~.: "Back to You" :.~
~.: Selena Gomez :.~
~.: Jason's POV :.~
I had just barely fallen asleep when Octavia started shaking and crying again almost as soon as her breathing had deepened to indicate that she was sleeping. The sound of her strained voice startled the hell out of me as I hurriedly sat up in our bed, reaching over and placing one of my hands on her left bare shoulder to gently shake her awake, but she didn't respond to my touch. I raised an eyebrow confusedly, turning her over to face me and the expression on her face broke my heart. She was wincing in her sleep, her eyebrows furrowed together in distress as my name fell from her lips like the sound of a broken record stuck on repeat. My heart in my throat, I tried to shake her awake one more time, hoping I'd be able to rouse her without freaking her out even more. Why are you having these bad dreams? You were doing just fine before tonight-
"Octavia," I softly murmured, rubbing her back reassuringly as she stirred slightly, "O, wake up, doll face. It's just a bad dream- wake up, babygirl," I raised my voice a little bit more over her muffled agonized cries. Still unresponsive. I pursued my lips anxiously, crouching over her to tuck her hair away from her face.
"J-Jason-!" Octavia sobs as my hand falls away from her face and the tone of her voice instinctively makes me bring her closer to me, my heart racing confusedly.
"Babygirl.." I murmured, pulling her into my arms gently, "Please. I'm here, I'm right here-!" As her body trembled in my grasp, I realized just how hot her temperature was and suddenly her eyes flew open in alarm as if she didn't know where she was.
"I- I saw you die!" She breathlessly whimpered, her eyes wide and terrified before she buried her face in my shoulder.
"We need to figure out why you're having these bad dreams..."
~.: Dick's POV :.~
"We're supposed to be focusing on finding the others, Acacia," I growled in disapproval as Acacia shouldered her way past me and Tim to the head of the group after having scared Lexie half to death with a threatening lightning strike that purposely missed her by mere inches, "Thanks to your stupid outburst you probably just gave away our location and whoever this Hush person is could be on their way towards us any minute now..."
Acacia rolled her ice blue eyes at me in distaste, "As if they care that we're still out here! If that Hush loser and his dumbass minions really wanted to kill me or my teammates, they would've done so already. So stop fussing at me when I wasn't even the one who sent the distress signal!"
Deanne's eyes flashed anxiously as Acacia stormed off ahead while I narrowed my eyes at her back as she left, "I think we all need to calm down a little..." She murmured softly, dropping back to check on Lexie who was still very badly shaken up from her confrontation with Acacia. I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose agitatedly while turning to Tim once again.
"Okay, back to the main issue at hand," I coughed, running a hand through my hair stressfully, "I'm not sure how we're going to find Riley and Superboy, but hopefully they still have their communicators with them. If they do, I can track them down and we'll be able to leave the area before anyone else gets hurt," As I explained the situation, I activated the holographic computer program insetted on my gloved wrist then sent out a homing signal to see if we'd be able to pick up on where our missing team members were. For a good few moments, there was nothing and I huffed irritably, narrowing my eyes impatiently at the holographic screen. C'mon, please don't make this anymore difficult than it already is...
Deanne lets out a surprised noise before pointing at two dots that appeared on the holo-map, "That's them! It says they're not too far from the direction Acacia just headed in!" Relief flooded my senses as I closed my eyes momentarily. Thank God. Now all we have to do is meet up with them-
"Do you think the Hush people are still out here though? What if they have Riley and Superboy and they're holding them hostage? Could it be a trap..?" Lexie suddenly worriedly blurts out, her gaze showing how anxious she really was while Tim glances at me as if trying to indicate that she may have a point. I nodded in agreement before glancing at Lexie briefly.
"Hopefully it's not going to end up like that, but if it does, just be prepared and keep your eyes and ears open for any suspicious activity," I calmly explained to her, placing a reassuring gloved hand on her shoulder to show her there was nothing to be afraid of at the moment. For a second she looked like she wanted to voice even more doubts, but thought better of it and clamped her mouth shut, staring at the ground beneath her feet as De and I exchanged knowing looks.
"I understand that you're afraid of things going wrong and it's perfectly rational to feel the way that you do," I carefully murmured, tilting her face back up to look at me, "But being on a team, you need to learn to trust your teammates and have more faith in your abilities," Lexie nodded quietly in response, gesturing that we could finally get back to focusing on the perimeter check.
"It's her first mission and she's as scared as an abandoned puppy," De quietly murmured as Tim and Lexie fell into step a few paces behind us while we followed after Acacia who still wasn't speaking to any of us. I nodded in reply, glancing over my shoulder to check that Tim and Lexie were still behind us every so often.
"It doesn't help that she still doesn't know how to control her powers either..." I sighed softly, rubbing the back of my neck before checking the holo-map again, "I'll have to find her a mentor really soon so she can get ahold of how to manage her abilities a little better..." I trailed off as Acacia froze up for a moment, motioning to me and De to be silent.
"I heard voices up ahead to the left. Think it might be Riley and Connor?" She inquisitively thought to us, raising an eyebrow as Deanne and I came to stand beside her amongst the shrubbery.
I narrowed my eyes for a moment, "We can take a look, but be on guard in case it's one of the people who ambushed your squad earlier." I cautiously thought back in reply, Tim and Lexie catching up to us. Just when Acacia was about to lead the way forward, Riley and Superboy emerged from a thick cluster of trees, Riley limping and leaning on Superboy's shoulder for support.
