La'gaan first sees her when she comes through the zeta-tubes.

His first thought is Holy Poseidon, she's beautiful. Her hair is glossy and black, pulled into a pony tail. Her eyes are beautiful dark brown, darting everywhere. La'gaan doubts there is a single thing in the Watchtower that she doesn't see. She's wearing a grey bodysuit with a familiar black symbol. A cape falls from her shoulders, all the way to her ankles. She has a cowl clutched in one gloved hand. She smiles shyly at the gathered team.

"Team," Nightwing, who stands beside her says, placing a hand on her shoulder with a brotherly smile. "Meet Batgirl."

La'gaan smiles at her, and opens his mouth to say hello, but Bart—of course it's Bart—barrels over him to introduce everyone. La'gaan is last, almost an afterthought.

La'gaan says nothing. He's used to it.

He watches instead. He watches Batgirl spar with Black Canary and learn to pull her punches. He watches her laugh with Spoiler, and follow Oracle everywhere the redhead goes, like a… duckling, that's what they're called.

He learns. He learns how she'll smile at him if he agrees to spar with her, despite the inevitable bruises he gets. He learns how she is fascinated by the ocean, and teaches her the names of all of the fish, in both English and Atlantean.

Of course, those times are precious and rare. She usually spars with Bats or Supers, since they offer more of a challenge. Spoiler and Robin monopolize the rest of her time, showing her movies and working on her language skills.

La'gaan shrugs and spars with whoever will spar with him instead. He's still not the most well-liked member of the Team, but Gar likes him now that he's not dating M'gann, Kaldur's just as kind and accepting as always, and La'gaan's pretty sure that Steph doesn't dislike anybody. She doesn't hang out with him or anything, but she smiles at him and talks to him and volunteered to be on his squad the one time Kaldur made him squad leader.

La'gaan misses M'gann. Yeah, the relationship was not healthy at all but it was nice having someone. Everyone's great and all, but La'gaan slips into the background when he doesn't shout, despite his appearance. He doesn't shout as much anymore either. There didn't seem to be a point anymore. He takes his frustration out on punching bags and bad guys and keeps his mouth shut when he's stuck with the freshmen on missions (often underfreshmen too.)

Everyone's had to grow up since Darkseid. La'gaan is no different.

When Batgirl mentions she doesn't know how to swim on the way back from a mission (he loves it when they're on missions together, it's so beautifully rare. She's a marvel to watch, fast and fluid and light on her feet), he offers to help her learn immediately. Her face lights up, and La'gaan think he's in love. Even M'gann never looked that happy while looking at him. The euphoric feeling he gets from that smile lasts for days.

Nightwing, driving the bio-ship, gives him a disapproving look. And he then signs her up for public lessons instead. La'gaan wonders if he is that obvious. He avoids Nightwing—and Batgirl—for a few days after that. He's bad at lying and hiding his emotions and he hates feeling vulnerable like he is now. And Cass, who can read people like a book, doesn't deserve to see him all mopey. She hangs around Conner, she gets enough of that.

Cass comes up to him about a month later, her lips set determinedly. "Swimming… weird. Confusing. You help me?" It's sort of a request but not really, since La'gaan's pretty sure he'd swim in a volcano for her at this point, which is kind of pathetic if La'gaan is honest with himself. Her eyes are wide and earnest and he tries to keep himself from staring because it's so wrong that he should find her this beautiful.

"Sure thing, Starfish," he tells her. She giggles. She'd loved starfish when he'd shown her the sea creatures. He starts walking toward the pool. She slips her hand in his and he lets it stay there. He knows he shouldn't, he should pull away. But for now… for now he'll let himself imagine.

She changes into a simple black one-piece. He tries not to stare at the way it hugs her body, or how it reveals more of her skin than he's ever seen. She lets her hair out of its ponytail, and it falls past her shoulders, thick and black as obsidian. She smiles at him, and he forgets how to breathe.

She steps into the water, towards La'gaan, and he pulls himself out of his trance. She'sCass. She's human. She's beautiful and talented and not only can she kick his ass, she can read body language and so she probably knows exactly what he's thinking right now. He focuses on the water and the lesson begins.

