-Athena's POV-

I woke up in perhaps the last place I wanted to be.

Well, Ra's Al Ghul's castle of Honor Island would probably be the last, but I also dreaded where I was.

The room was dark and empty. I had woken up at perhaps four in the morning, just after Batman returned from duty. The noise of the person in the room beside mine was maybe the thing that woke me.

I jumped out of the bed and quickly reached for my uniform. Unfortunately, I had moved all my equipment to my safehouse. Carefully and quietly, I tiptoed out of my old room and onto the wooden floors of Wayne Manor.

I snuck past Dick's room, not even offering a glance inside. I luckily had brought my wrist-computer and used it to disable to security on the door, allowing me to sneak out. Since I hadn't planned to be brought to my ex's house, I didn't have a vehicle to get back into the city. I took a peek at the time and decided to run for it.

-

After arriving at my place, I showered and changed into my uniform as quick as possible. I didn't waste any time getting to the Watchtower.

I wasn't surprised I was the first one there. It was nearly six a.m. and a lot of members had school or jobs. I rebooted all the computers and got everything in order. I worked out until the Team leader showed up.

Aqualad rubbed his eyes, not realizing I was there. He wasn't in Atlantean clothes -- which surprised me -- but rather a pair of sweatpants and no shirt. I watched him silently as he went to the computers. His hands reached out to turn them on, but he jerked back when he realized his job had already been done.

Kaldur's eyes opened widely once he saw everything that needed to be done was done. He snuck around carefully as if looking for someone. I followed him as he moved. When he went around a corner, I temporarily lost him and moved to follow. Just as I did, he jumped behind me and held a water-controlled knife to my throat.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" He growled into my ear. I smirked to myself and grabbed his arm. I flipped him over my shoulder, landing him flat on his back. Swaggering over, I stared down into his face.

"It's really been that long, huh?" I said, putting a hand on my hip. Kaldur laughed and stood up.

"I am sorry, Athena. I am still recovering from sleep," his eyes looked like they were going to close, "excuse my mistake."

I patted his bare shoulder. "Perhaps I could help you wake up." I wiggled my eyebrows and grabbed his hand.

"Where are we going?" Kaldur asked, letting me pull him like a doll.

"To wake you up."

"Can you not give me some of your coffee? We do not make it in Atlantis, but it always wakes me up," he said, a yawn breaking up his sentence.

"Coffee stunts your growth, now here," I tossed him lightly into the sparing room, "let's practice."

Kaldur slouched and let his arms dangle at his sides. "I do not want to," he mumbled, closing his eyes. I knew a hangover when I saw one. I kicked his side and swiped at his feet, knocking him to the ground. He groaned. "Ow! Why did you do that?" He shouted.

"If you won't fight, I will." I bounced on the balls of my feet like a boxer, mimicking jabs at him. Kaldur shrugged and walked towards me, throwing a weak and slow punch. I blocked it fast and hard, grabbing his wrist and flipping him over me once again.

"Athena, ow! Can we stop this? I do not have the energy!" Kaldur rubbed his shoulder and laid flat on the ground. I jumped on top of him and planted repeated punches into his chest. He put his arms up to block, but he wouldn't summon enough energy to really push me. So, I kept hitting him. I didn't hit him too hard, but enough to anger him. I felt his body beneath me tense up as he reached for his water weapons. He grabbed my fist with a water stick and flung me off of him.

"Fine! You want to spare, let's spare," his eyes glowed with energy and anger. Now he was awake. I smirked and beckoned him on. When he started to run towards me, I ran back. We crashed into each other with both of our legs and fists. The battle was finally at the fast pace I wanted.

For a couple of hours, we traded blows and helped each other learn the other's fighting style. No one showed up for a long time, so Kaldur and I just hung out around the tower. We would spare, look up possible missions, go on small projects, and even play a couple video games together. We spent the whole entire day just relaxing and enjoying each other's company.

The rest of the Team appeared around seven p.m. I was surprised to see Dick. He didn't even look my way and decided to stand away from me. To my delight, he also didn't stand by Donna. She looked upset and directed her anger towards me. I couldn't count the times she glared at me.