"Oh, thank goodness," Deanne breathed softly, putting a hand to her chest as though to calm herself, "We were thinking you guys were being held hostage or something! Riley, is your leg hurt?" She inquired, striding toward the blonde and looking her over for any other prominent wounds while I exchanged looks with Tim.
"Right now, we need to focus on getting back to the Bioship now that we've found them instead of standing around like morons," Acacia impatiently grumbled, pulling her cellphone out as it started to vibrate. I rolled my eyes at her as she eagerly answered whoever it was that was deciding to bother her during the mission.
"Hate to admit it.. but she's right. Every moment we waste out here is another moment that we risk being ambushed by the Hush minions again.." Tim murmured softly, glancing worriedly at Lexie who's gaze is round with unconcealed anxiety. I nodded in understanding and sent our coordinates to the bioship along with a covert order so that when the ship did arrive that it wouldn't completely stick out like a sore thumb when it landed for us to board.
***
Time Skip
***
~.: Wally's POV :.~
The warmth of sunlight on my face woke me up and I grumbled sleepily, rolling over on my side to rouse Aria but to no avail. She wasn't even in bed with me.
"Oh, come on... Leaving without waking me up?" I whined, rubbing at my eyes groggily as I sat up and reached for my phone on the bedside nightstand. Dick and De were sound asleep in their bed just a foot away and as I checked the time on my phone, a text from Aria came through and I smiled softly at the sight.
Well, at least she didn't completely forget about me, I thought in slight amusement as I read her good morning text before writing one right back. After hitting send, I stood up and crossed the room to my dresser, grabbing my pale yellow sweatshirt and dark gray sweatpants from one of my drawers so I could get ready for the day.
"Wall..? What are you doing up so early...?" Dick groggily groaned, sitting up blearily as I changed into my fresh clothes, "It's not even noon yet," At the sound of his voice, Deanne stirred and warily sat up as well, stretching leisurely while Bella and Alyssa miraculously stayed asleep amongst the blankets.
"Aria decided to not wake me up and left me behind. She's at the airport right now, about to board the plane to leave for her cheer trip," I quickly informed them both, grabbing an outfit for Amelia before carefully waking her up and instructing her to change so we could leave within a few minutes, "Are you guys coming too? I know Aria would love to see you, De," My words were tumbling out of my mouth all at once as I slipped on my sneakers before tying them up quickly and straightening up while Dick and De exchanged doubtful glances.
"I dunno, Wally... what about the twins? If we go with you and Amelia, who's gonna watch Alyssa and Bella?" Dick murmured, glancing at his two daughters worriedly while Deanne's gaze flashes warily toward Brodie's crib where he's still sound asleep. I waved off their concern as I grabbed my phone.
"They'll be fine here! Jason, Tim, Octavia, Lexie, Acacia, and Jared are all here and they'll watch over the kids while we're gone- now hurry up or we won't make it before that plane leaves with my girl," I pleadingly replied, turning to leave the room so they could get ready. Dick rolled his eyes irritably before throwing a pillow at me as I made my way out of the bedroom to get something small for Amelia to snack on during the flight.
***
* At the Airport *
***
~.: De's POV :.~
"Wally," I grumbled irritably as I followed after him and Dick, "I'm telling you that the plane probably left already. There was no point in speeding all the way down here.." Dick seemed to agree with me because he dropped back a few paces to give me a reassuring kiss on the cheek.
"Just leave it for now, babe, maybe the plane didn't take off yet," He replied, wrapping an arm around my waistline as we entered the airport station. Sure enough, there's Aria's cheer squad boarding one of the planes that's about to leave and Wally dashes forward, purchasing four flight tickets on the same plane. Evidently Gotham Academy hadn't been able to reserve the entire plane for the trip so luckily there were plenty of empty seats left for other passengers to board.
"Told you we were gonna be able to make it before the plane left!" Wally chuckled cockily, leading Dick and I towards the plane.
"Come on, Aria, move your ass or I'll beat it," a familiar voice was yelling ahead of us and upon hearing it, I laughed amusedly, rolling my eyes while Wally scowls and rushes on ahead.
"Good ol Chelsea," I drily giggled while Dick smirks in response, shaking his head, "Reminds me of how Acacia was back in highschool with the cheer squad.." I thoughtfully murmured, slipping a hand into one of Dick's as we approached the plane at the same moment that Wally tapped Aria on the shoulder, scaring the hell out of her almost.
"Did ya miss me?" He teasingly chuckled as Dick and I walked up behind him, following them both onto the plane.
"I knew you guys would make it somehow!" Aria giggled, stealing a kiss from Wally's lips before having us all sit next to each other, "I don't know how y'all pulled it off, but y'all did and I'm glad because now I don't have to suffer through listening Chelsea scream at everyone during the flight," As though summoned by the sound of her name, said blonde approached the five of us, looking like she was about to chew off someone's ear but before she could make it to our seats, the flight attendant intervened.
"Please take your seat, we're about to take flight, Miss," the flight attendant informed her, nodding dismissively at Chelsea when she glared indignantly at him. Defeatedly, she trudged toward her assigned spot in the front of the plane as everyone else got ready for the plane to depart.
This was going to be a long ride.
TO BE CONTINUED
