endless water, violently rushing back and forth. "I am fine where I am."
"Come on," he hummed, "A little water never hurt anyone. Right Kaldur?"
"The ocean can be quite healing," Kaldur smiled.
He was referring to the ocean that looked as if it could swallow me whole. "You should go first."
"How about we go in together?" Robin held a hand out for me. One that I did not take. "The ocean's not gonna hurt you, Iris. Especially not while you have me on lifeguard duty with you."
"Don't worry, I was scared of the water too," M'gann assured me. "But then I remember how I'd always see humans enjoying the beach in the programs I watched back on Mars. Like the cheer squad's beach trip in episode five of—uh... Never mind."
He jutted his hand further. "Have I ever misled you?"
Reluctantly, I took Robin's hand and let him walk me to the water's edge. Slowly, the water dribbled towards my feet. It felt cold and foreign, but there was little time to adjust as Robin pulled me forward.
The water beneath my ankles rose to my knees, then my waist.
"See, it's not so bad."
I looked nervously towards Robin's eager face. "It's cold."
"You're telling me that Mayilean skin can't handle a little cold?"
"I do not know! Maybe I have a vulnerability."
"Breathing okay?"
"Yes."
"Body parts still intact?"
"Yes."
"Any fever, pain, or urge to combust?"
"...No."
"Then, no vulnerability."
I sighed in surrender. "Then, what do we do now?"
"This!"
The ocean water doused my face, leaving a horrible salty taste in my mouth. "What was that for?"
"Fun," Robin cackled, gripping his stomach out of joy. But within a moment, he was soon spitting the salt water out of his mouth too.
"You were right. It is fun."
My fears of the water faded away, as a battle broke out between Robin and I. We took turns splashing the water at each other, wrestling amongst the waves. Soon, Kaldur and the others joined in, until the war ultimately ended with Superboy diving in the midst of us.
I opened my eyes again from sea's shower, my hands still clasped against Robin's as we tried to push one another over. I resisted the urge to feel competitive, afraid that I might break one of Robin's bones. Instead, I ceased pushing and he fell forward into me, taking us both beneath the surface of the water.
Beneath the waves, I saw Robin for the first time—properly.
It may have been a second, a minute, or an hour, but in that moment, time seemed to stop. The noise ceased and all I saw was him; his small, pointed face, his high nose, the look of surprise he wore. More than anything, I saw his eyes. The water had slipped the glasses away, revealing a color I had never seen before. I had no word for it, no way to describe it, but it was... beautiful.
Robin gained a hold of his glasses again, before rising up to the surface. I broke through a few seconds after, still picturing his face in my mind.
The both of us seemed to suddenly be catching our breath. "Truce?" Robin offered.
We both made a clear, conscious effort not to talk about what just happened. "Truce," I agreed.
Our time in the water ended, and we both silently sat in the sand, watching Kaldur cook.
"You should try one." The eagerness Robin typically had when he made suggestions seemed to be weaker now. "All the fighting in the water and stuff... you might be hungry."
I stared at the odd looking piece of food at the end of the skewer. "W-what is it?"
"Uh, a hotdog."
"You killed a dog for this?"
"No," he chuckled. "It's just a name."
Skeptically, I took a bite.
"Wait, Iris that's meat!" M'gann realized.
My mouth immediately parted in disgust, and the bit of hotdog fell into the sand.
"Sorry," he took the skewer back, "I didn't know you were vegetarian."
"Mayilean culture doesn't cook their animals," M'gann explained, "Right, Iris?"
I was trying to wash away the hotdog's taste with my own saliva, but the aftertaste of the ocean water only made it worse. "Right."
"What about sports?" Superboy asked, picking up the ball Robin had brought. "Did you have any kinds of sports on your planet?"
"Uh..."
If there were, I never had the chance to see them. I never had the chance to see games, or the ocean, if there was any. I never will.
The longer these thoughts swirled in my mind, the more a lack of breath overcame me. Anger, sadness, and everything else I was feeling clouded my body until it was all that was left.
A spark of purple broke through my fingertips, and the whole group took notice.
"Well, we have sports here," Robin redirected the conversation. "You can learn volleyball today."
"I'm sure you'll pick it up rather quickly," Kaldur added.
The team split up on either side of a net; M'gann and Superboy on one side, Robin and Kaldur on the other. They let me watch for a while, so I could better understand the game. Then, finally they asked me to join.
The moment I stepped on Superboy and M'gann's side, Robin began to whine, "No way! Two supers can't be on one team. We get Girl Wonder!"
Reluctantly, I switched sides. "I thought I told you not to call me that."
"It'll grow on you, trust me."
"If you say so, Bird Boy."
Robin could not manage to argue back, and the game was starting anyway. It took a few misses and meaningless dives into the sand, but slowly I began to adjust. The more I adjusted, though, the more competitive I grew.
I realized I may have taken it too far when our team won by default, after I hit the ball into Superboy's nose.
