Solor writes down...

Ugh, I hate this! My beloved daughter, Komi, has inherited her mother's sense of not leaving well enough alone! Which I admired when I wasn't hiding from my friends, but this is the third time she's blown our cover since she turned ten!

Don't get me wrong, I love Komi with all of my heart, and had I been in her shoes, I would have done the same thing. But it makes it hard to hide when she keeps dispelling her disguise and scaring the crap out of punk kids.

Now we've moved to a new location, and she's mad at me that I had to take her away from her friends... again.

I wish I could make her see why I need to keep us hidden, but the point of the matter is that until this... this event, to put it loosely, is over, I have to keep quiet about that, too. This sucks.

Being a single dad sucks.

[Chapter 1]
[10 years after Solor left]
[Location unknown]

The car ride over was silent. The child of the group was too angry to say anything, and Solor himself didn't want to try to talk to her when all she would do was glare at him.

It had been ten years since his vanishing from the Tower. In that time, he spent his days working and pretending to be a normal human, raising a normal daughter, and trying to give them a "normal" life... or as normal as it could be. He had shifted his form a dozen times, to keep those that had seen him from being able to identify him again. Currently, he had decided to try something akin to a mix between his normal human form and that of Bruce Wayne. His hair was blonde, and his eyes were green, and he had also grown a short beard that covered his entire jaw line.

Komi, in the meantime, had grown at average Tamaranian speed. She looked average right now, but her true form was a sight to behold. She had orange skin and red hair, given to her by her mother. She also had a pair of red wings on her back and a two foot long tail instead of legs, which she used to slither around whenever she wasn't using magic to hide what she really was. In disguise right now, she had bright blonde hair and blue eyes, and otherwise passed as a regular ten-year-old girl.

Once the two had arrived in front of the one-story house, Solor sighed, turning the car off. "Alright... here we are." He stepped out of the Prius, glaring at the small car. "I hate this thing..."

"Then why didn't you buy that Impala that we saw at the last dealer?" Komi questioned, stepping out as well. "You and I both hate Toyota cars."

"Because we drove an Impala last time", Solor countered. "Now we have a Prius, and like it or not, this is our car now."

"Yeah, until we have to move again", Komi grumbled.

"I heard that, young lady", Solor shot out. "We are not moving this time, nor any time in the foreseeable future. Now... go inside and find your room. I have to get the paper and start making calls so I can get a job."

Komi glared at her dad, but complied, slipping inside. Once the front door was closed, she dispelled her disguise, revealing her true self. "Over protective jerk", she muttered, although it was only half-heartedly. Despite her anger, she still loved her dad very much. She was just frustrated that they had to move so often.

She easily found her room, since the movers already had their things brought in. She began opening up her boxes, starting to put her belongings in their appropriate spots. The normal business of stuffed animals on her bed and small pieces of jewelry, such as rings and necklaces, ended up on her small vanity table. But what stuck out was her collection of Teen Titans comics and merchandise. She had a tiny doll of each Titan, including the elusive toys that portrayed Solor, Heir to the Light and liaison for the Mortal World. Ever since he had gone into hiding, finding any depictions of him was difficult, since everyone saw him as a traitor or a coward and didn't want anything to do with him.

She knew better, though. Her dad had to do something, and he told her when she was six that he had to take her from her mother. He regretted the fact that he had to, but it was for the better, he told her. He promised that, when his mission was over, he would take her back and face whatever punishment the Titans wanted to give him.

When she asked what his mission was, he sighed. "I wish I knew myself, my little girl."

Cut to now, as she finished putting everything away. Her father entered the room, leaning against the door. "Well, I pulled a few strings... and we have new birth certificates, social security cards, and other identifications. My new name is Jason Nesbar, and, keeping with your favorite letter, your new name is Kori."

Komi sighed. "At least it's similar to my real name, so I can react to it easier..." She turned to her father, sitting on her bed gently. "I'm sorry I messed up, Dad... I... I didn't know what else I could do."

