After surviving a bank robbery, with much thanks to Aquaman, Camille decides to complete her training to join the police force; to help people like he did and to redeem herself from a gruesome death that she was too petrified to stop. After being as...
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Failure tainted the air, so thick that it was almost suffocating. Lori had managed to bring Mera back to consciousness, who immediately started trying to heal Kaldur. He was in worse shape than anyone else, his vitals were unstable and the puncture wounds in his back bled freely onto the floor. Even his stomach was starting to bruise from all the gore leaking underneath his skin. Keeping him alive was the priority, and the one time she had managed to leave his side Mera had repaired the fracture left in Garth's skull.
This meant that Arthur was still sitting against the wall, holding his injured leg with his one unbroken arm. He didn't look like he was in much pain, but that was likely because he was hiding it. He was a ruler, after all. He wanted to ensure that everyone else was stable before he even considered being fixed.
Camille, who had managed to get them all to a relatively safe area, had spent the remainder of her time worrying about Kaldur. He had always been so welcoming of her and the only one that ever seemed to actually want her to be there. He had become a good friend. The only one she could truly say that she had that far into the ocean.
When his breathing had finally steadied, thanks in no small part to Mera's relentless efforts, she was able to relax. Giving the redhead room to work, Camille sauntered towards the bleeding King and slid down next to him. She heard a low groan escape Arthur's threat - the only evidence that he could actually feel his injuries.
"That looks painful." Camille said in a small attempt to make conversation. She had only wanted to take his mind off his injuries, but hadn't realised how dumb she sounded until the words had already left her lips.
"Yeah." Arthur replied bluntly with an odd look in her direction. "That's 'cause it is."
"R-Right...yeah. Stupid thing to say. Sorry." Camille muttered. She really should have thought that one through before blurting it out... "I was just trying to distract you."
"Well you're not all that good at it." Arthur grunted, increasing the pressure on his leg. The prongs that he had broken off prevented the wound from bleeding too profusely, and from it tearing anything, but that didn't mean that it wasn't hurting like a bitch.
"No, I suppose not." Camille had become accustomed to Arthur's general lack of interest in conversation, especially with her, but she wasn't the type to let that fact stop her. "Believe it or not, I've never had to try and talk to a stubborn Merman that went from a King to a drunk in one week."
Unlike Lori, this comment didn't seem to offend Arthur. In fact, he found his lips twitching into a smirk at Camille's teasing tone. "It was four days, actually."
"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." Camille chuckled and immediately the tension between them had faded.
There was a moment, however brief, in which their eyes connected. In him, Camille saw things that mere mortals could only dream of. The potential to make a difference in the most unbelievable of ways. Someone as untouchable as the stars, often in view but never achievable. In her, he saw everything he had once strived to be. Everything that he wished that he was. Someone completely normal in every way, with no special abilities or powers, but with a strength of will that made her extraordinary.
