#ormseries5

Orm waited until they were halfway to the beach before he started fighting the guards. His hands were bound so he threw his weight into one of soldiers holding him, knocking him to the ground, causing the other to let go of Orm in surprise. Orm jumped back, dodging as another guard tried to grab him. He started to run when a shot passed his head, nearly clipping him. He stopped and turned. Orlan was holding the pulsar, now aimed right for Orm’s head. Orlan’s eyes were narrow, his face reddened.

“The next one will kill you; I don’t care if the council wants you alive,” he said. The guards watched as he approached Orm, grabbing onto his arm roughly. “I have wanted to kill you for years, do not tempt me now, my son is supposed to do the honor.” His voice was low so only Orm could hear but it just confirmed his suspicions. Leo was going to ‘attack’ the convoy taking Orm back to Atlantis and he was meant to be a casualty in the crossfire. He let Orlan guide him back to the others and let the soldiers take hold of him again. The whole delay was only around two minutes, he just hoped that was enough time for YN and Arthur to get ready.

YN noticed the beach was quiet, she and Arthur were seemingly the only ones around. They were currently holed up in lifeguard’s shack, watching for signs of Leo and any men he had brought. Arthur had contacted Mera, Nereus, and Atlanna, they were ready and waiting in the shallows. Arthur was antsy, wanting to get this over with and hopefully get his power back. He didn’t realize what he could do with the power he had until he lost it. Already the council was trying to undo his work in bridging the gap between the surface and the sea and he needed to be reinstated to get back on track. YN just wanted to get Orm back to her cottage and their life together. Finally, she saw Orlan and his guards with Orm, walking him down the beach.

“Hold until Leo shows himself,” YN said, noticing Arthur getting ready to throw open the door. He eyed her.

“I am a king you know,” he grumbled. She rolled her eyes. He hmphed and sat back again, watching.

They had just passed the lifeguard shack when Leo and nearly a dozen Atlanteans emerged from under the boardwalk nearby. They aimed their weapons at Orlan and the guards. YN watched the guards. They seemed genuinely confused, Orlan, however, was probably the worst actor she had ever seen.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, voice louder than necessary. Leo smirked and became just as bad an actor as his father.

“I have come to take my revenge from the tyrant king for trying to banish us,” Leo said. “Step aside and you will not die today, leave the prisoner with me for execution.” Orlan held up a hand.

“Enough, we do not need to shed blood tod…” he never finished. Leo shot his father in the chest. This was surprising. Arthur, YN, and the rest of those hiding came out of their places, weapons ready, but confused.

“Finally,” Leo said. “Come on, I am going to kill that bastard king, but I was so tired to dancing to that idiot’s tune.” His men all aimed their weapons as the guards, ready to fire.

“Stop!” Arthur yelled. Leo rolled his eyes.

“Why? What could you, a half-breed, possibly say to stop this?” he asked. YN was reminded of a petulant child who needed a nap. Arthur stepped forward, next to Orm. Leo re-aimed at Arthur.

“Whoa, calm down there Terminator, I just want to know why you shot your dad, weren’t you both trying some kind of coup?” he asked. Leo let out an aggravated breath.

“Yes, but that old asshole would have just used the coup to become King of Atlantis. Why just Atlantis?” he asked. “So now, I kill everyone and then I…take over everything. Where Orm tried to be Ocean Master I will become Ocean Master, I will take Atlan’s trident from your cold dead hands, and then after I am ruler of the seas I will come here to the surface, now, fire away.” His men tried to fire but found their weapons useless. “What the hell?” YN held up a device, red light blinking on it.

“O, sorry, those are useless now thanks to my friend here,” she said. She put the device in a pocket and held up another, a tranquilizer gun. She was able to get off two shots, taking out two of Leo’s men before he started hand to hand combat. Orm moved aside, going to a guard who, after a few moments of contemplation, freed him from his restraints. He wasn’t given a weapon, but he didn’t need one. Arthur and Atlanna fought together with their tridents while Mera sent sharpened water with pinpoint accuracy. The Atlantean soldiers who had come with Orlan fought also. All the while YN was dodging, firing tranqualizer darts at any of Leo’s men. She finally was able to sneak up behind Leo, pressing a tack into his neck and holding her Atlantean dagger to his throat.

“Hold!” Leo yelled. He only had a couple fighting soldiers left but everyone froze at his cry. YN glared, looking at him. Nereus darted off, going to get reinforcements from Atlantis. “Going to kill me surface scum?”

“I should, for everything you’ve done, for hurting people in my city, for trying to kill me, for trying to frame Orm. I should kill you, but I don’t think they want me to do that, they need someone to arrest and prosecute,” she said. Leo laughed. “Something funny?”

“Who is going to arrest me? This is clearly an attack that Orm and you planned. I was trying to help my father contain the threat when you killed him, and his men, and then tried to kill me,” he said. Atlanna shook her head.

“I do not think anyone will believe your story Leo,” she said. “We have proof of everything that has happened here.” She motioned to the camera on top of the lifeguard shack. Leo glared, snarling. He moved, surprising YN, knocking her back into the sand and disarming her. He turned, bringing the dagger she had just been holding down, the tip just inches from her chest when a strong hand grabbed his wrist. Orm used all his strength, knowing that Leo had none at the moment, and threw the man to the ground.

“You almost killed her once and I promised that the next time I saw you I would kill you,” Orm said, grabbing the knife himself. He picked Leo to stand, the knife once again at his throat. YN stood, putting her hand to Orm’s shoulder. He took a deep breath. YN wouldn’t want this, wouldn’t want him to kill again, cause more pain and bloodshed. “But I don’t think I will.” He pushed Leo towards Arthur, who had him restrained along with the rest of his men. The victors lined the prisoners up on the beach just in time for the council and more soldiers to arrive. By then Orm and YN were safe in the shack, hiding out again.