Recovering from the blow to the face, Superboy laid down, followed by the others' ambush to bury him beneath the sand. In the meantime, I sat down, beginning to accept the feeling of the sun on my skin, of the salt in my hair, and the soft ground beneath me. I closed my eyes and realized the sound of the ocean was rather... pleasant.
It was loud, but in a different way. Not as chaotic, or violent as it first seemed. The ring of the water and whatever rested beneath, had a rhythm to it; a continuing hum. In a way, it soothed the turmoil inside my head—
The sun's warmth ceased, and the ocean's melody was disrupted by someone else's noise. I opened my eyes. "Robin, move."
He taunted me with a grin, "I don't think I will."
"Move," I urged.
"Make me."
I took his request seriously, resuming our fight, but without the water. I launched up from my seat, knocking him backwards into the sand. He groaned as his back collided with the ground, along with my body weight landing above him.
My hair hung around us like a curtain, matted from the ocean salt. And beneath me, I could feel his heartbeat quicken beneath my palm.
"Satisfied?"
He took a breath. "Ow."
Happy Harbor
August 8, 21:53 EDT
I was fed the same excuse that I would merely be a spectator on this mission. That I would not have to fight, or even move a muscle, while the others took care of everything. M'gann and Superboy would patrol the buildings perimeter, and the rest would monitor the room we stayed in.
I was encouraged to join so that I could "sit and observe." Strangely, though, I had a feeling that would not happen.
"Is this League even going to show up?" I asked, lying down on one of the desks out of boredom. One of the blades from my sleeve spiraled in the air before landing in my palm, again and again.
"You should hope not," Robin said. "The League of Shadows is an organization filled with the world's most skilled assassins. They're incredibly dangerous."
"So is everyone else on this team," I pouted, tossing the blade up once more.
"Here." Robin had left his post by the window, after occupying it for hours. Quietly, he seated himself next to me and patted his legs, "If you want to get comfortable."
Slowly my head slid into his lap, and the fabric of his gloves began running through my hair. "You do not have to do that."
"Don't. And I want to."
M'gann must have set up the psychic link, because everyone suddenly began to gesture to one another without a word.
"Ahh!" Wally suddenly covered his ears.
"Don't worry," Robin assured me. "You're not missing anything."
"Maybe I should have asked to be included in the link?"
"You don't have to do anything you're not ready for," Robin said. "I know the link frazzles you, so just... stay whelmed. Take things one at a time. Like watching us kick total League of Shadow butt."
He managed to get a laugh out of me, but whatever was being talked about on the psychic link led them to rearrange themselves. Wally left to guard the door, the new girl went outside, and Robin left completely.
The new girl. If everyone was meant to watch for the League of Shadows, my mission was to watch her. She was bold upon first impression, but I hesitate to welcome her warmly—if I even knew how. "Artemis" stood a few inches shorter than myself, and it seemed her strength was average in human terms; her weapon of choice was a bow and arrow like the mentor that brought her. That meant if a fight was necessary, all I would have to do is close the distance.
As I estimated my own odds of success, I had yet to notice that Wally was missing from his post at the door.
I peaked my head out of the classroom, "Kid Flash?"
No reply. And no one else in the hall.
Curiosity—maybe even concern—led me down the dark hallway.
"Kid Flash?"
I found him, floating upside down in a pool water. "Wally," I repeated in a gasp.
He was too far in the center for me to reach out, and the water did not seem deep enough for me to stand. Perhaps I should have used this morning as an opportunity for Robin to teach me how to swim, because peddling through the water and dragging Wally out was an utter struggle.
He was unresponsive, and I only vaguely remembered a training session with the Justice League's Captain Atom about emergency control. Something about—what was it called—CRP?
I put a hand over Wally's chest, pumping down slowly, carefully. Then, I lowered my mouth to his, trying to fill his lungs with air.
Nothing.
Wally laid still, even after my repetitive efforts. "Please," I begged, as the onset of panic arrived.
I tried once more, pumping my hands against his chest and pouring oxygen into his mouth, but still, nothing. "Wally, wake up, please!" A small, purple spark shot from my fingertip and struck Wally in the center of his chest.
Instantly, he turned over and water began to spew from his mouth. "Ow," he rubbed the center of his chest, "Kinda stung for a first kiss."
I fought the urge to strike him across the face. "I thought you died."
"Not yet," he panted, before realizing suddenly, "Oh crap, the team! The Shadow who attacked me must be in there right now."
We sprang to our feet, running back into the classroom, to find the rest facing off a masked assassin.
She found herself surrounded. "Maybe a little too interesting." With the drop of something to the floor, a cloud of smoke erupted.
Wally leapt at the big grey cloud, but I doubt there was much point to it. There were four vents, three doors, and eight windows that I was sure she had noticed too.
He fell through, crashing into Artemis. "Gone!"
"She's getting away!" Dr. Roquette complained. "You're letting her get away!"
"This is all your fault. You were on perimeter! How'd that Shadow get in?!"