Although Dick's toxic attitude did bother me, I had Artemis and Roy by my side. They kept my anger stable and in check. Wally held Artemis's hand tightly and tried to tug her away from me. She stayed where she was and even moved slightly away from him.

We all gathered around for mission assignment. It was the same, except Aqualad never called my name. After everyone was leaving, I confronted him.

"Kaldur, I think you forgot about someone," I said, pointing at the groups of people leaving.

"No, I didn't forget either of you." Just as Kaldur pulled up a mission on the computer, Dick stepped beside me. He kept his head forward, but his eyes wandered to my face. I stared at Kaldur in disbelieve. Of course he would do something like that. Kaldur loves bringing people together.

"A group of assassins are allegedly going after the French prime minister at his 'Anniversary of Office' party. The assassin group is unknown or even confirmed, so you will have to keep a tight look out," Aqualad explained, pulling up a written statement from a french criminal.

I opened my mouth to protest. "Why can't you have Tigress or Arsenal do this? Or Tim or Barbara?"

Aqualad shook his head. "Green Arrow wanted Tigress and Arsenal for a personal mission in Star City. Batgirl is on a mission with Alpha and the party has many alcoholic drinks. You two are both of the drinking age in France. Robin also looks too young for the party."

I groaned and rolled my eyes. He was right. "What's our cover?" I sighed.

Dick glared. Aqualad continued. "You needed something that made your encounters sensible. But, you needed something that made you both seem more personal and easily known to the other guests. You will be James and Francesca Affre, since you already had a French alias, Athena. You will be the two young lovers who just got engaged. No one will know you, but if you pretend to be friends, they'll probably pretend to know you too, out of respect." Aqualad smiled, seeing nothing wrong with his plan. Mine and Dick's faces seem to mimic each other.

"You already put us on the list, right?" Dick asked, his voice void of the emotion playing on his face.

"Yes, it's all been taken care of. Go get dressed into something fancy." Kaldur dismissed us. I knew I had stored clothes at the Watchtower. Almost everyone had for one reason or the next.

As we both walked to the bathroom, Dick leaned down to whisper to me, his tux brushing against my arm. "This should be an easy mission for you. Since you're so good at lying about who you are."

I ignored him and went to change. I quickly zipped up the tight, black dress and slipped on the large engagement ring. Dick met me at the zeta tubes.

"How's your French accent?" He asked, still refusing to make eye contact with me. Dick adjusted his tie and smoothed out his jacket.

"Ce n'est pas ma première fois à Paris <This isn't my first time in Paris>," I said, staring straight ahead as the computer recognized us.

"Convincing. Let's just get this over with," Dick mumbled, taking my arm in his.

We zeta-tubed a couple blocks away from where the party was being held. I called us a limo and we arrived in style. Luckily, both of us were experienced in acting as fake as most rich people were. I made sure that the diamond ring on my finger was always angled toward whomever we were talking with. The more I showed it off, the more convincing it would be that Dick and I were still together.

We walked up to the security guard, hand in hand. I smiled and held Dick tightly. The warmth he radiated made the cold, winter air feel like nothing. "Bonjour, euh, Francesca et James? <Hello, um, Francesca and James>?"

The guard looked down at the list he held. "Affre?"

I giggled and nodded. "Oui, qui nous est. <Yes, that's us>."

"Allez à droite dans. Avoir un grand temps M. et Mme Affre. <Go right in. Have a great time Mr. and Mrs. Affre>."

"Merci. <Thank you>." We walked in and glanced around. I scanned the room and instantly found the Prime Minister. He was talking to a large group of people, a smile on his face. There were no signs of assassins. Yet.

"Remember, we need to keep visual on the Prime Minister at all times. Just keep up our little act and we can be away from each other in no time." Dick's voice tickled my ear. He kept leaning in closer and closer every time he wanted to talk to me. It made me awkward and sad. I kept my hand in the bend of his elbow, but his muscles were tense as if he was trying to feel every touch I made on him. His usual calm demeanor around me -- the same calm that made me fall in love with him -- was replaced with a strong sense of repelling hatred. He led us towards a friendly looking old couple at the dessert bar.

