Chapter 4: Remembering

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"Lina? Lina? Lina, can you hear me?"

I groaned and covered my ears, flinching at the harsh yelling that was being screamed straight into my ears.

"Can you not scream in my ear before I've had my medication?" I grumbled and I heard a familiar grown of annoyance mixed with relief before something shuffled away. A moment later, in reappeared.

"Hold still." Maia's voice said and I felt the familiar prick of my medication being injected, but it was gone a moment later. "There, better?"

I hummed as I rubbed my neck, letting the medication get into my bloodstream as I slowly opened my eyes.

"Now that that's taken care of...why were you on the floor?" She exclaimed.

"I just...fell asleep there. Don't worry." I hummed, standing up and rubbing my eyes.

"Don't worry she says...Quinn calls me saying you didn't show up to work, then I call you three times with no answer, then I have to come all the way here to make sure you're okay but guess what? You aren't in your bed. No, you're passed out on the floor! But ya, you're fine! I don't need to worry!" She starts pacing as she yells, her hands flailing around like a crazy woman.

"I had a late night." I groaned, brushing her off. I checked my watch to see it was almost three in the afternoon and I cursed. "Sorry for making you worry."

"Have you been drinking?" Maia asks as she whirls around and begins to paw my body, searching for something. I have no idea what, but with Maia I've given up asking those kinds of questions.

"W-what? No!" I say, stepping back from my anxious protégé. "I haven't been drinking. I'm not that depressed Maia."

"Sometimes I wonder..." Maia mutters, running her hands through her hair. "What the hell would have caused you to pass out on the floor anyways? If you're having a panic attack, you're in your room snuggled in your bed and if you're exhausted you always go for the couch...so what the hell?

"Look, it's nothing okay?" I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "GA just came by...started asking about Roy and he brought up some...sensitive topics."

"That son of a-""Maia!"

"He knows better then to bring up fish-face around you!" Maia yelled.

"Fish-You know what? I don't care!" I groaned, and I began to walk towards the bathroom. "I'm taking a shower."

"Lina we need to talk! What happened? What about Roy? What about Quinn and the studio?" She exclaimed.

"I'll worry about it later Maia." I sighed. "Don't worry about it, alright? You have your own problems. I'll just call Quinn and apologize and...probably go visit Dad or something. You just go home Hun, okay?"

I heard Maia groan loudly before storming out the door.

***

That evening, leaguers and team members got called to the cave. According to the intel I had gotten, the Krolotean abductees that Maia, La'gaan, Jaime and Tim had saved were returned home, but the aliens that had been masquerading as them kept getting away. Apparently Megan had interrogated a Krolotean and discovered that they had a base on Malina Island. The team briefly

Mentors and protege's were being sent in in dual-squadrons. Our first prong was going to be La'gann and Aquaman who would infiltrate the base and scout ahead, followed by (and this is a quote from Maia) the 'bat-family' who would do the same and attempt to bypass any security measures. Next, we would follow through with a light combat prong form Maia and I to try to take out as much as we could before the Wonder-females and the Supers.

This went awry however, when our stealth attacks were found out and Aquaman radioed us. Immediately, I dived in through the mouth of the volcano with Maia holding on. We managed to land on what I assumed were some kind of...prowling-tank-machines. Either way, they were aiming at the good guys but Maia and I were able to smash two of them by landing on them, and Maia impaling here with her dual swords.

As Maia and I went sperate ways, her moving on to take on gunmen (which looked strangely humanoid) and me trying to get at the few remaining machines. From the corner of my eye, I see a lazer hit Aquaman in the arm and I zoom over and catch him before he could sustain any damage.

Before anyone could do anything else, the enemies began to retreat. As Aquaman recovered from his injury, we were surrounded by two other machines; only for one to be destroyed as a ton of rock fell on it.

I looked up to see Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl, Superman and Superboy fly in.

"Nice aim." Aqualad says to Superman.

"X-ray vision." Superman shrugs. "I cheat."

As everyone split off again, I had to disarm a gunman when I sensed Maia behind me. I looked back to see her forming a shield of near-solidified air, holding back blasts from a machine.

"I got your back." She exclaimed and I smirked before flying up and flipping over the shield before spinning my body to form a small hurricane and landing me straight into the machine: destroying it.

"And I got your front." I replied.

Our moment was ruined when I gently pushed Maia away from a rampaging La'gaan, who was hitting gunmen away like ragdolls in his brute-form. From what I could see, he was aiming for who appeared to be the leader of the men but the young Atlantean was intercepted by Aquaman who just straight up decked the guy.

The man's helmet went flying off and the figure went tumbling to the ground before turning and revealing...

"No... Please no..." I muttered, all strength leaving my body as it froze in place in shock. Aquaman seemed to have a similar effect while Maia and La'gann simply became filled with rage.

Kaldur...

"I had not believed Nightwing until this moment." Aquaman said sorrowfully.

"You did not want to believe." Kaldur growled.

"None of us wanted to believe this!" Conner yelled, storming over to the commotion. "How could you betray us?"

"You dare question me?" Kaldur exclaimed in rage. "After all of you let Tula die!"

I would have stumbled back at the verbal punch in the gut, but no part of my body would move.

"Kaldur that was a mission!" Nightwing jumped in. "Aquagirl knew the risks! None of us-""Neptune's beard!" La'gann interjected. "Don't coddle this traitor! He has joined forced with out king's greatest enemy!"

"For once Lagoon Boy, I agree with you." Maia growled, stepping up and swinging her swords.

"Do you mean the king that hid from me he true identity of my father?" Kaldur growled.

"That was my error on judgment Kaldur'ahm, no one else need suffer for it." Aquaman said.

"All will suffer if Black Manta demands it." Kaldur said lowly in a voice that made me scared. "Blood is thicker than sea water."

With that, a small missile launcher popped out of his shoulder and shot at us, but Maia was fortunately able to for her shield around us all before it hit: saving us all from the attack.

When the smoke cleared, Kaldur was gone again; as if he was never there. That whole time, I couldnt even speak...And his eyes never met mine.

"Zephyr? Zeyphr? Lina?!" I heard Maia's voice exclaim as she waved her hand in front of my face. After a moment, I snapped out of it.

"You good to go?" She asked, concern glossing her eyes and I swallowed nervously before nodding.

"Y-ya, I-I think so." I said, my voice shaking and Maia nodded.

"All squads evacuate to bioship now." Nightwing said through the coms and I snapped out of it in time to start running to the ship.

The moment we entered the ship however, I sat down on the seat and drowned the whole world out: my thoughts clogging my mind.

I hate writing angsty Lina...So, so, so, so much...

Can we just go back to salty Lina and fluffy goodness again?

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