Arthur showed the video to the council, explaining that Orm had been caught, along with the traitor from the surface, however Leo had intervened, and they had disappeared in the fighting. Atlanna also presented the evidence they had found that cleared Orm of the surface attacks. He was still wanted for his escape from the deserter prison and for trying to hurt the heir to the throne, but these attacks were not his. The council seemed satisfied, taking Leo and his men back to Atlantis. Once everything was clear Orm and YN returned to the cottage.

Arthur was gone and it was just Orm and YN now. She was smiling as she led him back to the bedroom. He looked around, supposing it would do. He sat on the bed and winced a little. YN cocked her head to the side, eyebrows raising. Orm forced a smile.

“Someone is a grumpy gus today,” she said. Orm’s smile dropped. “O come on, I’m not going to hover over you 24/7, you’re a grown man, but you have to stay here. Someone wants to get you in trouble in Atlantis and I have a feeling Arthur wouldn’t like that. And since he is my friend, I’m going to keep you safe.” He rolled his eyes.

“I can just leave, disappear into the wilderness,” he offered. She pointed out the window where you could see nothing but trees.

“That’s what you just did honey, and guess what I have a roof and free food for you, so how about you stop bitching and settle in?” she said. He sat back a little in surprise. She was so smiley and overly kind just a second ago, what was this? “Now, I’m going to bake some cookies to celebrate your arrival, stay here. I’m sure Arthur doesn’t want to have come back right away.” She turned on her heel and left the room. After a few minutes Orm heard her in the kitchen and he sighed. He noticed her watching him through the doorway, making sure she circled the room as she mixed something in a bowl.

“Perfect,” he grumbled. He had to at least wait a day. Then he knew getting a message to Arthur would take more than a few minutes, he would be well into his duties again tomorrow. Too busy hopefully to come track Orm down right away. He would wait a day and then tomorrow he would turn on the charm, get her to settle down and stop watching him so closely. Then he would make his escape, find a bus station and head to the other side of the country as fast as he could.

The next day Orm sat at the table having yet another chocolate chip cookie from the batch that YN had made. He had to admit, him running would mean no more cookies and that was almost a reason to stay. YN was reading a book on the couch, but she hadn’t turned a page in about ten minutes, so he figured she was listening for him to move more than reading. He sat back, making a small noise in the chair and he saw her sit a little straighter, head tilting as she listened. He smirked.

“So you just live here all alone? Do you have visitors? Friends? Family?” he asked. She closed her book and turned to face him. She looked pained for a second before masking her face as neutral. He almost regretted asking.

“My family kicked me out when I was a teenager. I knew more than I should about what my parents were doing in their free time,” she said. “Rest of the town wasn’t too pleased what I knew about them either.” She looked at him. “I always know where someone I touch is. I didn’t have very good control over the power then. Friends get weird around me once they realize what I can do, and visitors? You were brought here for a reason. My house is completely off the map, not even the utility places that provide me basics knows I’m on the books, if anything goes wrong I contact Batman and he takes care of it. But don’t think I know who Batman actually is, I don’t pry either.” Orm stared at her. She had it rough it seemed, no real connections in her life other than the Justice League, who seemed to just use her for their own purposes. It was sad. She seemed sweet, was very kind, and from the little they talked she was tough and funny too. He sighed, he still needed to run.

“I’m the only person who has been here for more than a few minutes?” he asked. She huffed, clearly uncomfortable with this conversation. “I’ll take that as a yes. You know, if you’re lonely…”

“Are you about to try and seduce me?” she asked, eyeing him. Orm turned bright red, time to rethink his strategy.

“No, actually, that was not my intention. I was going to say if you were lonely, you could go out to the city, I’ll go with you, and we could go anywhere you want,” he said. She still was staring at him before shaking her head. He moved to walk over to her, leaning on the couch behind her, looking down at her face. “Ok, no city, how about just a hike? Something to get out of the house for a while? Please?” He put on the nicest, kindest smile he could. It took a long second, but she smiled back.

“Fine,” she said, getting up and putting on her shoes. Orm did the same. This was perfect. He was going to be faster than her and he could easily escape once they got far enough away. He had money in his wallet, and he didn’t need anything that was in his duffle. Maybe he would send for it later once he got settled somewhere and all this died down. He would apologize to YN then too, he didn’t want to do this, but he had to get away.

They started by leaving the cottage and heading behind the house where there were several different trails. She started down one, not asking which way he wanted to go. She seemed to have a destination in mind, and he would let her lead. She kept glancing back at him, making sure he was following. He slowed after they got several hundred feet from the house and when she seemed distracted, he took off. He heard a frustrated shout, but he was already off.

Several hours later and Orm was at a bus station in Coast City again, waiting for his bus to leave. His leg bounced nervously, not wanting to be caught here. But he had an eye on the main entrance and assumed he was safe. He had no idea how many connections YN had.

Darrell, one of the janitors, let YN in through an employee entrance that was no where near the main entrance. She took her time getting the tack ready, watching Orm sitting and staring at the door. He really thought his would work, what an idiot. She approached him, being quiet and slow, in case he sensed something was wrong. She could see him about to turn and look at her but lucky for her a fight started near the terminal gates, and his focus went to that. She took advantage, pushing the tack into the back of his neck before stepping over the back of the bench and sitting next to him, cuffing him with a special bracelet. Orm groaned, feeling like energy and strength was draining out of him.

“What did you do to me?” he asked, trying to touch the tack, but it shocked him when he got too close.