I had my com -- which I had moved from my ear to a broach on my dress -- perform facial recognition. "M. et Mme Bellard! Elle est moi, Francesca! <Mr. and Mrs. Bellard! It's me, Francesca>!"

Mr. Bellard looked understandably confused. "Pardonnez-moi, mais je ne connaissez-vous? <Pardon me, but do I know you>?" Abel Bellard turned towards his wife. He was a rich, retired businessman in his sixties. His wife was just as successful and retired as he was.

"Francesca Affre? Oh, Vincent! la fille de Mary Vincent! <Francesca Affre? Oh, Vincent! Mary Vincent's daughter>!" I exclaimed. Fake realization spread across Abel's face. A pleased look spread across Dick's handsome face.

"Oh! Comment est Marie? <Oh! How's Mary>?" Abel asked, pretending to know us.

"Etait-elle bein. Sa arthrite va mieux, je vous remercie. <She's fine. Her arthritis is getting better, thank you>."

"C'est génial. Qui est ce beau jeune homme à côté de vous? <That's great. Who's this handsome young man next to you>?" Able turned to stare at Dick. He gifted him with his award winning smile.

"Ceci est James Affre. Mon fiancé. <This is James Affre. My fiance>."

Abel smiled. "Félicitations à vous. Ravi de vous rencontrer. <Congratulations. Nice to meet you>." Dick shook the old man's hand, patting his back gently.

"Je vous remercie, M. Bellard. C'est agréable de vous rencontrer aussi. <Thank you, Mr. Bellard. It is nice to meet you as well>." Dick's French was better than I expected. I smiled to myself, adoring him speaking something other than cold, hearted silence.

"Où est votre femme allé, Abel? <Where has your wife gone, Abel>?" I asked, looking around for the old face of a stranger.

"Plus à la piste de danse. Miel! <Over at the dance floor. Honey>!" Abel beckoned the woman over. I hadn't realized she had walked away, which worried me for my own sake. "Elle est Francesca Vincent, la fille de Marie. <It's Francesca Vincent, Mary's daughter>."

Rose Bellard smiled. "C'est agréable de te revoir. Qui est-ce? <It's nice to see you again. Who's this>?"

"James Affre. Francesca et moi sommes fiancés. <James Affre. Francesca and I are engaged>." The words rolled the calmly off of Dick's tongue, for a minute, I could believe it was the truth.

"Félicitations à vous! Bonnie, viens ici! <Congratulations! Bonnie, come over here>!" Rose gestured four other older, rich people to come over. "Ceci est Francesca et James. Ils vont se marier. <This is Francesca and James. They're getting married>." My cheeks burned as I put on a fake smile. Every one smiled and said their congratulations. I hugged everyone who wrapped their arms around me.

"Pourquoi ne pas nous donner un baiser? <Why not give us a kiss>?" One of the older women said. I blushed even more. Even a slight pink prickled Dick's skin.

"Ouais! L'amour des oiseaux, nous donner un baiser! <Yeah! Love birds, give us a kiss>!" Abel shouted, clapping. The group that had gathered around us started to chant "kiss" over and over.

I chuckled and grabbed Dick's arm tightly. "D'accord, d'accord. <Alright, alright>." I turned slowly to try to see if Dick was up for the kiss, when his lips were pressed on mine. His fingers found their way to my chin, cupping it softly. I let my eyelashes flutter closed. I was the one to pull away. "Il était agréable de vous revoir, mais je pense que nous aurons quelque chose à boire. A plus tard pour le discours du Premier ministre! <It was nice seeing all of you again, but I think we'll get something to drink. See you later for the speech of the Prime Minister>!"

Dick and I quickly rushed away from the group. I was jogging pretty fast, so Dick grabbed my arm and slowed me down. He leaned down once again to whisper in English. "That kiss back there," he paused, causing me to shiver at the thought of it, "doesn't change anything. It doesn't change anything at all."

"You think I don't know that?" I whispered back, tired of his attitude.

