The water in the outdoor pool scattered in tiny splashes, accompanied by a voice still groggy from being woken up.
A head of soft black hair emerged from the water. The sleepy girl propped herself against the edge of the pool, droplets sliding down her neck into the water. Her large, misty eyes swept over Hal, then Barry, before settling back on Bruce.
"Bruce?"
"It's all right. These two are my 'colleagues,' like Clark and Diana."
Miaomiao understood and raised one little hand to wave at them. "Hi! I'm Miaomiao."
Under the courtyard lights, Hal and Barry could clearly see what Miaomiao looked like.
The Eastern Merfolk girl they had called the "Little Mermaid" had long, sleek black hair and clear, unclouded eyes. Her skin was fair-not pallid, but lustrous and luminous like a pearl.
Having been woken from her sleep, she was still hugging a plush penguin toy, her large, dewy eyes regarding the two men who had emerged from the bushes with friendly curiosity.
The instant they saw the girl clearly, the heat in Hal's and Barry's faces burned all the way to their ears.
Bruce was right. She was a beautiful, delicate teenage girl, and such a sweet one, too!
The two men, who had come running over to gawk at something unusual, wished Barry could use the Speed Force to go back an hour and give their past selves a few hard slaps across the face.
One was Green Lantern, the other The Flash. They called themselves superheroes, yet they had sneaked into someone else's home in the middle of the night without warning, no different from peeping toms.
Shame washed over them like a tide.
The carefree grin on Hal's face vanished completely. Usually so cavalier, he was now uncharacteristically at a loss. His throat