“Well, I work with a lot of superheroes but also supervillains. I have developed ways to make sure those with powers are disabled before I try and take them in. The tack has a low dose tranquilizer, not enough to make a superpowered person sleep, but enough to make them relatively docile for several minutes, leaving me time to snap this cuff on them. This is an inhibitor; it completely removes your abilities. I know, because I used it on Arthur before,” she said. “Let me know when you get feeling back into your legs, we can go back to my place then. And don’t try getting the cuff off, it knows my DNA, if you try to do it it’ll dose you with the tranq again and it’ll shock you for being cheeky.” Orm growled. “O don’t try to flirt with me now.” YN smirked at him. Orm just glowered.

“I think I can walk again,” he muttered, arms folded like a petulant toddler. YN simply nodded and stood, taking his arm like they were a couple having a quarrel. She walked him out of the station and to her car parked nearby. Once they were driving, she sighed.

“I don’t want you here anymore then you want to be here Orm, but I promised I would protect you, keep you from going back to prison or worse, getting executed, and that is what I’m going to do,” she said. Orm glared out the window. “Ok, you don’t have to talk to me, but I am sorry that you are in this situation. I’m sure this just feels like another prison, and from what Arthur has told me you’ve been imprisoned in one way or another your whole life. I hope you will let me show you that yes, you have to stay with me, but it is in no way a bad thing. I’m not going to hurt you, abuse you, use you, none of that.” Orm looked at her and saw her focusing on the road ahead, but he could see in her eyes that she understood something of his predicament. She was also being forced to deal with him, and she was in a prison of her own in some respects. He sighed.

“Thank you, for taking care of me. And for the cookies,” he said finally. She smiled.

“I made some more while I was waiting for you to stop moving, although your side trip into that adult store, what was that about?” she asked. Orm blushed, having had no idea what was meant by ‘adult’.

Traveling the US had become almost fun to Orm after the last year. He had explored national park, lakes, even got all the way to Alaska to see the northern lights. Anything that the country had to offer in nature he had done. Now he was ready to try maybe giving the less natural world a shot. That's what first led him to Coast City, shining on the California coast and one of the nicer cities in the country if the magazine Orm had read was correct. Being here he believed it. It was big, but not overwhelming, there was good food, the people were decent, and he even found a cheap place to sleep while he visited, something he didn't always have. For the first few days it was wonderful.

Then the attack happened.

Orm hadn't been exactly where it happened but he had seen the emergency vehicles, saw a green metahuman flying that way. So Orm went the opposite way. He had to keep his head down and out of trouble or else get sent back to Atlantis and that sandy prison he spent four years in. No thank you. Instead, he went back to his room, sat down and watched the news on the television. He had held no great love of the surface but seeing the destruction that was happening did not sit well with him now. Then he saw the attackers clearly. He was sure no one without enhanced eye sight would be seeing this clearly, thank Poseidon, but there were at least three Atlantean highborns with energy rays shooting randomly at buildings, creating as much smoke as they could. It was a confusing strategy. Why just make a mess? Was this some kind of warning? He knew Arthur wasn't the brightest man in the world...or even in a kindergarten class...but he had better sense than to do this. This was rogues, someone sending a message. Orm just couldn't fathom what it could be. He got up, going to the adjoined bathroom to get a drink and noticing the cup he had this morning was gone. Strange, they must replace them daily. How wasteful. He shrugged some and went back to the main room, turning off the TV and deciding on a nap instead.

"You found what at the attack site?" Arthur asked the council, looking at the documentation of evidence. Green Lantern had reported an Atlantean weapon found in some rubble, but the DNA that was on it couldn't be possible.

"The tyrant king Orm Marius's DNA was used to activate the weapon," councilwoman Yavon spoke. She looked pained at the statement. "It appears that he not only escaped his prison, but he also survived the attack against you with the Black Trident." Arthur sighed. This made no sense. Orm was in Coast City, Arthur knew that, but he had spent a year just walking around the country, being completely nonthreatening. He even seemed happy sometimes. What had changed? Arthur frowned more.

"How is his DNA even able to activate these weapons still?" he asked. The council shifted nervously, like they had hoped he wouldn't be smart enough to ask. People underestimating his intelligence would never not be annoying.

"It seems that some of the weapons' caches in that part of the ocean had not been updated to remove his ability to use them," council Horath spoke, sounding bored. Arthur glared at him.

"Are we keeping you from something councilman?" the king asked, wrapping his fingers around Atlan's trident. The councilman sat up a little straighter.

"No, your majesty, I am just glad that finally the escapee slipped up. I have been warning this council that the former king has been living, traveling the North American continent for a year now and everyone ignored my warnings. Well here you are, plan as day, seeing that he is in fact alive and now has found weapons to attack the surface with," he said. Arthur sighed. He couldn't hold off Horvath any longer. This was too much to argue with.

"Yes councilman, I see that we have gravely mistaken your warnings, what we thought was paranoia was insight into a criminal who was cunning enough to hide in plain sight. We will not make that mistake again," Arthur said. Horvath seemed satisfied, a haughty grin on his face. Another councilman, Orlan, stood up.

"Let me send my son after the king, he is a general with the battalion in that part of the ocean, Orvex will be able to find him and bring him to justice," he said. Of all the council member Orlan was the worst. He was constantly trying to undermine Arthur or wrestle just a little more power away from someone else. It was aggravating and unnerving and Arthur knew he had to be careful with the handling of this situation..

Orm let YN sleep through his conversation with Arthur. The council taking over the investigation of the attacks was concerning. Orm had asked Arthur for every detail about the meeting and what he knew about the current councilmembers. When he heard Orlan was now in charge of the investigation he frowned.

“Watch him,” Orm said. “See if you can investigate him. He is technically just behind Junior for the throne at this point and when I was king, he was always trying to weasel his way closer to me. At least until he invited me to dinner and tried to poison me.” Orm let that hang out there. Orlan knew poison, and those poisoned shots from the pier were unique.

