A/N: Zin (formerly called Hallie): WELCOME TO FEATHERED SHADOWS! This is a long chapter. Longest we've ever written I think but a good way to kick off the second installment of the Influence series! In this installment, everything that happens will occur in the five year gap that is between seasons one and two.

Sooo… we will be covering a lot. ALSO! If you haven't read "Flight of Mind" before this, you might wanna go and do that. Or else things won't make a ton of sense.

Em: Plus, it's not a bad installment and you just might enjoy it.

Zin: Sorry this took so long. SOMEONE took a while to respond when it came time for her to write during her turns. HMMMMM. Wonder who that could be.

Em: I refuse to dignify that sarcastic hint with an answer.

Zin: Anyways, it's here now! I own Fantasia/Ren Logan, the "Voice", Creatonia/ians, and Joshua Logan. Emu owns Owl Thanagarians and Autumn Pines/Screech Owl.

We do not own Young Justice or any DC material.

Em: Enjoy! :)

March 2, 2011

The jungle was thick and dense, the air so heavy with moisture that it made it hard to move, like trying to trek through a wall of cotton. Walking through the thickets of leaves and branches were two birds, a creator, and a beast.

They were on the hunt for a predator named Lex Luther. He had set up shop in the Amazon Rainforest for some unknown reason. It was their job to figure out why.

Fantasia had imagined a machete and handed it off to Robin, who was using it to slice through the undergrowth. Screech took up the rear, keeping an ear out for trouble. Beast Boy walked ahead of her. He had insisted upon coming on the mission and convinced Bats that he needed a bit more on-the-field training, and this was just a recon mission.

The two Creatonians and the Boy Wonder had been talking amongst themselves as they walked through the jungle, and Screech had been listening in from time to time. Something Beast Boy had just said got her attention.

"Giant river otters?"

BB looked over his shoulder to grin back at her, "Yeah! They're one of my favorite animals!"

She smiled back, "Cool. I like hedgehogs, myself. And snakes are pretty neat."

Beast Boy's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Huh. I thought your favorite animal would be owls. You know, 'cause of your hero name."

Screech chuckled. "While they're high up on the list, I actually got my name from Thanagar. Some people call my race, Owls. Combine that with one of my abilities, and viola- Screech Owl."

"Noted." With a smile, he turned back to the front.

The group of heroes arrived at the bank of the Amazon River, where they found a base set up in a clearing. A few men were scattered about. They made sure to stay away and hidden.

They staked out from the bushes for a while, but there wasn't much activity until a group of men came from the treeline with three muzzled giant otters in a wheeled cage that was much too small for them.

Screech shuddered, her disgust for the men rising, and the two Creatonians clenched their fists.

They handed the cage off to some other workers. "The tranq should be in effect for another twenty minutes, but you might want to hurry it along, just in case."

With a nod of acknowledgment, they turned around and brought the cage inside.

"We need to stop this," BB stated, glaring at them.

"Agreed," his sister said, staring pointedly at the Boy Wonder.

He sighed. "I agree, too, but Bats specifically told us to not infiltrate the base. We need to report back to him before we do anything."

"But we could-!"

"Beast Boy," Robin interrupted him. "I know it's frustrating, but the radios are out of range, and we need a plan. Plus, you know how Bats gets."

He did know. But those poor animals needed help, and they were already there, able to provide it! It seemed pointless to waste time going back to Happy Harbor.

However... Beast Boy also wanted to join the Team so that he could assist on other missions. That wouldn't happen if he couldn't even follow orders on a simple recon mission.

"...Fine. Let's go."

The proposal for a return mission went over well with Batman after reporting back that Luther seemed to want the Otters for a particular oil their fur produced, which could prove to be beneficial to humans in some way. Robin had to return to Gotham and was replaced with Miss. Martian, but otherwise, there weren't many tweaks to be made. Save for one detail that he disagreed with.

"Beast Boy will not be accompanying you."