Solor smiled gently, sitting down and wrapping an arm around her, letting her lean against him. "Hey, it's okay. If I were in your position, I would have done the same thing. He was asking for some karma, anyway." He gently held her. "Do you want me to tell you about the night your mom and I met?"

"You've told me a hundred times", Komi said, but she smiled at him. "Of course I want to hear it again."

Solor smiled gently, reaching over to the first comic in the series she had. It was worn, having been read a couple dozen times, but she held tightly onto this book. He flipped to the first page. "The night we met... was like any night to humans. To me, though, I arrived on the outskirts of town. You don't see that here, because no one knew how I got there."

"It was a Tear, right?" Komi asked, reading along with him.

"Yeah, it was. On that day, I was officially banished from Lair. But that's a story for another time." He flipped the page. "Robin and Beast Boy were also new to the city. Beast Boy was trying to branch out on his own as a hero from the Doom Patrol, after he had gotten sick of Mento's strict expectations. Robin - or Nightwing, as he goes by now - got into an argument with his mentor, and went to claim this city as his own, planning on starting his own solo hero career. Cyborg lived there for a long time, having been given his cybernetic armor to keep him alive after an accident. Unfortunately, he didn't see himself as anything other than a freak, and hid his appearance. Raven is the only one I don't remember about how she got there.

"Then there is Starfire... or Kreinyol, Sunfire, as I began calling her eventually. She escaped the Gordanians that night, fleeing to Earth in an attempt to stay off of their radar. However, she attracted a lot of attention when she began trying to remove her cuffs. Enough that the four guys in the group - myself included - attempted to subdue her. Raven gave us the idea that we should try a non-violent approach. When I freed her from her cuffs, she kissed me, learning English from me and unknowingly igniting a spark between us."

"That's my favorite part", Komi said, smiling. "That kiss not only gave her the tools she needed, but also gave you something to fight for."

Solor nodded. "Well, we fought the Gordanians together, and constructed the tower, calling ourselves the Teen Titans. We had many adventures, as your books say", he told her. "And if you want, I'll tell you about when we met your Uncle Edward... after dinner. I ordered some Chinese takeout, since we don't have any fresh food yet."

"Okay, Dad", Komi said, smiling at her father. She slid from the bed, heading downstairs. "I'll start helping set up the other stuff, okay?"

"Alright, but don't let anyone see you without your legs, honey", Solor called out. He looked over, picking up his daughter's Starfire toy, smiling. "My Kreinyol... if only you could see how your daughter is...

"You would be proud of her", he finished, putting the toy back. He then headed downstairs, getting ready to help his little girl set up the other decorations and furniture.

XxXxX

Speaking of Sunfire, she sighed as she looked at the map again. There had been several sightings over the years, but she had never been able to pin them down. There had been many reports of a young girl with a snake-like tail and a pair of large red wings, but whenever she arrived at the scene, they were long gone.

She had matured a bit more over the last ten years. She had ditched the one piece that drove her husband wild, wearing something a bit more conservative, a unitard that only teased the young men of the city with her cleavage. Otherwise, she wore silver bracelets with emerald gems on them, and kept her engagement ring safely on her finger at all times. She was approached many times by ignorant heroes who only wanted a shot at getting into her pants, but by now they knew her as "Ice-fire", a cold, uncaring woman who didn't want their attention.

Soskrein had also grown a bit, but she was still a hatchling in dragon terms. She was commonly in her hybrid form, and because of her mental maturity, she was allowed to help from time to time. Showing that she was much smarter than her age of thirteen, she was able to easily pick apart motivations for crimes and other such. Thanks to her, many villains stopped trying, but more popped up as time went on. She took on a teenage form, looking more like her adoptive mother but making her hair curly, like her birth mother's human form.

"You okay, k'norfka?" Susie asked, approaching her mom from behind.

"He is elusive as always", Sunfire commented, leaning back in her chair. "Your father always did have a stubborn streak... but I'll find him sooner or later."