“I don’t know if he could actually be behind all this though. His family has fallen in rank since you were king. They were found to be your biggest supporters and once everything you had done was revealed the lower kingdom kind of split. Half of them think you’re the best king ever, taking the fight to the surface, and the other half think you were a tyrant who attacks his own people for his agenda. The nobles however, they just follow power and once I had it and had to put you into prison Orlan and the few other nobles still sticking by you kind of lost support,” Arthur said. “Even his son, Leo, defected from him and went missing.”

“He went missing? Are you sure? Or did Orlan send him away so he could gather supporters from other kingdoms so he could stage attacks on the surface and blame me?” he said. Arthur considered this.

“I’ll look into it, see if anyone knows where Leo is,” Arthur said. He waved by and headed out. Orm went back into the bedroom and slid in bed next to YN. She snuggled back into him and he took stock of how she felt against him. His hand drifted up and down her side slowly, feeling how soft she was. He kissed her shoulder, then her neck, feeling her move next to him. She wiggled her rear against his pelvis, and he groaned, feeling aroused.

“Is that a trident in your pocket or are you happy to see me?” he heard her say and he laughed, moving to nip at her earlobe, drawing a shocked gasp. She pressed back to him more and he slowly moved his hand under the long night shirt, moving it up until he felt her breast. His fingers flicked over her nipples, drawing them to peak. She moaned softly and he lowered his hand to slide into her underwear, feeling how wet she already was.

“YN, I want you,” he whispered. She panted a little as she moved so she could reach back, hand sliding into his pants and gripping his member, pumping slowly. He hissed at the contact, hips moving to her hand. She let go and he frowned, but then smiled when rolled to lay on her back, looking at him. His hand found better purchase on her core, sliding a finger inside her. “Do you want me?”

“Yes Orm, I want you,” she whispered. Orm didn’t need told again. He moved between her legs, pulling the nightshirt over her head before leaning in and kissing her deeply. She moaned into his mouth, her own hands moving to push his clothes off until he was completely naked for her. She pushed him off her a little. “Wait,” she said. He froze. Had he done something wrong. He sat back on his knees, watching her. She sat up a little, shimmying herself out of her underwear and then she just looked at him.

“What’s happening?” he asked. She smiled at him, and he melted some, kissing her again. She pushed him back again.

“Stop for one second, I want to look at you,” she said, fingers moving over his chest, moving down to his stomach. She traced his scars, the lines of his muscles, connected the dots on a couple freckles he had, just admired him. As she memorized his form, he did the same to her. He let his fingers drift over her torso, feeling every curve, and finally he met her eyes again. The frenzy of earlier had changed and now it was slow. He leaned in to kiss her again, this time she didn’t stop him. He started the kiss soft before it deepened. He shifted so that she was under him, legs wrapped around him. He pushed gently, tip just brushing over her core. She moaned, moving her hand to guide him inside her. He didn’t push in fully at first, moving just a little bit, teasing her. She moaned out his name and he loved the sound, so he teased her again with a smirk. She let out a breathy laugh, smacking his ass to get him moving again. He pushed all the way in, hips meeting hers, and she cried out, gripping his shoulders. He kissed her face and neck as he started a rhythm, hips moving out and back, making sure to push deep into her. She grabbed behind her knees, pulling her legs up more so he could push further, and she whimpered when he hit a sensitive spot inside her. He focused on hitting that spot over and over.

“Does that feel good?” he whispered. She nodded, barely able to form words. “You feel amazing, please tell me you’re close.” She nodded again, his name spilling from her mouth again as she got louder. He loved the sounds she was making and desperately wanted to hear her finish. He focused, pushing to make her fly. He was rewarded with a cry of his name as she seized, gripping him tight with her entire core. He thrust a few more times before he too climaxed. He panted as he moved to the side, making sure he didn’t accidentally tangle their limbs together. She took a few deep breaths.

“I need a shower,” she said. Orm laughed. “It’s been a while since I’ve done that, I can already feel my muscles getting sore.” She stood and he smirked, a little proud, as she walked a little crooked. She glanced back at him. “You coming?” He hopped up and followed her into the bathroom.

After a shower and another round of amazing sex they sat in the living room, discussing the attacks.

“I hate everything about this, I mean, I like that you’re here but why does someone want to frame you?” YN asked. Orm sighed.

“I did things that hurt others, not just surface dwellers, but other Atlanteans. So did my father,” he said. “I did try to get a good king but at some point, the ends justified the means, and sometimes those means involved sending the lower city into poverty to fund advanced weapons, sometimes it was arranging for my own forces to be attacked.” He shrugged. “If I were them, I’d want my head on a platter too. I shouldn’t be on the surface, almost free, eating cookies every day and hopefully having daily sex with the most gorgeous person on the land or in the sea.” He smirked at YN, and she rolled her eyes but blushed.

“Aren’t you a flatterer,” she said. “I just want to forget about all this crap for a while.” Orm thought about what he would do if he wanted to forget the world and just be. He stood.

Arthur spent the next few days in Atlantis with the council, laying out exactly who this tracking metahuman was and what they could do. He explained that YN was someone who Batman had found originally. She had lived in Gotham for her whole life, in Arkham mostly, because she seemed to know too much about everyone around her. They thought she was using this power to help supervillains, however, she was not helping them willingly. Batman had gotten her out of Arkham and after she helped him track down a few of his more elusive foes he helped her get reestablished in Coast City under the eye of Green Lantern. She was able to get help controlling her power and now the Justice League called upon her if they needed help and paid for her to live just outside the city. She was trusted completely, very predictable, and she would be able to find Orm and when she did she would report back to Arthur and he would have a squad take in the exiled king. After much debate about whether an Atlantean should be with her while she did this, they council finally agreed to let the king do it his way first. Orlan, surprisingly, was on his side about this. Arthur knew it was because Orlan wanted to see him fail fantastically. He went back to the surface and contacted Orm, telling him to meet him at the edge of the woods north of the city.