"We don't know exactly what Luthor's up to," Fantasia agreed, chiming in. "It could be really dangerous."

BB was not pleased. "But I want to help!"

"He'd be a useful asset," a soft voice in the back piped up.

All eyes turned on Screech Owl, more than a little surprised, whether they showed it or not. The girl was usually silent during briefings.

She steeled herself and proceeded quietly with the speech she had worked on the whole way back, "Beast Boy can talk to the giant otters, right? He can get us more information with less risk of being caught eavesdropping or hacking, and sneak past defenses with some of his smaller animal forms. He has remained under the radar, so they won't know to look out for him. And he will get some good experience, too. Field work is much different than training. He won't know what to improve on in theory if he hasn't found his flaws in practice."

There was tense silence for a few moments, during which Screech suppressed the nervous expression struggling to slip onto her face and gazed steadily back at her Teammates and their mission assigner. It wouldn't do for it to be misinterpreted as uncertainty in her arguments.

The moment ended with Batman conceding, "Fine; he may go."

Fantasia sighed, clearly discontent with the arrangement, but for once not protesting. Beast Boy grinned at Screech Owl, who nodded minutely with a small smile.

Robin ruffled Beast Boy's hair and said, "Good luck, BB," as he passed.

Mission prep was quick, and soon the four assigned heroes were boarding the Bioship and were on their way back to the Amazon.

March 4, 2011

Fantasia did not like this.

Correction: She liked helping the animals, but she very much did not like her little brother coming on a possibly dangerous mission with them. He wasn't ready.

At least not in her eyes. To her, he may never be. Gar was her baby brother. He came before everything else, no questions asked. She could clearly recall the day that he first started school at age five.

Garfield was thrilled to be following his big sister to where she went all day, leaving him alone. The idea of meeting kids his age that he could play with made him all giddy inside. Ren, on the other hand, wasn't keen on the concept of putting her brother in an environment where he might get hurt.

Alfred had to remind her that at some point, she had to let Gar figure things out on his own and that she wouldn't always be right next to him. The Creatonian relented her overprotective tendencies a tad after she spent the entire first week checking in on her brother whenever possible.

He had cornered her that first Friday, complaining about how his new friends were laughing at the fact that his big sister kept poking her head in. Ren merely ruffled his hair, promising to back off but that she would never stop looking out for him.

Fantasia knew that he would be joining the Team sooner or later, but was hoping for later. Something in her gut told her to keep an eye on him. Whether that was overprotectiveness or a sign of possible danger, she didn't know.

Her eyes gazed out the window of the Bioship, watching the treeline rise as they lowered onto the ground. Miss. Martian stood from the pilot's seat, smiling at her three companions, "We're here!"

Beast Boy jumped up from his seat, "Let's kick some butt!"

"Hold on there, kid," Fantasia placed a hand on his shoulder, "You're here to help with the animal part, not the fighting part."

"But I'm ready!"

"One step at a time, BB."

Screech caught the younger boy's eye and nodded. "I have to agree with her this time. Just remember that by getting us more information and letting us know what we're up against, you're making the fighting less dangerous."

The youngest hero crossed his arms with a huff, "Fine. But I at least get to fight one bad guy if we have to."

Screech smirked, amused. She hadn't been nearly as gung-ho to fight when she first started out (and still wasn't, to be honest). She was almost willing to trade roles with him just to give him a chance, something he clearly wanted.

Almost.

Sending a glance towards the boy's older sister, Screech let the quirked corner of her mouth fall. "Only if we have to," she responded, absentmindedly twisting her eye charm. "I suppose we should get started, then?"

Miss. Martian-who had taken the leadership role for the mission-opened the bioship, allowing everyone to exit. She took the lead as the four heroes began to make their way to the intended destination. Fantasia made sure Beast Boy was in front of her so that she could keep a watchful eye on him, and Screech Owl trailed not far behind her.

Fantasia, usually quite light hearted on lower-stake missions, seemed to have fallen into a serious demeanor at the presence of her little brother.