"You always say that", Susie commented, but smiled. "I've been looking, too, but without a single hint on what he's doing, I don't have any way on tailing him, and my informants in Lair can't track him either."

Sunfire sighed. "Very well... I shall take a break for now. We have some time before Teammate Edward comes over. I'll get started on dinner, and hopefully the others will be home then. In the meantime, you have some homework to do, young lady."

"Yes, your majesty", Susie responded, mocking a Tamaranian salute as she smiled at her mother. "It's simple, though. Calculus isn't that hard."

"But your teacher assigned it, so you have to do it. You don't want to ruin your straight A record, do you?"

Sunfire had elected to stay in the tower today, not wanting to deal with her teammates at the moment. She had been getting irritated with them all as of late, but she still was willing to work with them. However, everyone was now demoted to Teammate, since she felt that they didn't care as much about his motives as finding Solor and bringing him to justice. Robin of this universe now called himself Nightwing, but kept his hair short, unlike his opposite who grew his own long. Raven was still in a relationship with him, now officially his fiancé, while Beast Boy (now calling himself Changeling) was married to Terra. Cyborg didn't have anyone to call his own, but he happily played the cool uncle to Soskrein, Callisto, and Yolstav.

Edward, meanwhile, was fuming. He had as much invested in finding his brother and niece as anyone, and, despite that, he was demoted to "Teammate" by Kreinyol as well. He had been there for both of his for-real nieces births and it burned him that she had demoted him. In fact, Edward added that to his "Reasons to pummel the Heir to the Light...Treason be DAMNED!" list...a list that was getting longer every year.

He had basically moved into the Tower, after making sure that his original team would be fine without him there all the time. Also, with an heir who was still AWOL, it fell on Edward and the other heirs to pick up the slack.

Rachael, however, wanted to stay in her universe, reasoning that the Titans still needed a Raven on the team. Edward didn't like it, but, seeing how Arella had passed on a few years ago, he agreed it was for the best. They did spend as much time together as possible.

But, Victor's fears from when she was pregnant with Cally had proven true. Rachael could not have any more children of her own. That was fine to the empath, though, as raising Cally and Yolstav was a handful. Yolstav had grown a lot since she was formally adopted, and, while her cheerfulness was still there, she was having a harder time dealing with the constant deluge of emotions from those around her who she loved.

Cally was also a handful for both Edward and Rachael. Her human DNA was proving to have slowed her development to at least 50% of what a full-blood Dragon should be at. It didn't mean she was exceptionally smart, though. She would give the smartest kids in class a challenge, and even some college students would be hard pressed to keep up at times.

But, Edward didn't really want his kids growing up too fast, either. They all adored one another, and, that was one reason Edward would try not to beat Solor too bad should they meet.

The two AIs, Ralph and Alice, had become mature systems and were combing through any little hint as to where Solor and Komi were at. But, every time that they pegged onto a possible location, it was the same for him as it was for Kreinyol. Solor was just a step or more ahead of them.

It got to the point Edward allowed some moving company employees to see a hint of his Darkness in trying to find out where they went.

But, today was another fruitless endeavor as he teleported back to the Tower. Kreinyol was not going to be happy, at all. She already thought he had lost interest and at some point, he would have to try to remain calm while he told her that he was searching and expending a lot of resources in finding someone who did not want to be found. A task that each day she called him a mere teammate was getting harder and harder to do.

Sunfire didn't look up from her task, sensing Edward's presence. Much like her missing husband, she developed a knack for being able to tell when he was near. Even she couldn't explain it, but she assumed it had been because of her closeness to Solor. "Hello, Edward", she said coolly. "I am assuming you did not find them?"

"You are correct in that", Edward reluctantly admitted. "By the time I got there, the family living in that house were long gone. But I do know for a fact that this little girl was fond of Solor, the Teen Titan." He pulled a small toy from his pocket, showing Solor in his hybrid form. "This is the third toy I've found, and they all have the same first initial - K. I'm hoping to find some way to use this to trace them."