Orm arrived at the meeting spot, carrying his bag. He figured Arthur was taking him somewhere new, there was an attack by Atlantean's on the city, he couldn't stay there. They might have found him and then Arthur would have a conflict with the surface world and the council in Atlantis. The man couldn't handle that kind of stress, he could barely handle tying his shoes. Orm sighed, he needed to stop thinking that Arthur was such an idiot. He had defeated Orm, had found Atlan's trident, apparently was able to run the kingdom well enough that the people at least were on his side. Arthur was not the imbecile older brother anymore, he was a good king, and a good brother who was willing to deal with Orm and his shit.

"There's my baby brother," Arthur said, moving to lift Orm by surprise, hugging him from the side and turning him around in the air. Orm struggled. Alright, Arthur was still an imbecile. "Now I need you to be completely honest with me, did you attack Coast City?" Orm was appalled.

"NO!" he said. "That attack was rudimentary, if you're going to attack a city like that, you don't just send in a small ground assault, you use the water that is right there to destroy half the city first, then you come in with a large ground assualt..." Orm stopped when he noticed Arthur holding back a laugh. His eyes narrowed. "You already knew I had nothing to do with it." He nodded.

"I did, but that insight into your brain was fascinating. You are a terrifying little man," his brother said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Come on, I got the council to agree to me finding you, not sending out an Atlantean search team," he explained as they started walking down a side dirt road into the trees.

"Why do they even think it is me?" he asked. Arthur sighed.

"They found a weapon under some rubble, the DNA attached to it was yours," he said. Orm's eyebrows shot up. He could still activate some weapons? He may need that for later. "O don't get any ideas, I already made sure to send teams out to the rest of the caches in the world, you're scrubbed from all of them now." Orm's small fledge of hope deflated. He coup attempt would have to wait. "But anyway..."

"Where are you taking me?" Orm asked now, just noticing they were just going into trees. There wasn't any town or even a bus station to take him somewhere else.

"Let me explain. Because your DNA was found the council wants to find you, they know you're alive now. I promised them I would have a specific person find you. Well, I know where you are, this person I'm taking you to is a friend of the League. She's agreed to keep track of you and to house you until the real culprit of these attacks is discovered." Orm frowned. So Arthur's grand plan to help him was to have someone babysit him? He wasn't a child. He just needed to get far enough away, maybe stay towards the inner states for awhile. The council would soon forget him again and he would be able to find someplace new to settle for awhile.

They finally exited the trees to find a small cottage surrounded by wildflowers. There was an older model car parked by the red door. The place looked a bit magical to Orm. He had just watched a movie where there was a cottage like this, it seemed like a place nothing bad could happen. Arthur walked up to the door and knocked. A woman answered and smiled big at Arthur, hugging him tight before looking to Orm and smiling. Poseidon, that smile was like sunshine. Orm immediately liked her, but hated that she was his keeper. He would be getting out of this place as soon as he could. She walked over, extending her hand to him. Orm shook it politely before pulling back. The woman smiled.

"You must be Orm, Arthur has told me about your predicament. But you have no worries here. This place is completely off the books, so no one will know you're here. Well except me, but you knew that," she said. "I'm YN, come inside." She took his bag before he could argue, and walked back into the house. Orm entered and looked around. It was small, but just enough for one, maybe two people to be comfortable. She stood in the middle of the main room. She pointed out where everything was, living area, dining table, kitchen, bathroom, and one bedroom. He frowned.

"Am I sleeping on the couch?" Orm asked. The couch looked old, and honestly, not very comfortable. Arthur nudged him hard in the side, glaring. Apparently he was being rude.

"No, I am taking the couch. I set up my room for you. I wouldn't let a king sleep in squalor," she said. Orm flushed a little at the term. Was she needling him or trying to be kind? Arthur glowered a little and Orm decided she must be being kind to him. Arthur however, could see the look YN was giving his brother. She was smitten by Orm and Arthur really wished she wasn't the only meta he knew with these powers. She might be a liability. He knew Orm would run and he needed his brother to stay put and he needed someone who could keep him here and right now that was looking less likely. Maybe he would have Lantern come by tomorrow, just to check on things. Right now he needed to leave and get back to Atlantis.

Arthur was going to lose his damn mind. The council just would not stop with the nagging. He often found himself seeking out reasons to stay in his quarters just in case he was around the palace grounds, and they found him. He hated the meetings, hated the appointments they made, hated everything about them at this point. It had barely been a week and they were acting like he was doing nothing. He had sent the search party like they asked, they found nothing, he went himself, brought images back from the surface showing him searching, nothing. Mera even intervened and informed them that her father had joined the search, and they still wouldn’t let up.

“Your majesty, if you would just let one of us go, we could cooperate your story…” Horvath said again. Arthur nearly growled.

“My story councilman?” he asked, voice a dangerous bass. The councilman straightened up and cleared his throat. “You all think that I want my crazy brother wandering around? My son is still there, on the surface. You know the one he kidnapped with Manta, tried to sacrifice to a crazy frozen warlord. If you think I would even for a moment risk my child to protect that worthless dick of a brother, you are all crazy.” The council murmured and he could see that his words were not holding their weight as much as they used too. Something was going on here and he needed to figure it out fast before the council did something he couldn’t control.