Screech pretended not to notice. After all, things always went wrong when she brought up anything of this nature.

They had landed the bioship a safe distance from the site, far enough to avoid detection, but close enough that they were back in the bushes surrounding it in less than ten minutes. Beast Boy crouched down next to the Thanagarian, realizing she would be the least protective out of the three girls. His eyes were intensely scanning the area in front of them, his determination to prove himself practically radiating off from his form.

Miss. Martian's voice filtered through their minds. Everyone online?

Linked up and ready to go! Beast Boy exclaimed.

Yep, Screech confirmed with a quiet chuckle.

All good over here. Fantasia added in. Beast Boy should stay back until we locate the otters.

But sis! Beast Boy whined before he could stop himself. Quickly, he added a justification. I could help find them! Isn't that why part of why I'm here? 'Cause I can sneak around easier?

Fantasia wasn't having any of his excuses to be more involved than he had to, You're here to communicate with the otters, we can handle the rest.

Fine, he sighed, disappointed, but acknowledging defeat.

Miss. Martian cloaked herself after nodding at her teammates, signaling that she was headed out. No men were around the area which they were located, but loud voices told them that they were congregated near by. Screech activated her cloaking device and followed suit after a quick smile at Beast Boy. Fantasia remained where she was to keep a lookout for anyone who might come by and to make sure her brother didn't wander off.

Before long, Miss. Martian called in a report. The Otters are in cages near the biggest tent, by the back of the camp.

We still don't know why Luthor wants their oil, though, Screech added, using her super hearing in an attempt to answer the question.

Fantasia quipped back, Then use your super hearing to try and pick up something that tells us why.

Great idea, why didn't I think of that? Screech's sarcasm was almost palpable as she shook her head and went back to doing just that.

Fantasia smirked, Well, clearly you didn't think of it since I had to suggest it to you first.

Let's all ignore the fact that that's what I was doing before I chimed in, Screech playfully snarked back.

Could've fooled me, the Creatonian deadpanned.

The Thanagarian, intent on listening to the sounds outside of her brain, didn't answer this time.

Beast Boy noticed that his sister wasn't being snide to be playful, she was getting irritated and he had a hunch that it was relating back to him-he chose to stay quiet.

It was only a few minutes before Screech caught a snippet of something that got her blood boiling. Beauty treatments?!

Started by the outburst, Miss. Martian jumped and looked over at her usually quiet teammate in surprise. What?

They're locking up living creatures to get their oil for beauty treatments! This is a joke, right? She forced down the indignant feeling and sighed. Some people, she mentally grumbled, glaring daggers at the apparently unapologetic workers. Did they even know how horrible it was to be stuck in a cage barely big enough to lay flat in?

Odd, LexCorp isn't known for being involved in beauty products. Maybe they are expanding? Fantasia asked.

Screech calmed down a tad before responding, Sounds like an experimental side business. Nothing substantial. I say we shut it down before it becomes a decent opportunity for them.

I agree, Miss. Martian said. We need to free the otters and make sure the guys working here know to leave and never return. We also should find out if there are any traps laid out in the waters meant to lure other otters near.

So, who does what? Beast Boy piped up.

Screech and I will remain cloaked and free the otters while Fantasia stands lookout. Once they are free Beast Boy will communicate with them to find out if there are any traps nearby. If there are, Screech and Tasia should fly out and deal with those while BB and I figure out the best way to deal with the workers. Miss. Martian's voice held a formal tone compared to that of her typical happy-go-lucky vocals.

Sounds like a plan. Screech nodded at her partner, determined, then took a closer look at the cages' locks. It looks like we need a standard key card. Shouldn't be too hard, right?

The Thanagarian jolted as something small, thin, and hard hit the back of her head. Turning around, she found a newly-imagined standard key card on the ground and a Creatonian returning to her post.

She let out a slight chuckle and picked up the card. Not what I had planned, but that works. Thanks.

