Tree branches crackled beneath the girl's feet as she dashed through the woods. Panting profusely, she could see her own breath escape through her lips as she proceeded through the dense, bitter night. Seasons were changing, and it was that perfect peak between the end of summer and the beginning of fall. There were ravens scattered around the trees, cawing in her direction as she disturbed their resting places and diving at her head when she trampled over their food scraps. Swatting them away, all she could do was keep running.

"Come on John…fucking dammit." she panted as she ran.

She decided to come to a stop in a cluster of dense trees, hoping nothing or nobody could see her through the brush and leaves. She examined her watch; it was nearly one in the morning. They were supposed to meet and the rendezvous point thirty minutes ago, which had been compromised by the sight of police. Fanning out, they lost touch with each other, but it seemed they had gone the same direction…or so she thought. Panting heavily, she realized she couldn't stay put for much longer. She had to keep moving, or else they would catch her. Pushing off a tree for force, she continued to run forward. The occasional gap in the trees would allow the moon to reflect off of her hair, high up in a ponytail so it wouldn't get into her eyes. Brown like an animal's coat, it made great warmth in the winter. The ravens continued to pester her, cawing louder and louder as more and more got into a flock. One flew directly into her face, distracting her as she ran and stumbled over a tree root. Her body came to an immediate slam to the earth, knocking the last of the wind out of her. At this point, she cared more about taking care of the ravens than actually fleeing the cops. Off her route, she ran east, hoping to find a hiding spot. The trees only got more and more dense, allowing both her and her pursuers better coverage in the case of stealth. She found a large boulder to take refuge behind. Spotlights from helicopters wouldn't be able to breach the canopy, but she doubted the city needed copters for this type of thing. Slowing down her breathing, she closed her eyes and hummed. Taking another deep breath, she opened her eyes to see the red orbs of a raven, perched on a piece of dead wood across from her. Startled, she lurched to the right and got onto her hands and knees to run again. As she ran this time, she refused to watch where she was going in the fear of being followed. A loss of ground caused her to stumble forward, sending her careening down a dirt ledge at a steady angle. She screamed, tumbling and rolling down the slope. Dirt got into her mouth, ears, and eyes as the descent continued. Eventually, she grasped the ground enough to slow down the fall. Coughing and spitting, she attempted to look down the remainder of the slope. There was flat ground below her, but she knew if she let go, she would have a painful roll down the rest of the path.

"Gotta move down… Gotta go slow…" she reassured herself.

Moving her hands and feet slowly in a crawl, she tried to refuse gravity's pull that was tugging her body downward. She could see the moon's reflection of water just by the edge of the land, so she knew she was getting close. Suddenly her weight gave way in a patch of gravel and she was sent down the slope again, this time there was more bouncing from her body than rolling. Coughing and screaming, her body landed with a thud, until she gently rolled to a stop. Breathing heavily, she lifted her head to see a large tower which seemed to be in the shape of a giant T.

"People… People can help me." she attempted to get up.

Walking forward, she cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted. When a rustling in the woods startled her, she only saw the faint shapes of humans at the top of the ridge. Exhausted, she couldn't run anywhere except for the perimeter around the lake. She spit into the dirt and wiped her nose before running parallel to the lake's edge. This action was dangerous due to the amount of stones that could potentially roll her ankle. Her only other choice was to face the police she thought were in the woods. She kept her eye on the lights in the tower while she made her lap around, but she didn't get far. She rolled her ankle and fell sideways into the lake. Struggling under her own clothes, she was thankful the shallow end was her greeter, instead of a pit of water with no bottom. Scrambling out of the water, she limped haphazardly until she could feel the exhaustion grip her lungs and muscles. She couldn't run anymore. Her last hope was to cup her hands again and scream to the people in the tower, if, god help her, they could hear her voice. As she screamed, the breath escaped her so quickly she fell to her knees. Exhaustion fell over her, and she fell to the side and passed out.

/

"Hey…" a voice murmured. "Hey, can you hear me?"

The world was in a dull, groggy roar. Ears ringing, she only let out a breath as she sat up, eyes still closed. She stuck her hand out to the side to shush whoever was speaking to her, not ready to open her eyes yet.

"So you can hear me, great." the voice confirmed. "But I need you to open your eyes now."

"Are the lights on?" she asked absently.

"Uh, no?"

"Great." she put her hand down.

Opening her eyes, she saw a white room filled with beds. She had not realized that she herself was lying in one of them, or at least, now sitting up in one. The lights were dim enough that her eyesight didn't eradicate itself when she opened her peepers. But he technically lied about the light situation. After a minute of taking in her surroundings, she jumped, immediately trying to escape the confines of the bed, but a hand grabbed her arm.

"Let me go!" she shouted.

"Wait! I'm not here to hurt you!" the voice shouted, as if trying to calm her.

"Where am I then?!" she was still trying to struggle.

She had still not seen the person talking to her. Whipping her head to the side, she laid eyes on the person who had, perhaps, saved her outside. The hands were gloved, green gloves. Hyperventilating, she glanced up to his face. A mask covered his eyes, but she saw his spiked black hair.