Sunfire sighed. "Many little girls have a K as the first letter in their name, Edward. There is no guarantee that a fan of Solor is my daughter." She took a look at the toy. "Why did he leave, Edward? Why did he take Komi and run, without even telling us that he was going to?"

"Your guess is as good as mine", Edward said, sighing. "He acted so weird after Komi was born. I had no idea that he would do this."

Sunfire finally looked over at her husband's brother, and while he could see the silent fury that she had in her eyes since Solor vanished, he could also see a tired woman who was desperate for answers. "I know you do not. I know you do not know why he left. I also know you do not care about why, because to you, he has ABANDONED us. To all of you, he's nothing more than a kidnapper and a hostage keeper, and because you especially hate that he has left, supposedly abandoning us."

Edward's eyes immediately flashed red, "HOW DARE YOU?! I HAVE SPENT THE LAST DECADE LOOKING FOR HIM! I DO CARE WHY HE LEFT AND YOU THINK IT DOESN'T BURN ME THAT HE DID NOT EVEN TRUST HIS OWN BROTHER. YOU FORGET WHO BROUGHT YOU AND HE TOGETHER, WHO SENSED THAT YOU WERE DANCING AROUND YOUR FEELINGS. You forgot who was best man at your wedding and defended not only my love for Rachael, but, Solor's right to even be with you. The Circle would have banished us both or worse KILLED us both for daring be with humans or a very beautiful alien. And you think I don't care to the point you demoted all of us to 'teammate'. Kreinyol, I uprooted everything in my universe and that included my family on this search. You are not the only one who wants answers."

His anger barely vented, he also knew that if he continued, she would react, so, he took a deep breath and sighed, releasing a bit of that anger that had built up over the last decade.

Sunfire, in turn, had clenched her fists tight, holding her own anger in check. "You think that it all revolves around how I think you feel? I am his WIFE! He said NOTHING to me, either! He loved and trusted me just as much as you, even when he didn't know you were his brother AND HE STILL! SAID! NOTHING!" She held up her hand, showing the ring. "Do you know how many times I have to look at this ring and remember his words when he confessed to me?! Do you know how many times I have to remember that I can't think like Leader Nightwing does? Or Raven, Changeling, Terra, Cyborg?! I am putting EVERYTHING I have to keep him in good graces in my own mind! If I start to think that he's as bad as everyone else does, IT'S OVER!" She broke down at last, sobbing. "I... I just want him back... I miss him so much... and everyone... everyone is starting to betray his memory..."

Susie looked over to the two of them, but said nothing. She knew her mom and uncle had a lot of issues to deal with, so she wanted to stay quiet. She got up, slipping out of the room to let them put their issues behind them.

Edward's anger melted and he pulled the sobbing woman into his arms.

"Hey," he said gently, "I am not going to betray Solor's memory. He's my brother, Star. Granted that I might be angry that he pulled this stunt, but, I know he had a reason for it. I do not think he's gone bad on us. You want to know why?"

She nodded.

"Do you remember the Battle of DC? You had forced a Dark Dragon to the ground and he wasn't happy that you had done it. Solor activated his Blessing of Light and I thought he had lost his cool for the hundredth time. So, I stopped him for a moment, only to discover he was not angry. He was doing what he thought was the right thing to do. I discovered that he would always do what he thinks is right. I have to think that about him now. Even if the others do not...I still have faith in your dear husband. He had to weigh the cost of leaving and taking your baby girl...my niece...with him. He will have to answer for that, yes. But, I know he will face it with his head held high."

"He is too proud to face it any other way", Sunfire commented, cracking a smile. "I will not hurt him... I cannot hurt him... but I hope he doesn't mind not going anywhere for a while when I find him." She pulled back, going back to cooking. "The others will be here soon... thank you for letting me vent... Friend Edward. I am sorry for mistreating you. You deserve better than that."

