Take A Dive [AquagirlxAqualad]

~4~

"Get these people out of here!" A mermaid-guard shouted.

As two guards pulled several Atlanteans from the rubble and escorted them to safety, the other  guards who were holding up the rubble were shot by several lasers and narrowly missed being crushed themselves. Lorena followed the angle of the lasers back to the guns of a squad of black-suited Manta Troopers, hiding behind a wall of ancient Atlantean rubble. Kaldur was the first to shake off his shock and dive into action. Tula was right behind him, as if they weren't in the middle of a very awkward conversation, and Lorena and La'gaan dove after them, as if they hadn't been spying on said awkward conversation.

Kaldur had engaged the troopers in hand-to hand, while Tula fought from a distance with her projectiles and mage skills, stirring up the sand in a cloud that blinded the troopers and allowed Kaldur to get the drop on them. Lorena had La'gaan clear the rubble and look for more survivors while she swam as fast as she could to help Kaldur.

"Hey, please don't hate me, but La'gaan just told me that Tula's dating Garth."

Kaldur smacked a trooper's helmet with the handle of his sword with a sound that echoed through the water around them.

"I could never hate you," Kaldur said, but his tone was stiff. Lorena set her face to keep from betraying any emotion, and met a trooper on her own with a swift kick to the head, cracking the visor.

With a roar, La'gaan came up behind the two, taking out three guns about to take them from behind. He was swollen up like a balloon, his teeth bared, and able to crush boulders with a nudge of his finger. He "deflated", returning to his normal form in front of Lorena's eyes, with a huge grin.

"Pretty cool, right?" He asked, using the phrase Lorena had taught them all.

"Awesome!" Lorena said, temporarily forgetting that they were in the middle of a firefight.

"Lorena, Kaldur, hurry! We must return to the palace!" Tula shouted. A missile shot by overhead, crashing into a domed courthouse.

Lorena and Kaldur started.

"The queen!"

The four took off as fast as they could, pausing only to make sure that Atlantis's troops could take care of its people before hurrying to protect the queen and the unborn heir to the throne.

"Could Manta be after the Queen? He is determined to take revenge on Aquaman, for whatever happened between them, And if news of her pregnancy got out," Kaldur mused to his friends.

"Please don't say the word "pregnant", it makes my gills clog up."

"La'gaan," Tula scolded impatiently. Lorena looked at Kaldur, and nodded her head to the two of them, trying to indicate what he'd left her to put up with on her own.

"What else could Manta be after? Only a few people know about the heir. Did any of you tell anyone else?" Lorena asked.

"When could I have? I haven't left the palace!" La'gaan protested as the palace of Poseidonis came into view.

"One of the servants then? Or the Prince?"

"Tula don't be ridiculous, Orm is King Orin's brother, and he's the chief of the guard. He wouldn't do anything to put Atlantis in danger," Lorena snorted. She had several brothers, and sisters. She knew all about family relationships. She and Danny rarely got along, but she knew that he would never hurt her. The very idea was simply unimaginable, no family could do that to itself.

As all this ran through Lorena's head, they arrived at the palace, already swarming with troopers. The few guards that had not been sent to protect the city were quickly disposed of, and Mera and Prince Orm were barely holding their own, protected behind the Queen's shield.