"Just keep acting like we are a happy couple again and we aren't one living in secrecy." Dick downed a glass of champagne. I drank one too, hopefully letting it calm my out of control emotions.

I sighed. "You introduce us next time. Once we are in with at least three people, we can dance and go gambling, since this is a casino." All the pretty flowers had blocked me from seeing the gambling tables. I saw Able and Rose walk over to one, smiling at each other.

"Looking normal is main priority. We can go up to Prime Minister Valls and congratulate him, but that's about it," Dick said, glancing at Valls again.

"The assassins will most likely come during his speech or after. We have to protect him until then. His obvious guards will no doubt be taken out before hand."

Dick nodded and grabbed my arm. "You would know."

Dick led me to the center of the dance floor. His hand glided to my hip, finding it's place at my side in a familiar way. I rested mine on his shoulder. We were as far apart and as stiffed armed as two teens at a middle school dance. People started to notice. I rolled my eyes and pressed my chest against his.

He opened his mouth to say something, his eyes wild. But, just as the thought had occurred, it backed down. Dick took a large gulp and let his arms relax. We were dancing like nothing was wrong. In no time, I felt that we both started to enjoy it. Not necessarily enjoy each other, but rather the familiarity of it all. We used to go dancing all the time.

After what seemed like forever in each other's arms, Prime Minister Valls went to deliver his speech. Just as I predicted, a group of assassins in black smashed through the windows and chased after Valls. Unlike Ra's Al Ghul's assassins, they weren't wearing very durable or well-made uniforms. They're uniforms looked like black water suits.

"Nous sommes ici pour votre tête, le Premier Ministre! <We are here for your head, Prime Minister>!" The assassins shouted as more guards went to stop them.

"Time to go!" I shouted, slipping on my mask and tearing apart my dress. I jumped on a few assassins and seamlessly took them out. They weren't very good fighters. They also carried guns.

Across the casino on the upper level, I saw Nightwing battling with several other assassins as Valls struggled to get out through the secret entrance. He was pressed against the door with Nightwing being the only thing separating him from death.

I grappled over to them, more assassins following me. I pressed my back to Dick's and kicked one in the face, sending him over the railing. Involuntarily, Dick grabbed me by my hips and tossed me into the air. It was an old maneuver; one we had performed together many times, even dating back to the circus days.

Once in the air, I kicked some more assassins and landed on the shoulders of one. As the guy tried to get me off, he spun around, allowing me to kick and punch the rest of the group down. We had bought Valls enough time to escape into a car outside. However, the assassins followed.

Dick and I hopped on two motorcycles that had been parked outside. With a quick hardwire, we followed the assassins. Valls was driving to the docks where a boat was waiting. So, we chased the assassins through the city and to the docks.

When we arrived, a small fight broke out. However, there were only about five assassins left. The Prime Minister didn't waste anytime in escaping and his guards didn't waste anytime in arresting the people we had taken out. We zeta-tubed back to Gotham before anyone had time to say "Merci."

Once safely on the streets of Gotham, I put my com back in my ear. Dick waited beside me as I reported to Aqualad. "Mission was a success," I said, quickly clicking off. I wanted the missions to be over as soon as possible.

We didn't say goodbye or confess how much we missed each other. We didn't even give a nod to the other person. We used our computers on our wrists to call our own personal bikes.

Dick and I stood in silence for the quick minute it took for our bikes to arrive. I didn't even look over and neither did he. When they arrived, I quickly hopped on mine and drove away to my safehouse. Dick didn't follow. I was sure he didn't even care where I was staying.

I thought about him as I drove. I thought about the way he had kissed me. Sure, it was to prove our alibis. My brain knew that's all it was. But, I was trying to convince myself it was something more. I was trying to tell myself that it was Dick showing me he doesn't hate me. Maybe...maybe he still felt the same way I felt about him.

~~~~~New chapter, yeah boiiiiiiiiii. A lot of it is in French and I do not know French, so thank you Google Translator. If any of my readers know French and it is messed up somewhere, please tell me. I hope you guys liked the chapter! Don't forget to vote, comment, and follow if you aren't already!~~~~~~~~