Edward smiled, "I know Solor well enough that his pride will not allow him to face any penalty with any less honor than I have ever seen. Yet, he will also be accepting of what is decided.

"Actually, I need to thank you for letting me vent as well. Don't ever think I do not care about my family. You are so much a part of that and you have been since we met. I see that ring on your finger when anyone else would have removed it and divorced their spouse for abandonment. You gave your word before the Circle's minister and before X'Hal that you would always love Solor throughout this life and the next to come and you are keeping it, no matter how much it hurts. This ring gives you the strength to keep looking. It reminds you, not of what has left in the last decade, but, of who will come back. Don't take it off, my dear, sweet sister-in-law. Now, would you like a hand with this meal?"

Susie peeked in and saw them talking it out calmly and smiled to herself, "I knew you couldn't stay mad at each other."

Sunfire looked over at Susie, smiling. "Well then, dear Susie, I'm glad you didn't interrupt. I know you don't like it when I butt heads with your aunts and uncles."

Edward smiled, "Susie, sweetie. This search for Dad has us all short-fused. Mom hit the wrong nerve, and, I am sorry that you saw that. You're still a kind, grounding force, even when you do not mean to be. But, I hope that the other Titans haven't given up hope, yet."

Susie sighed. "They won't say anything in front of you guys anymore, but I know they're thinking the worst. To them, Dad's just another criminal who should go to jail." She sighed. "I try to tell them that Dad isn't like that, but... well, Nightwing's influencing them to think his way. And because Raven loves him, she's more likely to agree."

"My god," Edward groaned, "How many times have you seen Aunt Rach and I disagree without it affecting how we feel? Looks like I am talking some sense into this whole blasted team, except Mom, of course.

"You should have seen the first time Auntie and I disagreed on something. It was on my universe's version of Tamaran. Blackfire had pushed me too far and I blasted her with my lightning to the point that Aunt Kori had to distract me with a starbolt.

"Aunt Rachael wanted to heal her wounds. I wouldn't let her, she insisted and we argued until Uncle Vic told us to stop bickering like kids and treat the patient."

"And, he's still alive?" Susie asked.

"Of course. I got him back later, my dear. But, how do I convince the team that Solor's not a bad guy?"

"I'm afraid that won't help," Alice said, "Sorry for eavesdropping, but, Nightwing's got it in his head that Starborn is a criminal and the others are following along like sheep."

Edward sighed, "Guess it's just the three of us, eh?"

Edward also realized that he might have to set up a new base of operations to continue the search.

He looked at the toy he had recovered and sighed again. Whoever owned it did not own it long enough to imprint any 'vibes' into it. But, given it had been a decade since Solor left, meant that the figure was close to that age, and a possible collectable.

"I wonder how many of these are left and in this sort of condition?" he wondered aloud.

"Not that many," Alice said, "In the last few years, these figurines of the team have fallen into disfavor and many were destroyed or ended up in landfills. For true collectors, this is worth thousands of dollars, well more than the retail price of five dollars."

Susie whistled. "Even when people don't like him, Dad's still valuable to those who really care. There's forums all over the web, arguing that Dad is on a secret mission, or trying to reach out to someone that matters to one of us. All speculation, though."

Edward thought about this. "I may be able to find someone who has such a fanatic obsession with the Titans... is Control Freak still in jail?"

Sunfire blanched. "That fat sloth? You think he could help?"

"Calm down, Mom. It's been a while", Susie attempted.

"Not long enough!" she roared. "He grabbed my grebnak!"

"It was technically accidental", Edward commented. "And also the fact that Solor left was still fresh... he may have reformed now. Plus, he's terrified of you. Maybe we can get him to talk?"

"I am not going anywhere near that tub of lard!" Sunfire growled, blushing at the memory. Control Freak, during a battle, had accidentally touched her where only Solor was allowed and, well, her reaction left him in the hospital for almost a week before he was taken to jail. Since then, he wanted nothing to do with her. Edward had to pry her off him, actually.

