I sat on my bed, struggling to take off my now completely thrashed boots. This last battle had finally done it, damn near ripped the whole sole off. I was so pissed that I could practically feel the heat radiating off my body. The more I thought of the argument that escalated between Willis and I on the way home, the more I felt the rage build up inside.

As I finally pulled my right boot down my calf, Willis came to my door, still in his black and gray uniform. I glared up at him, my light brown eyes filled with defiance, but he just adverted his gaze. The silver, swirling tattoos that framed them seemed to lose their luster.

"I'll order new boots for you tonight, I promise." he said softly. Something about the way he said it seemed to push my anger even further. "I can go to the mall tomorrow and get them my damn self, thank you very much." I replied through gritted teeth. Willis sighed and leaned against my doorframe. "Don't start Persi; you know that it's not going to happen." I felt hot tears rush up into my eyes. "Why? God damn it, I'm not like you or Mom! I'm normal, I'm like Dad, and I can have a life!" I screamed at him. I felt the tears start to stream down my face, efficiently ruining my dark make up that raccooned my eyes; it made my eyes seem brighter when wearing my mask.

Willis leaned against my doorframe and looked at me. "We've already had this conversation, and I don't appreciate you bringing up my sister or Emmet like that. It's too risky, you'd be in danger and I wouldn't know." he said, face growing stern. "I can fend for myself! You're overly protective; you won't let me see anybody! You won't even let me contact my old friends!" I began to sob, the pain in my chest was overwhelming. Willis sighed, "That was 4 years ago, and they've long forgotten you by now. You don't need friends, your mother and I were just fine without them, and we were for most of our lives."

"But you had to be alone! You're tattoos singled you out, but I don't have any tattoos! I look normal!"

"You're still one of us."

"If I don't have any interaction with anyone but you, I'll kill myself! I swear I will!" "Persephone!"

I bit my tongue when he yelled. We looked at one another for awhile, until the anger in his face subsided. "I'm sorry," he apologized before pulling the hood of his cloak over his face. "The League… They have requested to see me tonight, I must be going. There are leftovers in the fridge. Keep the doors locked." He walked out of my room and down the hall silently. I heard the back door open and close and began to cry harder.

The loneliness seemed unbearable. After a minute or two, I sat up and began to pull off my socks and spandex shorts quietly. Then I sat up and unzipped my sleeveless black corset dress and peeled it off as well. I threw the items to the pile in the corner of my bed with the minor accessories I had discarded earlier. I curled up under my covers and covered my head. The lights were still on, but I turned them off easily, feeling the power tingle in my finger tips. I turned over and fell into a dreamless sleep.

~Next Morning~

I awoke to the sun shining bright in my eyes, somebody turned up the blinds. I sat up and went to find some pjs before walking outside my room. I heard whistling coming from the kitchen and the smell of food cooking. I peeked around the corner and saw Willis whistling and pouring batter into the waffle maker.

He looked over at me, not at all startled (the perks of being a psychic). "About time you got in here," he scanned my face and smiled. "Raccoon girl." I stared back at him confused but then I remembered that I never removed my makeup, I must've looked like a mess.

He turned back to the waffle maker and sighed. "I wanted to make up for last night, so I bought this waffle maker on the way home, but it's not very hot. It cooks very slow." He looked back me over his shoulder and flashed a sheepish smile. I sighed and looked at the waffle maker; I began to make it hotter for him. "Thanks, now you should go get dressed." "What? But I just woke up." "You'll be leaving soon." My eyes widened. "Crimes this early in the morning? Where are we going today?" Willis laughed, "I said that *you'll* be leaving soon."

I stared at him, completely confused. He smiled at me mischievously, "The League made a suggestion to me last night, of which I agreed completely with. I bought luggage bags for you as well." Willis rolled out two large black and pink polka dotted luggage bags. "They told you to get rid of me?" I cried, mouth gaping out of shock. Willis laughed at my reaction. "No, not quite," he said. "But you are leaving, to San Francisco."

I plopped down onto a dining room table chair and ran my hands through my medium length, layered hair. "This is not a very funny joke you know." I said quietly. Willis went to the waffle maker and dished up the waffle onto a plate. He sat across from me and set the plate in front of me.

"Persi, you said you want friends, right?"

"Of course."

"Well, you will have some; I just made sure of it." I looked at him like he was crazy.

"There's a group of kids -er- teenagers there, they're like us. They keep most of the west coast safe, the only reason that we're positioned here is because it's a little hard for them to get here. I can handle these low level crimes here without you, but they can use you."

He looked into my eyes and I could see the excitement flowing out of him. "I don't understand…" I said softly. Willis's smile only grew larger. "They're called the Teen Titans, and you're going to join them. You're going to have friends."