Mimic

Beach Day

In a few days, everything seemed to be totally cool between the team and I. Gotham Academy was great, as was living at the Wayne Manor. And despite it being November, the weather was really nice. So we had a beach day. Since I didn't have a bathing suit of my own, I borrowed a black one-piece from Artemis and matching board shorts from M'gann.

I'd never swam for the fun of it before. Of course, Father and Uncle made me swim laps all the time. but that was no fun at all. When we got to the beach right outside Mount Justice, Kaldur sprinted and swan dived into the water. The rest of us walked over to the ocean or situated our stuff first. Wally dipped a toe in the water.

"Ooh my toes," he quickly took his foot out of the water. Dick—or Robin, as I was supposed to call him around the team—scoffed at his friend.

"You're a wimp," Robin teased.

"No, I'm not," Wally whined, jokingly, sounding like a child, "It's November and we're at the beach!"

Not saying another word, Robin smirked and tackled Wally into the water. Everyone watching—just the girls, really—burst out laughing at their antics. Robin did one of his famous and charming laughs that was extremely infectious.

"You little-" Wally started. He began chasing after his friend, a large grin on his face. Obviously, Wally wasn't really trying to catch Robin. I cracked a smile at their actions. If any two people truly displayed what a friendship was, I'd say it was Wally and Robin.

After a few minutes, everything calmed down. Everyone was now in the water, mainly just splashing around. I had absorbed Kaldur's powers, and the two of us were scoping things out towards the bottom. It was quite a treat. Kaldur is extremely calm and kind, and I really liked him. 

Kaldur murmured something in Atlantean. Note to self: have Kaldur teach me Atlantean.

"What's wrong?" I asked. It was weird that I was able to speak clearly underwater, but also very cool. Instead of a verbal answer from Kaldur, a girl materialized in front of us. She was older than me, maybe around Kaldur's age. She had vibrant orange-red hair and pretty aquamarine eyes. Behind her, a boy appeared. The teen had long black hair, most of it pulled back from his face.

"Tula," Kaldur said in disbelief, "Garth?"

I stood there awkwardly as they all hugged each other tightly. After a minute or two, I was finally noticed.

"And who's this?" Tula smiled and looked at me.

"Julia," I said, shaking hands with both her and Garth.

"New team member?" Garth asked me. I nodded.

"Kaldur's Atlantean friends?" I asked although it was obvious. The three teens laughed and nodded, sending secret looks and smiles to each other as we headed back up to the surface. I felt a pang of jealousy. I don't know why, but these strangers who immediately took Kaldur's attention made me envious. They unsettled me. It almost felt like Kaldur had this whole other life, which I guess he does. I mean, so do I. But that's beside the point.

"Kaldur? Who are your friends?" M'gann said and smiled hugely five seconds after we broke through the surface.

"Friends and teammates," Kaldur smiled his small smile, "Meet my old friends Tula and Garth."

Everyone greeted the Atlanteans and shook their hands. I stood awkwardly off to the side.

"Something wrong?" Robin appeared beside me. My eyes widened with surprise at how sneakily he had crept up on me. He grinned and bumped his shoulder into mine good-naturally. "C'mon. What's bothering you?" 

"Nothing," I said. He rolled his eyes to say: as if. I peered at Garth and Tula. "I don't trust them."

He followed my gaze and nodded understandingly. He then smirked. "To be fair, do you trust anyone?"

"Good point," I laughed.

I trust you. The thought was so random, so sudden that I was shocked the moment I thought it. Shut up, I told myself, that's a lie. 

"Why do you think they're here?" Robin's voice brought me back to reality.

"You also doubt this was just some friendly trip?"

"They've never visited before," Robin shrugged, "Why now?"

"My guess is that they want something," I said, then sighed, "Or someone."

"Makes sense," Robin nodded, "They might want Kaldur to come back to Atlantis."

"You think he'd go?"

"Who knows? They're his friends. They're home. But a bit more than a year ago, he chose us. And I hope that that would still be the case."

"If he left," I said, "Wouldn't you become leader?"

"Yes," Robin answered stonily. 

"You don't want to be leader?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Hey," Robin forced a laugh, "You have your secrets and I have mine."

"Good point," I smirked.