"He may know where this toy was bought, and where others may be by now", Susie responded. "If you can get him to talk straight, he may be willing to share his information."

"Then that would mean we need Raven or Rachael as well", Edward mused. "We need someone who can tell when he's lying.

"Maybe offer him a peace offering? He'd love a chance to get a pristine mint condition set of the whole team enemies or not. We appeal to this side of Control Freak and, he might be willing to work with us."

"And we are no longer talking about this", Sunfire said suddenly. "It takes days to set up a visitation with a criminal, even a small time one like Control Freak. Let me finish dinner, and we can talk about this later!"

Silence permeated the room, as a green hummingbird flew in now, morphing into Changeling. Instead of wearing his normal black and purple, he was now wearing a red and white unitard, going without gloves or shoes now. "Mmm, something smells good!" he said. "Is Star cooking again?"

Upon Susie's nod, he grinned. "Sweet!" The team, over the decade, had discovered that Starfire was a damn good cook and that meant that Edward and the others didn't have to worry about a trip to the ER. Well, for Edward, it meant not having to teleport to the bathroom or having a bad case of "Dragon Farts" that cleared the Tower leaving Alice to grumble that she had to suffer until the ventilation system cleared the air.

Sunfire said nothing, looking over to Edward. "Now's your chance", she said. "Leader Nightwing is not here. Talk to him."

Edward nodded, "Changeling? Mind if we chat for a bit?"

"As long as we can do it over dinner, sure!" he replied, "I'm starved."

He grabbed his vegetarian fare and sat down.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Well," Edward said, "We've known each other for well over a decade, right?"

"Of course," Changeling said, "Why?"

"As in since Sol first arrived here and said that Solor had been raped, right?

"The reason I am asking is in the time that you got to know Solor from before the team came together, even before he was tossed into my lap until he disappeared, did you ever know him to not want to do the right thing?"

As Edward spoke, Changeling had been eating, but stopped mid-bite. He put his fork down, his big grin fading as he looked down. "Well... no. I think he explained it once to me before... Light Dragons have an irresistible sense of justice. Even if it is technically wrong, a Light dragon will do what they feel is right no matter what others think." He looked up at Edward. "But dude... he kidnapped Komi. We don't know if they're alright, or if he's been swayed or... anything. I... I don't know what to think about this. Nightwing said-"

"Nightwing has said a lot of things", Sunfire commented. "He has said many things about Husband Solor that have turned out to be false. He has said that Solor was a lost cause, a wild animal that we need to rein in. He has said that I could do much better than Solor. And I know everything he has said is false."

Edward nodded, "As you all know, I am a mix of all the Dragon Clans, yet, which part of me do I try to show everyone? The Light Dragon side. That's why I was in that depression a decade ago. I was mortified that I, Edward J. Barnes, had snapped and wanted to destroy Tokyo as a Dark Dragon. Susie here had to risk her life to intervene. She was willing to die if I left her dad live.

"Yet, none of you came out and said that I was a monster. Except Solor because he knew that night I had snapped and the Dark Dragon within me emerged. Yet, he never held a grudge. I even gave him a huge opening to act on any grudge before Komi was born and he outright refused. Since he disappeared, only his wife and I have held out hope that he's all right and that Komi is also fine.

"But, one thing that we have to do...call Nightwing out on his falsehoods. OK, Solor is technically a kidnapper because he took Komi without permission. Yet, we keep seeing hints that she's OK. There's only one child with red wings and a dragon's lower half. So I have to assume that Solor's being a good single father. Don't misunderstand me, Star, I know that he is still your life mate and he knows that as well. But, for the last decade, he has been a dad raising her on his own. But, I wish that he would contact us, even if he can't say where he and Komi are. I would take just knowing that they are OK. Even if he rejected my offer to help financially, I would respect that.

"Everyone else is saying that he's a traitor, a coward, a monster and other vile things I have seen on the local forums and other places. Nightwing is an idiot. I know he's the group leader and that implies some trust, Garfield. But, not 'Lemming trust'."