Orm had been the biggest baby the entire first week with YN. He stomped around, trying to avoid her, but it was a one room cottage, he couldn’t go very far. He tried multiple times to get rid of the cuff and more often than not spent time on the floor waiting for the tranq to get out of his system so he could walk again, or he was shocked and ended up having to deal with the pain for the day since his advanced healing no longer worked. He never realized how much a paper cut hurt until now, and he didn’t like it.

YN was trying, she really was, to make his stay with her comfortable. She let him have her bed, did his laundry, made him food, and he was being such a whiny grump about everything that she couldn’t take it anymore. She finally baked a batch of double chocolate chip cookies, knowing at least his sweet tooth wouldn’t be able to resist, and left them on the table. She went to the bathroom, watching through the crack of the door, waiting. Orm finally came out of the bedroom, saw the cookies and approached. He grabbed one and went to go back into the bedroom when she was suddenly blocking his way.

“Not so face Ormy, sit down,” she said, voice firm. Orm glared, looking for another escape, but every time he moved, she was able to keep up, blocking his path. God damn this bracelet. He needed his speed. Finally, he let out a resound grunt and sat at the table. He took another cookie to make him less annoyed. “Now, how about you stop being such a little…bitch…sorry, I can’t think of a better word, and start trying to make the best of this situation?” Orm stared at her. Not many people talked to him like this, were honest about his behavior. Arthur was the only one who normally called him out.

“Listen here…” he started, ready to release all his anger on her at once. However, she took a cookie and stuffed it in his mouth. He gagged, spitting it out and looking at her, too shocked to speak.

“No, I talk, you listen,” she said. He opened his mouth and closed it again, still not sure how to recover from her audacity. “Orm, we are stuck like this. Now I know you think you are just a ray of sunshine, and you can do no wrong and this is all so unfair, blah blah blah, and it is, BUT we have no choice right now. Someone is targeting you, trying to draw you out, trying to set you up, whatever you want to say. And Arthur is trying to protect you because he loves you, you are his little brother and despite how much of a dick you can be, he loves you and wants you safe. Right now, I am it. I will keep you safe. I will know where you are and I give you a place no one can find, so please, I am begging you, let’s try to make the best of it?” she finished. She sat back, taking a cookie for herself. Orm stared and looked down. She was right, he was being protected by Arthur even though he really didn’t deserve it. Arthur can say all he wanted that Orm had redeemed himself, but he hadn’t. He knew people had died because of him and he hadn’t done anything to really set that right on a larger scale. Just because he wasn’t trying to actively murder anyone didn’t mean he had fixed the mess he made before, hadn’t atoned for it. But Arthur hadn’t sent him back to prison, letting him have some time for himself and he was taking a chance on him, giving him more protection here. And YN was letting him invade her life, doing literally everything he needed and wanted, and he was acting like a selfish jerk. He sighed.

“I am sorry,” he said finally. “You’re right, I’ve been here pouting like a spoilt child. I’m serious this time, I will be better, treat you and this situation better.” YN smiled and Orm felt his heart warm. She really was great. So kind, and if he let her maybe they could be friends.

“Alright, well, if you’re ready to chill then maybe we can go out and I can show you some cool stuff about the surface world,” she said, trying to make a peace offering. Orm nodded.

“Sure, why not,” he said. YN smiled bigger and jumped up, seeming to bounce to the bedroom.

“Let me get ready,” she said. Orm waited while she changed and then switched places to match her level of dress. She wore leggings and a sweater dress so he put on his nicest jeans and a button down that Arthur had said he should have in case he wanted to go on a date and ‘seal the deal’. Orm had no idea what that meant but this felt like a date, maybe not romantic, but at least a friend date. Sure, we could go with that.

YN knew she wanted to do something casual with Orm, work him into the fun of the surface gently. She picked a movie followed by a diner. The movie was something with adventure and comedy, something hopefully safe that they both could enjoy. Orm seemed confused on what they were doing.

“We’re sitting here waiting for a show?” he asked, sitting in the padded seat next to her. She nodded.

“Yes, its kind of like a big TV,” she explained. He nodded, but still looked confused.

“Then why would someone pay for this? Couldn’t this be enjoyed at home?” he asked. YN felt a little thrill of pleasure when he called her place ‘home’ at least he was getting used to the place.

“It depends, some people would agree with you and that’s fine, and then some people just love the movies. Love how big it is, how all encompassing,” she explained. Orm smiled. She was in the latter group of people, movies were magic to her. The lights were dimming so he sat back and let himself get emersed in the experience, try to understand what she loved about it.

Orm loved the movie. Loved how close it felt, the sound, the lights, everything. He left the theater asking YN questions about how movies even happened. She answered his questions as best could, laughing when he tried to tell a joke. It was bad, but he tried and she seemed to like it. They were walking down the crowded street to their next destination, the diner, and she took his hand so they wouldn’t get separated. He didn’t let go even when they entered the diner and were seated. He sat there at the table still holding her hand and she didn’t seem to mind.

“Alright, I understand the pull of the movies, but this?” he asked, motioning around the diner. It was a little shabby, tears in the cheap vinyl of some of the stools by the counter, the lighting flickering the far corner. She just looked around and smiled.

“Just wait for the food, not everything that is good looks beautiful on the outside. Just like things that look beautiful can be bad,” she said. Orm eyed her.

“Is that a thinly veiled reference to me?” he asked. She didn’t look at him, instead glancing at the tableside jukebox that she explained played music. “Which am I? Am I the ugly one? I better not be the ugly one.”

Orm ran back to the pier, YN following him. She called his name and he stopped, looking at her. He couldn’t get through the turnstiles with the bracelet on. She looked at him, conflicted for a moment. Would he run again? Use this as a reason to leave her behind like everyone else did?

“There are people who need help,” he said. She nodded, coming to her senses. She released the bracelet, taking it with her. Orm jumped over the fence to the park easily now, taking off into the wreck while YN stood out front, helping those who were escaping get to the help.