That's what I'm here for. Fantasia's tone was biting as her words rang in the minds of her teammates. She wanted to get this mission done and over with, all so her baby brother would be out of any possible danger.

Screech, recognizing the tone, promptly shut up. Silently, she slipped the card into her pocket and turned towards the cages once more. She and Miss. Martian crept towards them.

Most of the otters were asleep; their fur was matted, and many looked famished. The care for these creatures was little to none. The girl's eyes narrowed as she slid the card into the lock of the nearest cage.

The door slowly creaked open, and one flaw in their plan became glaringly obvious to Screech Owl: what were they going to do with the otters once they were set free?

Slowly, she closed the door most of the way. Um... Tas? Is there any way you or BB can get the otters to stay put while Miss. Martian and I free the rest?

Yeah. It should be possible. Fantasia responded.

Okay. So, can wake these guys up, and you can meet me over here and help me get them out.

Alright. Fantasia turned to her brother, who was to her right and made sure he was on the same page. The smile on his face told her that he was and that he was happy to be assigned something more than just the lookout and communicator. A protector was a step up, and he was going to be the best otter defender there ever was.

Meanwhile, Screech opened the cage just enough for her and the Martian to step in. She placed a rock in front of the door to make sure it didn't close but nevertheless kept her hand on it as she reached to wake the nearest otter. Miss. Martian looked behind her as the door moved slightly, but quickly ignored it and went to a different otter.

Carefully, Screech Owl placed her hand behind its head, out of reach from its teeth, and shook gently.

The creature stirred slowly and sluggishly turned to look where her hand was. Seeing nothing, it looked forward again and brightened up when it saw the slightly opened door.

"Ah, no," Screech whispered as it started to stand. "Um, stay, please don't move yet." She hit the button on her stealth shield, let go of the door, and awkwardly motioned for it to stay down. Surprisingly, it did.

Fantasia watched as Screech and Miss. Martian opened the cages, and when most of them were open, she and her brother snuck through the tangles of vines and trees to where the cages were. A final sweep of the area around them confirmed that there were no direct threats to their plan at the moment.

BB quickly talked to the otters and found the locations of a few traps. Screech and Fantasia left to disable them, leaving the Martian and younger Creatonian to deal with the workers as planned. Fantasia was not a fan of leaving her brother, but she trusted Miss. Martian and she knew her powers would be useful in making sure they could safely disable whatever traps they came across.

Fantasia and Screech flew to the nearest trap in a tense silence. The latter didn't dare say anything and instead busied herself listening for possible threats. Landing across the river where the operation way camped along, the Creatonian imagined her wings away and drew her gaze along the shore, keeping an eye out for the traps that were supposedly located there.

Screech picked up a faint metallic whirring and pointed in its direction. Fantasia imagined a device that was able to dismantle the trap and the duo continued on their way, taking out a total of six traps before heading back to base.

Now all they had to do was get the otters out safely.

Reaching the area where their teammates were located, shouting in foreign languages could be heard. The closer they got, the better Fantasia was able to see that Miss. Martian and Beast Boy were darting around, knocking out and restraining the workers who were attempting to fight back. The Creatonian had the urge the jump into the middle of the battle, ready to keep her brother out of harm's way, but a hand on her shoulder held her in place.

Screech swallowed as Fantasia's gaze met her own. Nervous, but steadfast, she quietly repeated what she had said earlier: "He won't know what to improve on in theory if he hasn't found his flaws in practice." The corner of her lip twitched up a little. "They've got it covered, Tas. If they need us, they'll let us know."

The Creatonian doesn't reply, merely watching her little brother fight without her by his side. Maybe they were right. She trusted her brother; maybe she was worrying over nothing.

A pained cry echoed throughout the jungle.

"BEAST BOY!" Miss. Martian's voice rang out soon after.

Shoving Screech's hand away, Fantasia launched out of their hiding place and viciously fought her way in the direction of the cry. Screech, meanwhile, froze where she stood, the color draining out of her face.

" What have I done?"

