Take A Dive [AquagirlxAqualad]

~11~

Lorena came to very slowly. She hadn't gotten much sleep that night so she was half-tempted to stay asleep and avoid whatever headache awaited her. What was so important that she should wake up anyway? She last remembered Kaldur cradling her in his arms as Ocean Master's men escaped with Mera-

Lorena threw herself from the bed and her stray arm managed to sock Prince Orm in the eye.

"Your Highness! My apologies," Lorena gasped, squeezing her eyes shut as she bowed in an attempt to be humble and to stave off the oncoming migraine.

"It is alright, Lorena," Orm stammered.

"We're just glad to see that you are awake," Kaldur gripped her shoulder. Lorena clutched at his hand for support.

"The queen-"

"Ocean Master got away," Superboy growled. 

Orin nodded solemnly. "I have sent word to King Orin, but 'Aquaman' is on a mission with the Justice League and cannot be reached, so it is up to us to save our Queen."

"And the heir she carries," Kaldur murmured.

"Of course," Orm dismissed, "Now my sources inform me of two possible Purist strongholds, but as members of the royal guard may have ben complicit in the abduction, I will investigate one location with the few guards I trust implicitly."

Lorena glanced over at Kaldur and his friends, who knew exactly what Orm was going to tell them to do next. 

"You two and your surface world friends will investigate the other." Orm said to Lorena and Kaldur.

The two proteges of the Aquaman and his queen glanced at each other, nodding.

"Swim carefully, Prince Orm, Ocean Master is formidable and dangerous!" Kaldur cautioned. Lorena gave his hand a quick squeeze before leading Miss Martian and Superboy out of the palace in the direction of Old Roman's Trench.

~~~~~~~

Kaldur ended up leading the way, and the powerful mermaid tail Miss Martian had adapted allowed her to keep up to speed with Lorena, while Superboy, who couldn't even fly, brought up the rear. 

"So," Miss Martian started while Kaldur lead them around another undersea mountain, "What's the deal with you and Kaldur?"

Lorena raised her eyebrow, "What do you mean? He's been my best friend for the pst two years because he saved my life, but that's not much of a "deal"."

Miss Martian's knowing grin vanished, and Lorena wondered why she was so disappointed. She was a telepath right? Wouldn't she be the first to know that Kaldur and Lorena were friends?

"Oh, well, you and Kaldur were just so close, I just assumed-" M'gann trailed off, "Sorry, I'm still getting used to everyone's boundaries. I forget people on Earth aren't as open with their emotions as those on Mars."

Lorena giggled, "If it helps, Atlanteans are even more stuck-up than regular humans. I had a lot to get used to when I first started living in Atlantis too."

M'gann started to smile. "Why did you start living in Atlantis? Didn't you say you lived on the surface world."

Lorena nodded. "I got sick when I was thirteen, like, really, really sick. It was hard to breathe and my throat was all dry, and my skin was too. My mom, who's a marine biologist, had me take a bath, and I was so frustrated I decided to scream underwater so I wouldn't wake my baby brother and sister from their naps, but somehow, I could breathe.

"Mom couldn't figure out how it happened, but since she worked at STAR Labs, she was able to get in contact with the League, who relayed the message to Aquaman, who brought me to Atlantis to see if they could help."