Orm skidded to a stop, seeing Atlantean soldiers firing weapons. They were wearing strange gloves. He studied them and realized they were pieces of his old suits. That’s where they were getting the DNA from. He noted that down for Arthur later and dove into the fray. He tried to avoid fighting at first, wanting to get as many people out as he could. He slid behind game stalls, cardboard cutouts, direction signs, anything so he wouldn’t be seen for the moment. He found a family about to be crushed from a falling awning, he lifted it and sent them away. He then found one of the rides, stopped, the operator having been hit and unable to move. He tore open the restraints, getting them off and sending them out. As he was going to the swing ride, he heard one of the soldiers call out to him. He turned and barely dodged the blast.

“Orm Marius, you are under arrest,” he called. Orm glared.

“For what?” he asked. There was a list of things, but he wasn’t the one attacking right now.

“For this attack and for the attack in the city proper,” he answered. Orm could see the smug look on the soldier’s face. He really thought he had done something great here, maybe he would get a promotion for this. Orm shook his head. Not today he wouldn’t. Orm held up his hands, pretending to be coming towards them. He knew they were just going to shoot him, would be easier bringing back a body instead of a living Atlantean. He waited until he saw the charge starting, then he ran right at him. The soldier was surprised, grip slipping on the weapon. Orm took the moment to slide just a little to the right, the weapon firing wide, him able to grab it from the solder’s hands, turning it and hitting him in the helmet with it. The protective screen shattered, and the soldier was forced to retreat to the water before he suffocated. The other two soldiers were ready, already firing. He winced as one of the shots grazed his side. These wounds would take longer to heal than the ones he got on the surface. He felt some burning also but ignored it as he fired the weapon back at the soldier. His hit was true, sending the soldier into a food stall. The final attacker, clearly realizing he was in trouble, dropped his weapon, holding up his hands. Orm didn’t lower his weapon.

“Take off the gloves,” Orm said. The soldier did as instructed. “Take your friend and get back to Atlantis, tell whoever is sending you here to leave me alone. I am not coming back there.” The soldier nodded, looking surprised. All the stories they heard about Orm was that he was bloodthirsty, that he had no mercy for anyone. Why was he sparing all of them? The soldier gathered the other and they went back to the water.

“Orm!” YN yelled, running up to him. He turned to face her, glad to see her safe. He motioned to the gloves on the ground.

“We need to get those to Arthur…and this weapon…” he wasn’t sure what happened next, everything went black.

Arthur arrived at YN’s cottage as the sun was rising the next morning. He brought Atlanna with him to help with Orm’s wounds. The queen had spent some time since coming back helping with the sick and injured in Atlantis and he hoped she would know what was wrong. Orm had a fever, the gash in his side wasn’t healing and was turning a strange shade of green. YN knew it was infected but they didn’t have the same medicines on the surface. As Atlanna went to help Orm in the bedroom YN led Arthur to her shed behind the house.

“He said to bring these back from the attack,” she explained, showing him the gloves and the weapons. “I’m not sure why, but I think they’re evidence that he isn’t the one doing this.” Arthur nodded and then looked at her. She knew she looked back. She hadn’t slept and her eyes were red and raw from crying. She couldn’t hold still either, feeling like she needed to do something but all she could do was stand there. She kept inadvertently using her power to find Orm even though she knew where he was, and it was draining.

“What’s been happening while he’s been here?” Arthur asked, putting the evidence in his bag carefully so not to damage them. YN debated being completely honest with him, but what was the point in lying?

“Well, he tried to run away first, I used the bracelet on him after that and I don’t know, we’ve just been, together,” she said. “Its so basic, we hang out, watch tv, cook together, go to the movies or the diner, talk. Do you know he’s funny? Like honestly, really funny in a dry kind of way. And he can sing, angelic voice on that man, and last night…he saw people, surface dwellers, in danger and he was so worried about them, had to run back to save them. I wished I could have kept up with him, but he ran and people were coming out and the ambulance arrived so instead of staying with him I went to help the others and now he’s in there hurt.”

“Its not your fault, he knew what he was doing,” Arthur said. She made a frustrated noise.

“I know it’s not my fault, but he’s been trying so hard to be good, to not be who he was and now someone is fucking with that progress he’s made. And why? You know that we were volunteering this week at a soup kitchen? He keeps saying he wants to make up for what he did, for the surface at least, because he can’t fix what he did in Atlantis, so we were starting there…its not fair!” she said. She knew she sounded like a toddler, but she hated to see him like this, hated not knowing what might happen to him. Arthur reached out and hugged her to him.

“He’ll be ok, mom knows what she’s doing, and we have some evidence of tampering, maybe we can do something with it, throw the investigation in another direction,” he said. “And maybe once he’s up and about again you can get back to your basic married life.” YN let out a hoarse laugh at that before nodding. He let her go and they headed inside. Atlanna was waiting for them.

“He’s going to be fine, there was a poison lace in the water that they shot him with, I was able to give him the antidote once I figured out what it was. He just needs a day or two of rest,” she said. YN nodded and went into the bedroom. Orm was awake, groggy but awake.

“Hi,” YN said, sitting next to him on the bed. He immediately put his head in her lap, hugging her legs gently. He had been having horrible nightmares about her being taken from him, hurt because of him. He needed her close and she didn’t mind, fingers brushing his hair back from his face.

“You’re safe,” he said softly. She chuckled as his words slurred.