Another distressed noise pushed the thought aside. The Thanagarian followed after her friend, prepared to do what she could.

The thickness of the jungle felt like it kept getting denser and denser the more Fantasia tried to fight against it. Her mind was blank and her heart racing. The only thing that mattered was getting to her baby brother.

Pushing through vines and saplings, the Creatonian stumbled into the base's clearing. All around her, she could see unconscious and restrained workers. Near one of the tents set up for refuge, she found Miss. Martian hunched over the unresponsive body of her brother.

The sight caused her to freeze for a moment, mind racing to catch up with the situation. Trying to figure out what she needed to do to make sure he was going to be alright. Snapping out of her daze, she hurried to Beast Boy's side, eyes scanning his body. It took mere moments to realize that, thank the heavens, he was still breathing and that the cause of the panic was a stab wound to the abdomen.

Her heart was pounding, blood roaring in her ears. She wanted to run and hide and convince herself that this was all a dream. But, she couldn't, at least, not now. Drawing in a shaky breath, she turned to the teary-eyed Martian next to her, as she began to put pressure on her brother's wound, "What happened?"

Miss. Martian didn't look at her, "H-he was doing so well. Taking out worker after worker. We were down to the last two when the one BB was handling pulled out a switchblade and stabbed him. I took out both of the remaining men. I… I am so sorry."

Screech caught up to Fantasia at that moment. The moment her gaze landed on Beast Boy, she reached for her pouch and retrieved a bottle of water. She dropped a purification tablet inside for good measure, then placed it and a small roll of bandages next to the Creatonian so she could clean and bind the wound.

Knowing the older heroine probably wanted her far away from her brother (and who could blame her), she quickly left to check the restraints of the workers.

Fantasia could feel her brother's blood pulsating out at a rapid rate from beneath her fingers. He was bleeding out, fast. Grateful for the supplies Screech had given her, she quickly recalled the basic medical training the League made sure most everyone on the Team was equipped with. The Creatonian could feel the panic bubbling up and did her best to repress it, for now, was not the time for hysterics.

White noise seemed to fill her mind as she locked into auto-pilot. She would later vaguely recall asking Miss. Martian to watch over her brother as she imagined her Image Tome to be large and pulled out a stored Door Portal leading to the Cave. Calling out to Screech, she gathered up her younger brother, careful not to disturb the wound, and prepared to go through the door.

Screech bolted towards the Door Portal, knowing that they would hopefully send someone soon to collect the BioShip and the workers. It closed behind her, and the four were back in the Cave. Without missing a beat, Fantasia strode towards the infirmary, and Screech called for Red Tornado.

The following minutes were a rush of teammates and Leaguers, all trying to make sure Beast Boy remained stable. It didn't take long for Batman to arrive on the scene and to begin directing what needed to be done. Fantasia was silent on the sidelines, unable to do anything but watch them work. She could barely make out what everyone was saying in the daze she remained in.

She caught hold of the words "blood transfusion" and "rare blood type" and "M'gann can transfigure her blood type." Soon, everyone was shuffled out of the area except for Batman and Miss. Martian. Fantasia felt her feet carry her to the kitchen along with the rest of the Team, but while they stopped there, she kept going.

As soon as the Team was bustled out of the way, Autumn slipped into her bedroom and changed out of her hero gear. Keeping an ear towards the Infirmary, she quietly berated herself as she pulled on a clean tee.

"You just had to convince them, huh, Seph?" She muttered. "Batman and Tas probably saw something I didn't. Should've trusted their judgment instead of your own. What do you know, anyway? You're still a rookie yourself." Autumn caught sight of her reflection and smiled bitterly at it. "Great job."

Autumn walked out of her room and nearly ran into Conner. Stepping back, she flung her arms out in exasperation, and exclaimed, "I swear, you just pop out of the ground!"

The clone just raised an eyebrow at her.

"What? Oh." Realizing that she had been speaking Thanagarian since she entered her room, she changed back to English. "Um, sorry."