She's having problems with the backstroke and float. La'gaan has her lie on her back in the water and he supports her, his hand on the small of her back. He tries to avoid his sharp fingers from hurting her. M'gann had once mentioned they hurt while they were kissing, and he's been careful about contact with people since. He doesn't want to hurt any of his friends, the few that he has. He certainly doesn't want to hurt Cass.

Her eyes are closed and she's smiling as she floats in the water, her hair floating out underneath her. He wants to lean down and kiss her, but he doesn't. He knows better. Humans aren't like Atlanteans, not like Martians. They don't date people like him. Admittedly, most Atlanteans wouldn't date an eidechthis either. There's a reason his people are dying out, and it's not only because of the now-outlawed eidechthis hunts.

The lessons become regular. He teaches her to backstroke, swim with her eyes open, and to catch fish with her bare hands. She learns to hold her breath and to turn a somersault underwater. He gets Artemis to lend him a re-breather (she's kind to him, has been ever since she rejoined the Team, and she asks no questions) and then teaches Cass to fight underwater.

She rewards him with smiles, and La'gaan continues to fall in love. He prays she doesn't notice, or if she does, that she doesn't mind. M'gann didn't, for a while.

People are confusing to Cass. La'gaan is not.

Usually.

He makes sense. He projects and he knows it. The only thing he tries to hide is how lonely he feels, but he doesn't feel lonely so much anymore, at least not when Cass is there.

And so, when he starts to look at her the way Conner looks at M'gann, Steph looks at Tim, Jason looks at Donna, Artemis looks at Wally, and Dick looks at Babs, but does nothing, she is confused. He says nothing to her, none of the rituals of dating that Steph taught her how to understand and Dick tried to teach her to avoid. He does not try to kiss her, or hold her hand, or touch her hair, or any of those things, despite the fact that he really wants to. Cass is unsure why.

She feels at loss of what to do. She could try to kiss him first, but he seems scared of her at times, and she doesn't want him to be scared. She wants to kiss him and to do the couple things everyone enjoys. If they were dating, she could see him more often. Jaime would stop Bart from interrupting their conversations, like he does for Steph and Tim. He could show her movies. He could teach her the names of the fish. She could touch him, examining his strange scars and playing with his horns.

She wants all this. And she can see he does too, although he is scared every time they come close. She does not understand.

She could go to Steph about this, but Steph does not know La'gaan. Nor does Tim, Bruce, Dick, or even Babs really.

She considers asking M'gann, who she knows used to date La'gaan, but she makes La'gaan sad. She hurt him, and Cass irrationally dislikes M'gann at times for that, even though the girl is nice and makes cookies and tries to be good really hard.

She goes to Kaldur instead. Kaldur is the person who La'gaan trusts the most, and has known the longest. She finds him in the kitchen, alone. Good.

"Kaldur?" She asks, making sure he hears her approach. Normally, she does not take the precaution, since Dick and Tim do not, but since she is going to be asking for Kaldur's help, she wants him not to be upset with her.

"Cass," he smiles at her. She likes Kaldur. He's nice and kind and he tries so hard to be a good leader. He has webbed fingers like La'gaan and a smile that always manages to be reassuring. He's a good man. Like BatmanBruce is good and Alfred is good. All he wants is for those he watches over to be safe. He watches over so many, Cass wonders how he doesn't shatter. Although, sometimes, when no one is looking, she thinks he has broken, like Jason, but he's pulled himself together so well that even she can't always tell.

She perches on the stool beside him, and grabs an orange to keep her hands busy.

"How can I help you?" He asks her. He's concerned.

She bites her lip. "Why… why is La'gaan scared of me?" She finally asks.

Kaldur blinks. "He is?"

She frowns. "Yes."

Kaldur sits down next to her. "Can you tell me more about this?"

That's another thing about Kaldur, he understands how hard it is to speak sometimes. He understands that she sees things differently.

But she has put a lot of thought into this, and even managed to make it words. She nods and it starts to spill out of her lips. She tells him everything, although she is careful to leave out things that would be what Steph calls "TMI".

Kaldur listens well. He pays attention the whole time, not allowing his attention to wander. She wonders, guiltily, if she is not the first person to seek his advice on manners such as this.

He sighs. "La'gaan is not afraid of you, Cass."