Orm knew all the hiding places and backdoors to get into Atlantis. He had studied the city, noting weaknesses in the wall, in the palace, everywhere. He had most of them closed off or repaired, but he wasn’t an idiot. He left a few open, just updating the maps so that they were no longer visible to anyone looking. But he remembered. He ‘borrowed’ a suit from a guard that he subdued and entered one of his secret entrances to the city. He would have liked more time to explore, to see everything again, but he had a mission. He was going to clear his name in these attacks, and he was going to make sure that Orlan and Leo were either imprisoned or executed for what they were doing. Not only the treason, but the hurting of innocent people, the poisoning of the love of Orm’s life. He made his way in the guards’ headquarters and grabbed a helmet to make sure most of his face was hidden. He headed into the evidence storage and started searching. It took hours but finally he had the report from when he was poisoned. It listed the chemical makeup of the poison. He stowed the report and slid out the way he had come in. He prayed when he got back to the cottage that Atlanna could use this. He needed this to work. He was so tired of running, tired of hiding, he just wanted to be left in peace now. Arthur caught him near the coast.

“I had a plan you know; I have friends in Atlantis, you didn’t have to risk your neck getting that,” Arthur said, annoyed but not surprised by his brother’s actions. They may have been vastly different, but they had the same mother, and she did pass down her impetuousness to them.

“It was faster how I did it, no one saw me,” Orm said. “And now I need to get back and give this to mother.” He was about to move past when Arthur stopped him.

“I just came from there, I was looking for you, YN is awake, she’s going to be alright. I got the sample of the poison, Mera has a scientist in Xebel willing to look at it so that it can’t be stolen or corrupted by Orlan,” he said. Orm nodded, mostly just focusing on the fact that YN was awake and she would be alright, he was nearly vibrating with the energy he needed to get home. Arthur finally moved out of the way and without another word Orm passed him, getting back to the surface and the cottage.

“Mother?” he called, getting into the place. The door was still broken and hanging by a hinge, he would need to fix that later. Atlanna came out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her. “Is she?”

“She is fine, very weak and sleepy, but alive and she will recover. She will need more time than you did, at least a week,” she said. Orm nodded, slumping a little as relief flooded over him. Atlanna saw what was happening and pulled him into a hug. He nearly collapsed into her arms, hugging her. “It is alright my baby boy, your love is alright.” He nodded into her shoulder before standing and wiping his face. She didn’t say anything, just reached up and wiped a missed tear.

“I have something for you, did Arthur tell you what we need you to do?” Orm asked. She nodded. Atlanna did not like being some angelic, perfect, back from the dead queen all the time, but sometimes being considered a gift from Poseidon had its perks. “I have the report.” He handed her the disk it was on.

“You snuck into Atlantis?” she asked, worried. He nodded.

“No one saw me, I used a disguise, avoided the cameras, all that, just, I know Arthur is getting a scientist to check the chemical makeup of the poison, but do you think you can present this and make sure it sounds like Orlan and Leo?” Orm asked. For a moment Atlanna looked offended.

“Orm, your mother was a formidable queen before and after my return, Orlan and Leo will be in chains the moment I am finished,” she said. She put the report in her bag and hugged him again. “Go see her, she is going to need care, lots of water, I left the medicine on the counter, put it in her drink in the morning and the evening and she should be up and about soon.” Orm took note and she left.

Atlanna took the report to her rooms and looked over it. She noticed not only was it unique in its make up but it definitely was the same as the poison used in the weapon. She herself went to the evidence storage area and asked to see the weapon recovered from the attack at the pier. Orlan arrived a little after her.

“My queen,” he said, bowing. She nodded to him and took the container with the weapon inside. Orlen looked confused. “Helping your son?” he asked. She shook her head.

“I am helping the investigation of course. I know that the council has voted you to lead Orlan, however, I have heard from some that they were forced into the vote, intimidated by you and that you were threatening them,” she said, feigning disbelief. “I wanted to take a look at the evidence myself, just to make sure that you had someone trusted by all Atlantis to verify your findings.” Orlan’s mouth became a thin line, but he forced a smile, nodding.

“By all means, I accept the help,” he said. She took the container into another room, getting a sample of the water inside it. She watched Orlan through the small window, he was speaking to a guard, handing him some coins, before leaving the station. Atlanna knew that this weapon would go missing if she didn’t do something. She packaged it up again and then called for a guard to help her. She made sure it was the same guard that had just spoken with Orlan.

“How much did he pay you to destroy this weapon?” she asked. The guard looked at her, eyes wide. “Whatever he paid I will double it for you to leave this weapon as it is. Also, you won’t get charged with taking bribes or treason.” He paled. “And I know the punishment for treason, do you think you could survive the Trench?” He shook his head. She nodded. “Then let me walk with you as you put this back in its proper place.”

Once she was certain that the guard was going to leave the weapon alone, she went to wait for the report from Mera’s Xebel scientist.

Orm went into the bedroom that evening with tea for YN. He put the medicine in it and sat down next to her. He gently shook her until she woke. Seeing her move, opening her eyes and looking at him, it made him melt a little. She smiled weakly at him, sitting up slowly, wincing as she felt the wound.

“Drink this, it’ll help for the pain and for getting the effects of the poison to wear off,” he said, handing her the cup. She took it and sipped.

“Thank you love,” she said. “I hate that bastard, he shot me.” She looked so indignant that Orm laughed. “But, I know where he is.”

“You touched him?” he asked. She nodded. She moved to slide a finger against Orm’s jaw. “Just right there, and now I know where he is for when we need to find him.”

“We will worry about that after you rest more,” Orm said. She nodded and sipped some more.

“This medicine tastes awful,” she said. Orm remembered the cookies then. He jumped up and ran and got two of them, handing her one. “Where did these come from?”

“I made them,” he said, smiling, head held high. She laughed and looked at him.

“All by yourself?” she asked. He nodded, now worried. She took a bite and swallowed before looking at them. “I have taught you well young padawan.” Orm chuckled.

“Thank you master,” he said. She stared at him.