Conner shook his head as though to dismiss it. "What happened?"

Autumn ran him through the series of events: finding the Otters, coming back to the Cave, going back out having traded Robin for M'gann and BB (the latter on her insistence), and the fight that went wrong.

The clone nodded. "And, um... you okay?"

The heroine chuckled sardonically. "I'm not the one in the Infirmary, at least until Tas and Batman get their hands on me."

"I'm sure Beast Boy'll be fine." He gently ruffled Autumn's dark hair. "And, you know... it's not your fault. He had to get out there sooner or later."

He straightened up and walked back towards the kitchen, clearly expecting her to follow.

Feeling just a tad bit better, she did so.

Of course, he had a point. Garfield couldn't have been protected forever, especially not with his family being who they were. That didn't excuse her part in it, but it was some sort of consolation. It was at least partially her fault, mostly hers at worse case scenario, but perhaps he just didn't understand the details.

Yeah, that seemed right.

Besides, she knew a few heroes who probably wanted to yell at her. She might as well let them do the job for her.

'You weren't there to protect him. You let him down. You're just like your father-you let your only direct family down.'

Clenching her eyes shut, she tried to push the voice away. Her dad didn't let her down; he could have never let her down. Now was not the time for the voice to be plaguing her every thought, not that it ever maintained a strict schedule.

Ren found herself back in her room at home. She couldn't stand to be in the Cave any longer but couldn't bring herself to be unfindable. Thankfully, her mom was at work. Leaning against her bed's headboard, she ran her fingers through her red locks, "I knew he wasn't ready. I knew it wasn't time for him to be on the field."

"We all have slip-ups, Ren. Every one of us has gotten hurt on the field at one point or another."

Looking up at the sound of a newcomer's voice, she found Dick leaning against her now-open doorway. She sometimes hated that he had a key. She blinked, sighed, and looked away, "Everyone isn't my little brother."

The right side of her bed dipped as the boy she called one of her best friends took a seat next to her. He rested a hand on her shoulder, "Bruce says he's gonna pull through. His body appears to have accepted the blood transfusion."

"I know he's going to be fine. I'm fine."

He squeezed her shoulder before letting his hand fall, "Never said you weren't."

The duo sat in silence for a while, comfortable with just being in one another's presence. Dick glanced over at the clock sitting on Ren's nightstand-they had been there for nearly an hour. He sighed, pushing himself off the bed, before turning back to the Creatonian, "We should really head back."

"I'm fine here for now."

"Ren, seriously, Gar's gonna want you there when he wakes up. Plus, I think you might need to have a chat with Autumn."

Ren turned to look up at Dick, her brows furrowed, "Why?" Was something wrong? She hadn't noticed anything. Then again, she hadn't noticed much besides her brother for the past few hours.

Dick held out his hand to pull her off from her bed, "She has her "guilty-face" on. Most of the Team has already taken notice."

"Of course she does." Ren sighed, taking Dick's hand and allowed herself to be pulled into a standing position. He gave her hand a squeeze before letting go and heading towards her door. Following, she pushed any shred of worry or doubt she had for her brother's situation to the side, knowing it wasn't going to help her or him or anyone.

Everything was fine.

Everything would always be fine.

The kitchen had basically become a makeshift waiting room by this point. A few Team members had left when they found out that Garfield was more than likely going to pull through, and slowly it dwindled to just the Cave's usual inhabitants. Conner and M'gann were talking at the table, Kaldur was looking over some mission notes, and Autumn was huddled on a counter, reading. Or, rather, gazing at the pages. She had kept her earbuds out in order to catch any footsteps that may be coming over with further news.

She hadn't said more than a handful of words since she walked in with Conner. This wasn't strange for her, but there was something in the way she held herself, especially when Batman had entered the room earlier, that made her silence stand out.

The other three heroes routinely glanced up at her. As Robin had said, they had all seen and recognized her 'guilty-face,' but weren't sure how to proceed past that. It was usually Ren's job. Conner had already tried and apparently failed, and was now at as much of a loss as the others.

