"And Abby is just so cute. I love her so much." Alex tells me. I'm sitting in the backseat of my parents' car, as we drive somewhere, and we're video chatting. "I miss when we were all together, though. I woke up last night thinking I'd go crawl in bed with Jas, since it was so cold, and there I was alone."

"So what did you end up doing? He's back in Kansas." I ask. She sighs. "I went to my parents' room, of course. Abby was in her crib and she woke up, so we were all awake for a little bit. Don't think Garth went back to sleep for hours."

"Kat does that a lot. One of us will wake up and end up waking the other, even though she's only a toddler."

"It's kind of nice, just so you know, to have a friend." She puts in. I reply, "Isn't it? You have to come out sometime, by the way. You're not sitting on the East Coast all alone anymore."

"I hope not. I wish we could come on missions with you," she says. "I heard the twins got to go to Alaska last time."

"They did, the lucky dogs. Yeah, Spark and I are partners, so when we get an assignment we go together. We haven't yet, and I bet it's because we're the little ones."

"It sucks being the youngest." She says, and I have to agree. "We're always stuck at home, and no one takes us seriously. But then again, we don't get worn out from missions. We stay home and play when we're not on patrol."

"That's true, I guess. Anyway, what's going on? We're flying out to Gotham for some meeting at Wayne Manor." I shrug. "Don't know. I'm-hey, Mom, Dad, where are we going?"

"Your grandpa Bruce's place. Dinner is out there tonight and then you're spending the night." My mom replies. I nod. "So apparently I'm also heading out there. Maybe we'll run into each other? Hopefully."

"Yeah, me too. I have to take off in ten minutes, so I probably should get going."

"Alright. Have fun!" I wish her. She sighs and signs off, clearly irritated. I know her well enough to know her nature is just like that. Anger and irritability at rest.

We arrive at our destination in about half an hour. I see someone on the front steps who I immediately run to, leaping on his shoulders and yelling, "Hi!"

It's Spark West, my best friend in the entire world since literally the day we were born. We share a birthday. He tries to spin around before realizing that I'm on his back, piggyback style. We both laugh and I let him go, kissing his cheek. "Hey, Briar. Missed you."

"Missed you more," I murmur. We wait on the porch in the evening light, and our friends come to the house one by one. The twins and Mar'i arrive less than ten minutes after me, and Damian lives here, so it isn't too long before we decide to go up to Dami's room and hang out.

Our parents walk to Grandpa Bruce's study, where they close the door. We end up sitting on the bed and floor, comfortable, and then Damian says, "I want to make sure everyone's okay. For some reason all of our parents are concerned about something and I persuaded mine to tell all of yours to bring you."

"It's too lonely without everyone around," Destiny puts in. "I'm grateful for Skype."

"Me too," Alex mutters, coming inside. She's got an overnight bag slung over one shoulder, and she sits down with it. Charlotte follows, a sparkle of concern in her eyes. She takes a seat beside Prem, looks us all over, and says, "Something is really wrong."

"I know," Damian says, and he lowers his voice. "They came to talk about it."

"Roy and Garth didn't want to leave," Alex whispers. "Abby and I only got to come because it was an emergency."

"I heard Ollie and Dinah came," Prem murmurs. "And Dinah had her baby only a few months ago."

"Yes," Damian says, then sits up straighter. Jasper arrives, taking a spot beside Alex, and listens. "Wait for Lian and Austin, alright? Then I can tell you what I think."

The redheaded archer comes in less than five minutes, panting, and with her face as dark pink as her hair. "Oh, you're all alive. Okay. We need to talk."

"Calm down for a minute," Mar'i says softly. When the girl catches her breath, she sighs. "Where's Austin?"

"On his way," Des says. She looks a little upset. Prem puts a hand on her shoulder and I ask gently, "What's wrong?"

"He and I had a bad fight," she tells us. "It's not over yet."

"Poor girl," Char murmurs, embracing her. "It's alright."

"It's not, though. What that demon brat said was not alright," Austin says roughly from the doorway. Destiny suddenly lights up with fury. "It's not my fault you're a crazy little alien boy!"