She tilts her head. "But…"

"He is afraid of what he feels for you."

Cass frowns. Kaldur sighs. "There are things about La'gaan that you must understand, Cass. In Atlantis, even in Atlantis, La'gaan's appearance is not considered normal. His people—we call them eidechthis, are highly persecuted in Atlantis."

Cass's frown deepens. "Per-se-que-ted?"

"Apologies. They are taunted, attacked, treated as lesser. It was not until the reign of King Orin—Aquaman, that is, that the hunting of the eidechthis was outlawed."

Cass's eyes went wide. "Hunting."

Kaldur looked grave. "It was considered a sport among many nobles."

Cass feels murderous. "Sport," she spits.

"I know." He sighs. "Of all the Atlanteans, the eidechthis were the last to gain rights as citizens. And even today… interbreeding is discouraged. The Purists have affected Atlantean opinions on such things, even La'gaan's. La'gaan probably believes that being in a relationship with you would be dangerous to both himself and you."

Cass frowns. "But I look after myself," she objects. "He knows that."

"Rationally, yes. However…" Kaldur looks so much older. Cass wants to comfort him, but she needs to know. "Has La'gaan ever mentioned his family?"

Cass shakes her head.

"La'gaan had a sister. Penela. Penela fell in love with a Pure Atlantean. They became engaged. The Purists were outraged. There were many threats on Penela and her betrothed. They ignored them. At the wedding, there was a raid by purists. Penela, her new husband, La'gaan's parents… the entire family was slaughtered. La'gaan was hidden by one of the Pure guests, otherwise he would have been killed as well." He looks at Cass, eyes steely. "La'gaan was seven."

"He believes…" Cass whispered.

"La'gaan believes that an attraction to someone who is human or Pure Atlantean, can lead to nothing but tragedy. Furthermore, he believes that no one would be attracted to him because of his appearance."

"Stupid!"

"An opinion enforced by what he has experienced." He places a hand on hers. "I hope you will have success in changing that."

Cass smiles at him. She reaches out and taps his chest. "You are good. Stop worrying." She sees surprise flash in his eyes and then leaves. She has thinking to do.

"Jason?" Her second-oldest brother jumps and looks up. He nearly drops the pan he's holding, but the years of training pay off and he manages to keep his grip. He's making breakfast, and it smells lovely. Bacon and eggs are visible, and Cass smiles at him.

"Cass!" He grins at her, recovering from his surprise. "What's up, Lil' Ninja?"

She smiles at the nickname. "Need… advice?"

"I'm not exactly the best one in that department," he comments, tilting his head and tapping his temple with one finger. Cass shrugs. He sighs. "What's the problem?"

She shifts slightly. "What… what do you do when someone likes you?"

Donna, sitting at the kitchen table and watching raptly, bursts out laughing.

Jason groans. "Why aren't you asking Dick?"

"Dick thinks I am too young to date," Cass says immediately. Which is a ridiculous statement, they all know it. Cass is sixteen. Tim is fourteen and dating. Dick, as Jason has proven with pictures and a long monologue (helped along by Wally) was dating at that age too.

Jason groans again, setting a plate full of eggs and bacon in front of her, and the other one in front of Donna. He systematically beats his head against the refrigerator door, and then turns to her. "Okay! Let's do this." He cracks his knuckles, and sits down across from her. "So! Question: do you like this guy?" Donna sends him a look, and he backs up verbally. "Itis a guy, right? Not trying to make any assumptions here!"

"It is a he." She pauses. "It's La'gaan."

"Lagoon Boy?" He blinks. He tilts his head. "Huh. You could do worse. You like him?"

"Yes."

"Then you tell him. Try not to blush, people never let you forget it."

"It was adorable," Donna says, smiling as she eats her eggs and bacon.

Jason nods. "See? Now, if he's nervous, tell him you like him even though he sucks at stealth—"

"Are you ever going to let that go?" Donna asks, laughing.

"Never. I got shot, Donna!"

"It was barely a scratch."

"Shot! Anyways," he says, forcibly rerailing his train of thought, "—and then you tell him that and you kiss him, but if you tell Bruce I was the one who told you to do that I will steal all your knitting supplies. Eat your eggs, Ninja." He gets up to make more.