"That's not really fair," M'gann interrupted. "I was outside too."
"Outside being distracted by her."
"You and I both left our posts," I added.
"I can't be mad at you." Wally went silent suddenly, forgetting that I could not hear the psychic link.
"We heard that!"
Wally threw his arms up. "Dang it!"
"I didn't do half as well during my first battle," M'gann said kindly, "And I know you can't have been Green Arrow's sidekick for very long."
"Focus everyone," Kaldur said. "The Shadows will be back."
"Robin to Aqualad," Robin's voice spoke up over the comms, "We're over Philadelphia. We've located The Shadow's next target: STAR Labs. We're too late. It's destroyed, totally destroyed. The fog decimated it. This is bad. STAR Labs is cutting-edge science and now their secrets are in the hands of the enemy. What's our next move?"
"Rescan for that fog. Find it," Aqualad instructed. "We're moving the Doctor."
The real doctor was now placed in a shop with me, while the rest of the team guarded the decoy—M'gann—in the library.
The plan made me feel suffocated; all the unknown variables. The number of Shadows were indefinite, so were their abilities. And I hated to stand out in the open, waiting for them to attack me. I was not even sure I could fight.
For some time, I watched Roquette type into her device. A "computer," I think is what they called it. She seemed to be writing something out—nothing legible amongst the English language—but rather a language made solely for the computer. There were patterns amongst it, as well as unique lines of script. Each portion of it seemed to have a purpose though—
The door opened, and out of instinct, the blade fell from my sleeve and out towards the door. Kaldur leaned over just in time, letting the knife lodge itself into the wall where his head previously was.
"Oh," I sighed in relief. "What happened?"
"All is going as planned. The team are dealing with the Shadows in the library.
"I've almost got it," Dr. Roquette said.
A few minutes later, there was a thud from the roof.
"We have company," Kaldur announced.
"Uploading now," Dr. Roquette said. "And by the way, you said you'd protect me."
I know I said I would not fight, but what choice did I have? Kaldur and I stood back to back, preparing ourselves for whatever was coming.
Someone was moving from above. The ring of their body shuffled through the ceiling. By the time I'd pinpointed them, I turned towards the overhead vent, but not in time. The vent peeled open, and three darts flew past me, landing in the center of Kaldur's chest.
She leapt to the floor. "Let's test the limit of your jellyfish immunity, shall we?"
Kaldur charged, and within seconds he was down.
"There. Limit tested." She turned towards me. "Now, Doctor, time for my appointment.
I was the only one standing between the assassin and Dr. Roquette, and in truth, I was scared. I did not want to fight even if I knew how, and I did not want anyone's life depending on me—I cannot be trusted.
Fear bubbled through my skin, making me hesitate to move. The assassin and I were gridlocked, staring at one another before a three-armed spear of hers flew my way. It narrowly missed me, as I pulled my own blade out in time to repel it. But gain, I was faced with not knowing what to do next.
The assassin was dictating our fight completely, weaving around me with skillful moves that I began to slow at dodging. Her elbow drew up, hitting me in the center of my face, knocking me backwards. Now, due to my timidity, the assassin placed herself between the doctor and I.
I was frozen, merely watching in horror as the assassin pulled out another three-armed spear, jutting it towards Dr. Roquette's neck.
"No!" I reached out helplessly.
A cloud came over me; a rush of purple and white light that seared through my mind, before I looked up and saw my hand holding the spear's end up to the doctor's neck.
"What?" I mumbled, not recognizing the voice as my own anymore.
I dropped the spear instantly, trembles erupting beneath my skin as I stumbled around. Everything had become foreign; the taste in my mouth, the density of the air that I consciously had to propel in and out of my lungs. I'd lost all sense of basic function, crumbling to the floor only to come face to face with.... me.
My eyes dark and glowing, still looking up to the doctor in fear, my arms still reaching out helplessly. But in my palms, little strings of purple light flickering in and out of view.
There was no time left to make sense of it all, as a nonexistent hand pulled me by the gut. I caught a heavy breath, in my own lungs this time, and felt my arms drop to the floor. It was sickening and relieving all at the same time—to hear the world in large rings and hums instead of the former silence.
"What did you do to me?" the assassin heaved, unsteadily picking herself up from the floor, and grabbing her spear. She marched over to point it at my neck. I was covered in a cold sweat. "Don't ever! Force your way into my head," she warned.
In the same moment, the computer made a noise, and her attention shifted back. "So, you finished the virus," she said, through uneven breaths. "Eliminating the reason for your elimination, though, not the entertainment value. Lucky for you, my orders are clear. You live to program another day. After all, doctor, the Shadows may find another use for you."
Carefully, she edged back to the entrance, and I made no effort to stop her. I could barely think to stand to my feet.
"If I see you again, kid, I'm ending you."
She disappeared behind the front door, and Kaldur finally came to. "What happened?" he groaned.
"I... I don't know."