Take A Dive [AquagirlxAqualad]

~9~

"Recognized: Aquagirl, A10."

Lorena had enough of waiting. She was tired of being ignored. Something was wrong. Kaldur never broke a promise, his word was his own personal law, so she was going to ask him, face-to-face, why she hadn't heard back from him in two weeks. She understood if he'd gotten a mission or something that held him up for a few days, but two weeks? Aquaman and the League wouldn't send them on missions that long, would they? No, something was up with Kaldur, and Lorena was determined to find out what.

She took a brisk swim from Poseidonis, where the zeta-tubes were located, to Kaldur's childhood home in Shayeris. 

"Lorena! this is a pleasant surprise!" Sha'lain'a Durham was much like Lorena's own mother, with both a brain and a heart bigger than the ocean, though Sha'lain'a's confidence far exceeded Rachel Marquez's. 

Lorena allowed herself to enjoy the warm embrace in the entrance of the Durham household, letting it ebb away some of the frustration her own mother had been unable to abate while wrapped up in several work projects and four other children when she'd been at home. 

As Lorena opened her mouth to begin her inquiry, Sha'lain'a answered her question for her. 

"On top of Kaldur's visit as well! I hope this means the rest of your school friends are coming as well?" Sha'lain'a looked over her shoulder, and Lorena followed her gaze to Kaldur, who had been quietly talking with his father, Calvin Durham, Manta-smuggler-turned-Atlantean-Fisherman.

For a moment, Kaldur seemed overjoyed to see her. And then, in a stream of bubbles, Lorena sped over to him and jabbed her pointer finger into his chest. "Why haven't you been answering my calls? Or my texts? You promised me you were gonna have me a back. You were gonna get me a spot on your team so I could practice this hero thing for real and then you completely ghost me! What's up with that!?"

"A spot on my team? Lorena what are you talking about? I made you no such promise!" Kaldur protested.

"Of course you did! Twice! The day the whole dang city blew up and then again when you were gonna leave us--again." Lorena held up two fingers as a demonstration.

Calvin chuckled at his son's dilemma, while a shy voice coughed politely, and Lorena's attention was drawn to the pale, bulky guy who strangely resembled Superman, and his petite green companion seated in the Durham family room, opposite the kitchen where Lorena had been interrogating Kaldur.

"Um, hi, I think I know why you're remembering things Kaldur isn't." The green redhead set aside the bubble of sea cucumber juice she'd been drinking and floated over. Not wanting to be left out of the fun, her raven-haired companion followed, deftly pushing himself off the couch and through the water with a nudge of his foot. Kaldur must have lent him one of his wetsuits.

"Uh...Lorena, let me introduce you to two of my teammates; Miss Martian, the niece of the Martian Manhunter-"

"Call me M'gann!" The redhead grabbed Lorena's hand and gave it a firm pump in greeting.

"And Superboy, the..." Kaldur struggled for words, and Superboy sighed, rolling his eyes behind the rebreather mask (they were definitely surfacers).

"I'm Superman's clone," He said abruptly. He offered no handshake. Lorena raised an eyebrow.

She glanced from Superboy to Kaldur, who shrugged, and took a seat at the kitchen island.

"It's so nice to meet you! Kaldur's been very excited to show us Atlantis and his friends here!" Miss Martian sat in one of the stools next to Kaldur, and pulled Lorena into the stool between them. For a tiny person, she was very strong.