Cass finds La'gaan by the pool. He lights up when he sees her, a smile spreading across his face and his body language. "Starfish!" He says. "Thought you weren't going to show!"

She laughs. "Would not miss it," she tells him.

He beams at her. She smiles back and reaches up to touch his face. He freezes, fear darting across his body language and his smile slipping away. Cass doesn't let her frown show. She wants his smile back. She doesn't like him being afraid, especially not of her.

"Starfish, what are you doing?" His voice is soft. Fear and hope battle for control.

She smiles. "I like you. You like me, right?" She deliberately makes her voice gentle.

La'gaan is terrified. "Starfish, it's not that simple…"

"Yes it is. I don't care about how you look." She taps his chest. "In there. That's what is important." She bats her eyelashes at him. "Kiss me now?"

Slowly, as if unsure that it isn't a dream, he presses his lips against her softly.

Triumphant, Cass tangles her hand in his.

Things don't change much at first. They don't tell people, except Babs, who calls Cass and La'gaan into her office separately. She checks that Cass has had "the talk" (which still confuses Cass—why are people so afraid of it?) and then goes through inter-team dating protocols. Cass confirms that she would like to be on a team with La'gaan when it's practical—they work well together. "Be careful," Babs says. "Boys are stupid."

Cass blinks. "People are stupid," she points out. "Boys no different."

Babs throws back her head and laughs. "Cass, you should teach philosophy as well as combat. Send in La'gaan, I promise I won't scare him."

"You scare everyone," Cass points out.

"Besides the point," Babs replies, waving away Cass's comment. "I won't scare him more than usual."

"Better," Cass observes. She goes to get La'gaan.

La'gaan comes out happy. He kisses her gently. "You've got a great mentor, Starfish," he says.

She nods, beaming. She's glad they get along. "Spar with me?"

"Thought you'd never ask," he says, laughing.

Things go on like this, sparring matches and stolen kisses and swimming lessons and secretive hand holding, for two whole weeks before Bart catches them kissing by the pool.

Everybody knows within the hour.

"You should pair up with him next sparring match," La'gaan mutters to her as they walk through the hall, ignoring Virgil and Arsenal's stares. "Give him some bruises."

"Want to spar with you," she says. "It's not so bad."

He snorts. "Starfish, you do realize you have three big brothers, a best friend, and thescariest adoptive father on the planet?"

Cass is confused. "Yes?"

He sighs. "I'll explain later. Kaldur and I are going on patrol. See you tonight, Starfish." He hesitates—they're in the middle of the hallway, far more public than they're used to—but kisses her quickly.

She goes to the lounge. Steph is waiting for her, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She looks excited. "You're dating La'gaan?" She demands.

Cass frowns and nods, unsure if Steph's tone means something. Steph surges forward to give Cass a hug.

"That's adorable," Steph declares. "Oh my god, you two will have to double date with Timmy and I sometime, it'll be fun! Have you gone on a date yet? When did it happen? Why didn't you tell me? Oh God, is he a good kisser?"

"Maybe? No? Two weeks ago? Ummm…? Yes?" Cass is confused by the excited babble, and she's also not sure if Steph's doing her 'head voice out-loud' thing again.

"That's amazing," Steph enthuses, squeezing Cass tighter. "I'm so happy for you two!"

She means it too. Cass is touched.

If only everyone else was as good about it.

Dick somehow manages to pull La'gaan for a duo-mission at the last minute. Babs looks livid, indicating that he hadn't cleared it with her first, and Superboy's sulking, indicating Dick hadn't bothered asking if he can borrow Sphere.

Cass is worried.

La'gaan comes back upset, and he won't talk to her. Cass is furious at Dick, and cancels having dinner at the Manor in favor of going on a proper date with La'gaan. They go swimming at a secluded beach, and then picnic.

She signs them up on the movie theater reservation list, even though she knows Bruce and Dick will see it. She gets Babs to protect her reservation. Dick can't get through Babs' firewalls.

But people still stare, and it grates. Jaime does stop Bart from interrupting their conversations now, but he kinda gets a weird look on his face. Conner gives them odd looks. M'gann avoids them completely. Tim glares. Cass wants to scream and hurt people. They do not stare at Steph and Tim. They do not glare at Jason and Donna when they visit, even though Jason is technically not supposed to have access to the Watchtower and Donna is visibly pregnant.