Autumn, for her part, pretended not to notice the glances.

Recognized, Fantasia. B01. Recognized, Robin, B02.

The Cave was mostly silent as the two young heroes entered. Robin left Ren to go train with one final squeeze of her shoulder. She knew she should go and visit Garfield, but he was still asleep, and she didn't even know what to say to him when he did awaken. Entering the kitchen, she raked her gaze over the few teammates that remained. When her eyes crossed to the counter, they met with Autumn's, who blinked and quickly looked back to her book, shoulders tense.

Rob was right; she did have her "guilty-face" on.

With a sigh, the Creatonian made her way to stand next to the Thanagarian. Resting her elbow on the countertop, she looked up at Autumn, who refused to look over at her friend. Her eyes remained fixed around the center of her page, and she seemed to be bracing herself as if preparing for impact.

"Kiddo," Ren plucked the book out of Autumn's hands, placing it down on the counter, so it saved her spot, "It's not your fault."

Her shocked amber gaze flew up to meet Ren's. "But... But I..." She stuttered to a stop.

This didn't make any sense.

She was the reason Gar was there with them, to begin with, putting him in danger against the instincts of his sister and godfather. She was the one to convince Ren to stay out of the fight, insisting that M'gann and the younger Creatonian had it under control. She fucked up as she so often did, but this time someone besides her was actually hurt. It was bad enough that he even needed an emergency blood transfusion.

And to top it all off, the injured was Ren's little brother.

There was no doubt the redhead understood all the details of what happened. She had reacted far worse for lesser offenses. But now, the time Autumn felt it was most deserved, there was nothing? Why was no one blaming her but herself?

Ren sighed, "I… I know what you expect from me at this point, from how I've reacted-over-reacted-to things in the past. And while this seems like the perfect situation for me to blow out of proportion, I can't, because it would draw my attention away from where it needs to be, and that's Gar. So, it's not your fault."

Everything in the Creatonian was screaming at her take it all back, take back admitting that she had messed up out loud but for some reason she didn't, she couldn't. Ren didn't know if surrendering would be something she could do more often or easily now, but given the circumstances, she felt like it was something that had to be done.

Because her little brother didn't need her sulking or blaming or running away, he needed her to be by his side, protecting him. Garfield came first. Always had. Always would.

Autumn opened her mouth to protest but instantly snapped it shut again.

Now wasn't the time to be stubborn. Ren was right: the cause wasn't as important as the result and how it could be fixed. And right now, her guilt complex was distracting from what needed to be focused on.

Autumn closed her eyes and breathed in. "O-Okay... Okay." Looking back at Ren with a faint smile, she continued, "This time, let's just... put it down to the universe being a prick, and leave it at that."

Ren returned her smile before reaching over and ruffling the younger's hair, "I can agree to that."

The Creatonian quickly turned when a tap was administered to her shoulder. M'gann was standing behind her, looking fatigued, but alright nonetheless, "Garfield is awake, and the blood transfusion worked. He's asking for you."

Autumn's smile grew, unfolding herself, she nudged her foot against Ren's leg and nodded towards the door. "If it comes up, let him know I'm..." she paused, biting off the sorry that wanted to slip by habit. "That I'm glad he's okay."

Ren nodded before heading off with to the medical bay to see her brother.

Garfield's torso ached something terrible, but he was alive, and that was all that mattered. He wanted his sister, to make sure she wasn't going off the rails due to him being hurt-Gar knew how she could get.

He glanced around the recovery room he was situated in. Whites and grays covered every surface. Gar hoped that Ren would bring him a book or video game or something, for dear Batman, it was dull just sitting around.

He had only been awake for ten minutes. He wasn't sure how much of "recovering" he would be able to handle without losing his mind. A smile crossed his face when he heard the door to his room open-Ren, she would be sure to take his mind off everything.

Garfield knew that things were going to be just fine as his green eyes landed on his older sister.

Fin