"What is that?" Sunfire said.

"Lemmings are creatures that walk blindly forward despite any danger in a game of the same name from 1991", Alice responded. "They will do whatever they can, even sacrifice themselves for what they feel is the right cause. This is flawed, as the human player can potentially lead them to their own death."

Garfield was silent for a moment. Then he spoke up. "You guys... you guys are right. Solor said a lot of things that he's been right about. And he's never intentionally led us astray. But neither has Nightwing. So... I'm gonna try to see if I can get Terra to agree. She may just be saying she agrees with him... but he helped her master her powers. She should be willing to help us find Solor."

"I am not saying that he would, Garfield," Edward said, "If I felt that he was, I would have spoken up. Nightwing was trained by Batman, remember? So, he is applying a different standard than I might. The thing here is that I have to believe that Solor was told something a decade ago that forced him to hit the road. Sol has not been willing to say anything in the last decade, even though I know he is aware. He hasn't even told the others in the Circle, and, that says something right there.

"And, Terra owes Solor a lifetime of reasonable doubt. She knows the history of my Tara and that Solor swerved her history. Could you stomach the thought of SLADE doing her? I know I shudder thinking about it. That's one thing that Solor prevented. She was a virgin on your wedding night.

"I fear that Nightwing's intentions, while good, have poisoned the opinions of the rest of the team. Telling Starfire that she could do a lot better...Had I heard that, there'd be a Nightwing shaped hole in the wall.

"Garfield...you're not the same kid who left the Doom Patrol because Mento's strictness got to you. You're married to one of the most powerful women I have ever met. Yet, you have abandoned one of the gifts of the First: Free Will to Think. Is Nightwing as strict as Mento, for example? Does Nightwing do your thinking for you?

"Star and I had an argument over this. She thinks that everyone else has abandoned Solor! Haven't you noticed she demoted everyone to 'teammate'? Myself included! Think about it. Put yourself in Solor's shoes. He was obviously told something that rattled him more than Oblaan could. Is he protecting us by leaving? I've asked myself that a thousand times, and cannot find a suitable answer."

Changeling sighed. "I've asked myself the same thing." He nodded. "You're right. I was wondering about the teammate thing, but I thought that was just a thing because she was mad we hadn't found him yet."

"You haven't answered my main question, though," Edward pressed, "Does Nightwing do your thinking for you or not?"

"... no. He doesn't." He nodded. "Alright. I'll think about it myself, long and hard, before I make a decision. Good luck getting the others, though. Cyborg's got his own deal with why he's mad at Solor, but Raven usually agrees with Nightwing nowadays. She does speak her mind now and then, but not as often as she used to. I think she's afraid if she disagrees, he'll break off the wedding... which is stupid. It's obvious he's head over heels for her."

Edward smirked like he'd just been handed a gold plated weapon.

"All Rae has to do is talk to her twin and she'd know," Edward said, "Or, she can read my mind. I don't know how many times she's piped up through the shared link with something valuable. Cyborg will take some harder work. I'm not totally sure why he's got a beef with Solor, outside of the obvious. And, Gar? Thanks for listening."

"No problem", Changeling replied, picking up his fork and going back to eating.

Meanwhile, Edward was planning on putting out a statement on every Internet forum he could in the hopes that Solor would contact them. He'd also put another video on Youtube, LiveLeak and other video sharing sources as well as social media. He had tried before without luck, but, this time, things would have to be different. There had been several sightings of Komi in the past few months, and when Edward gently questioned the child who saw Komi in her native form, the poor kid was frightened of the "freak" she turned into. He got a good description of her disguise, even though deep down, she would no longer use that. He also got a decent description of Solor's disguise from other witnesses and would feed that data to Alice. Even if Solor didn't use that one anymore, it was still vital information.

But, no one knew that it was going to be sooner than they think before Solor would be back in their lives.