Together, we walked down to the beach with our supplies tossed over arms and shoulders. Dick and I trailed behind the others.

Connor looked back at us. "What are your guys' names?" he asked.

"Percy."

"Dick."

As soon as Dick said his name, Artemis whipped around with a finger aimed at us. "I know you! You go to my school."

"I thought you looked familiar." Dick rubbed the back of his head with an awkward smile on his face. I smiled. I had a feeling things were going to get interesting

"Wait, you know him too, Artemis?" Wally asked, faking surprise. I almost snorted. Wally and Dick could practically be brothers, I'm pretty sure if they both knew a girl they'd know they know the same girl.

"Wait, you both know him?" Megan asked. "Artemis said she recognizes him from school, but how do you know him, Wally?"

Wally waved a hand dismissively. "Aunt Irie had to do an interview with Bruce Wayne, and she brought me along to keep this munchkin occupied." He dropped back to ruffle Dick's hair. "We've kept in touch since then."

"I take it you are Mr Wayne's son?" Kaldur asked.

Dick tilted his hand from side to side. "Sorta? I mean, no. I'm just his ward, but he's like a dad to me so..."

Kaldur nodded, a small smile on his lips. "I believe I understand what you mean."

"Okay, enough talking!" Wally clapped his hands together. "Time for some fun!"

My hand wrapped around Dick's arm, letting me hold him back as the others sped up. "You know them." I kept my voice low. His eyes widened and he put a finger to his lips. He tapped his ear and pointed at Connor. That confused me for a minute until I remembered he's Robin. For him to know someone with superhearing wasn't that weird. Not that I'm in any position to judge what's weird.

As if he knew what just happened, Connor turned and narrowed his eyes at us.

"Did you organize this?" I asked, trying to get rid of his suspicion. Dick smiled.

"Maybe," he said. "I might've gotten ahold of Wally and told him we were coming here. Just don't check my recent calls."

I chuckled. At least he played along, though there's not really a reason he wouldn't have. Suddenly, I felt a lot better about lying to him and Bruce. "Your secret's safe with me."

Megan turned around with her arms spread. "We should have a competition! Whoever can stay standing wins," she said with a large smile. She grabbed Connor's arm and pulled him into the surf.

Artemis sighed. "You guys should just give in to her now. She won't give up until all of us are in this, and I don't think either of you want to deal with the guilt trip of her puppy eyes."

Dick and I looked at each other. He forced a smile. "It might be fun?" he said. It was meant to be a statement, but I could see in his eyes he was calculating how bad of an idea this was.

I offered him my own smile, dimmer but equally forced. The last time I was in the ocean- I shook my head, and I ran down to the water. If you think about it, it's just as much of my home as Camp is.

"Whoever gets knocked over is out," Megan explained the one and only rule of the game, before picking a spot.

Why flashed a smile at me. "Ready to lose, beautiful?"

I rolled my eyes. "My offer still stands," I said.

"And we're a lot closer to the ocean Wally," Dick pointed out.

A wave came in before Wally could respond. The water surged around us; none of us stumbled, but one of us fell.

"Amazing job." Artemis slow-clapped as Wally picked himself up. His red hair plastered his head, and he spit water out of his mouth. "You couldn't even survive the first wave."

"It's not my fault that girl is gonna kill me!"

I almost laughed. The sound made it halfway out of my throat, before I choked it back. I couldn't say anything that came to mind. Not after what I did. Not after Hazel.

Not after I told her she'd be fine. Not after I lied to her to try to get her to hang on a little bit longer. Not after I told her to hang on, to keep living even though it meant more suffering for her.

Not after she begged me to kill her.

Not after I plunged Riptide into her heart and watched the light drain from her shining golden eyes.

A sharp laugh broke me out of my memories. "Have fun!" Wally yelled, taking off towards dry sand. I frowned and looked out over the water, only to see a huge wave heading directly towards us.

I caused that, didn't I?

Wiping my eyes, I tried to change its course, to decrease its size, to force it to break, but nothing I did worked. My powers are so deeply entwined with my emotions that I couldn't stop this. Short of raising the water in front of us into a wall, but something told me that wouldn't be a good idea.

"Uh, is it too late to back out?" Connor asked, slowly edging backward.

"Most likely," Kaldur said. "When it breaks on shore, Wally will probably get caught in it as well."

They went silent, though their body language shifted like they were having a conversation. If they were, they all seemed pretty concerned. And gee, why wouldn't they? Not like a giant wave wasn't bearing down on us or anything.

"We need to run. If we do, we might avoid the worst of it." Artemis looked at me and Dick. "This entire wave is dangerous, and we need to move. Now."

"Too late," I mumbled. The shadow of the wave passed over us. The wave crested and crashed down on us. I was fine, the water wouldn't hurt me. But water didn't have any qualms about the others. I kept my eyes open, watching as the water pressed the others to the sand.

When the water drew back, I let it take me with it. I didn't care. I killed my family. I'm responsible for the deaths of my friends.

Nobody should ever have to be around me. No one should have to deal with me, with the danger I put them in.

I relaxed, my body surrounded by gentle waters. I let my eyes drift shut. Seagulls flew overhead, squawking. Fish swam nearby, their minds briefly reaching out to mine before recoiling. Could I blame them?

My mind scares me.

Another prescence appeared, headed directly towards me. I ignored it, assuming it was a curious hippocampus. They didn't really do telepathic communication.

Arms slid beneath me, throwing that theory out. They pulled me close to a warm solid surface. Whoever it was, started swimming towards shore, carefully keeping my head about the water, and pulling me further away from the heart of my dad's powers. Despite not knowing who it was, I felt safe, truly safe, and I relaxed in their arms.

"Are you okay?" I recognized the voice. My mystery savior was Kaldur. Yay.

"I can swim back if that's what you want to know."

"That is not what I asked. Are you okay?"

"Like I said good enough to swim back." I struggled against his grip, but he was good at holding people still while swimming. Maybe he's a lifeguard.

"I will not risk you drowning. Now rest."

Original words: 1025

Edited: June 29, 2020. 1279 words

I have given up figuring out when it was originally published.

Now I need to go feed my animals.

See yah