Tim manages to corner La'gaan one day when Cass is at her monthly therapy with Dinah. La'gaan avoids her for the rest of the day, and she is furious. She challenges Tim to a sparring match, and gives him three times as many bruises as usual. It's mean, she knows, but La'gaan is upset and hurting and avoiding her and that hurts her.

The whispering starts. The looks continue. La'gaan stops being happy. He starts getting quiet. He still lights up when he looks at her, but it's tempered by the odd looks and the questions.

Cassie asks her, one day, if La'gaan's teeth hurt her when they kiss. It's an innocent enough question, but it annoys Cass for some reason. She tells Cassie that it's none of her business, which is very true.

She can actually feel La'gaan's self-esteem crumbling. It's okay when they're with Steph, Jason, Donna, Kaldur, Babs, Artemis or Wally, but other people make him nervous. He's convinced they hate him, and he's convinced it's because of how he looks.

Cass takes matters into her own hands.

She marches up to Dick in the middle of a briefing, grabs his arm, and flips him onto his back effortlessly.

"Batgirl?" Dick asks. The team makes noises, but Cass ignores them.

"Stop it," she tells him, glaring.

"What?" He demands. He tries to get up. She keeps her boot in the middle of his chest and presses down.

"Being mean to La'gaan," she tells him. She crosses her arms, and imitates Babs's best glare. "It is none of your business who I date."

"I'm your brother!" He protests, "I'm just looking out for you!"

She casually digs her heel into his diaphragm. "I can look after myself," she says, coldly enough to make Alfred proud. "My life. Not yours. None of your business."

"Cass!" He protests.

She jabs her finger at him. "No! You listen to me! He's upset! He thinks you hate him, that you think—that everyone thinks—that he's not good enough for me because he looks different! So you are going to grow up and butt out of my life, and leave my boyfriend alone!"

She storms out, leaving a shell-shocked and guilty Team behind her.

The intercom system crackles to life as she strides away. "Nightwing to Oracle's office, Nightwing to Oracle's office."

Arsenal, who she stalks past, mutters, "Office sex, I'm telling you."

[Cass then dangles Tim from his ankle until he apologizes to La'gaan and Steph nearly dies from laughter, but that's not really important to the story.

"Steph, help me! This isn't funny!" "You're turning red oh God." "Apologize!" "Starfish, you really don't have to—" "I'M SORRY LA'GAAN!" "No problem… really…."]

Things go back to the way they should be. Cass introduces La'gaan to Alfred, who makes crabcakes just for the occasion, which do their job and convince La'gaan to stay for dinner, even if it means sitting down at a table with Bruce.

Bruce takes it surprisingly well. He tells La'gaan that he doesn't think Cass should be dating, but since it's clear she's determined to, he won't step in. La'gaan (correctly) interprets it as a "it's not you, it's the fact that you're dating my daughter" kind of glare, and manages to make it through dinner.

Alfred, on the other hand, seems to think La'gaan is lovely, and gives him more crabcakes and cookies as he heads out the zeta-tube.

Cass smiles and gives Alfred a huge hug before she goes to bed.

Jason makes another of his rare Watchtower appearances the next day. He clasps La'gaan on the arm. "Be nice to my sister, kid. Remember, she can kick your ass eight ways to Jupiter. And I'll be the one to help her hide the body."

La'gaan nods. "If I hurt her, I hope you bury me deep."

Jason grins. "Good man! Now, remember to be careful. Despite what they tell you, interspecies reproduction is possible." He shoots Donna, who is now eight months pregnant, a wry glance.

"Aren't Amazons human?" La'gaan asks, confused.

"Not exactly," Jason says. "It's complicated. Magic. Anyways, be careful, treat her well, and have fun, but don't tell Nightwing I said the last part. If he asks, I threatened you. Bye!" Then Jason proves that, despite everything, he is still a bat, and vanishes.

"Your siblings are weird," La'gaan tells her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his forehead against hers.

"Understatement," she says, nuzzling his nose. "Kiss me now please?"

He obliges.