"Have you calmed down yet?" he asked.

Swatting his hand away, she continued to examine him. Although his outfit was mostly red as far as shirts go, he wore green spandex pants with the gloves and sleeves to match. He had black boots on, but as far as fashion was concerned, he deserved to receive "worst dressed" on Joan Rivers' 'Fashion Police'. Her breathing had slowed down, so she swallowed and nodded.

"Yea. Sorry about that." she looked around the room. "I thought you were going to put me in jail or something. Or I thought I already was in jail."

"I'm sure that this is far from it. You're far away from any danger now." he crossed his arms.

"Is this the big T?" she asked.

"This is the big T." he smiled.

When she got out of the bed, the boy almost had a stroke, it seemed like.

"You're exhausted! Get back in bed, you aren't ready to walk around yet!" he shouted.

"Where are my shoes? I need to find somebody." she evaded his plea.

"Water-logged and drying. You aren't going anywhere, miss." he scrunched his eyes together.

Barefoot, she walked to the automatic door so she could leave.

"I need to find my friend." but once again, she was stopped.

"If you mean you had a friend out there, there wasn't anybody around. My team and I searched the whole woods, there's nobody to be found." he explained.

Her muscles stiffened. Did the police find him?

"Speaking of, what were you running from?" he asked.

She didn't yank her arm away this time, she just let it fall. She had to think. Perhaps sticking around here was her best bet if she was going to find John.

"Nothing, don't beat yourself up over anything." she turned to face him and smiled. "I'm sorry that I'm being a nuisance."

"No, not at all." he stuck his hand out. "My name is Robin."

"Jane." she shook his hand.

"Firm handshake you got there…" he laughed.

"I'm sorry, I'm being so rude right now. Thank you for rescuing me out there. I don't know what might have happened if you hadn't gotten to me." she began to relax a bit. Perhaps John was safe, the other part of her mind told her.

"You have some more people to thank." Robin guided her out the automatic door and into a long hallway.

Following him, she glanced around the hallway with skeptical eyes. If these people did know anything on how to help her find John, it was her best bet to stay here. Robin didn't speak much, he only opened doors and led her through hallways. She only now had just noticed his black cape.

"You a super hero or something?" she laughed.

"Something like that." he placed his hand on a scanner next to a duo of giant, metal doors.

How does that scan if he has gloves on? she thought with a crinkled brow.

"Great, everybody's here…wait, no." he muttered. "I'll call Terra in later." The doors opened.

Before her eyes was what looked like the extreme make-over of a college lounge area. There was a gigantic window spanning around the full length of the room, so there was a marvelous view of the lake on one side with the city on the other. There was a fully stocked kitchen, even couches and chairs, which were occupied at the moment by several other people. A smile spread across her face as she slowly turned in circles and looked around the gigantic room. The sunrise reflected beautiful rays of orange and pink onto the carpet, spanning up the walls and onto the ceiling. Robin walked ahead of her while she soaked in the experience of being in a room this big, a room this comforting. She hadn't realized the other people in the room were now watching her as she dawdled about like an idiot.

"These are the other people you have to thank for rescuing you." he gestured to the teenagers forming a line in front of her. "Titans, this is Jane."

"I would like to thank you each for rescuing me from my…escapade from that forest. I don't know how to repay you, I really don't." Jane beamed.

A girl with pink hair smiled and stepped forward, taking her hands and shaking them vigorously.

"I'm just so delighted that our new friend is safe!" she smiled a huge, toothy grin.

Friend. "Oh! Well…thank you." Jane continued to smile.

An android-looking guy walked forward next. "I couldn't carry you in, so I let Starfire do that." he tipped his head in the girl's direction. "I'm Cyborg. Glad to see you ain't soaking wet anymore." he shook her hand as well.

A green boy pushed Cyborg out of the way comedically. "He should've just let a big strong man carry you in!" he flexed his…muscles.

"Boy you were whinin' about getting your own suit wet!" Cyborg chimed in.

"Aw, why'd you have to say that?!" the green one whined.

Laughing slightly, Jane watched the comedic argument take place, Starfire standing next to her. The final girl with a black leotard and blue robe simply walked past her, and she immediately gave her a sense of discomfort.

"Hey, wait, where are you going? Did I do something wrong?" she asked after the girl.

"Do not be bothered by Raven's solitude." Starfire explained. "She is usually this way. You've done nothing wrong."

Jane furrowed her brows in slight frustration and sadness. Though she appreciated what these people had done for her, she needed to get what she needed.

"I'm sorry, I hope I'm not a burden." she frowned as Raven left the room.

"Of course not." Robin reassured. "We just did our job. Right guys?" he referenced everyone else.

"Yea!" the green one exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, but I have a question." Jane asked, straight faced.

"Shoot." Cyborg answered.

"I'm looking for my friend, John Noble. We were in the woods together last night and we got separated. I want to know where he is as soon as I can." she explained, looking out the window.

"I'm not sure if Robin told you or not, but we didn't find anybody with you in the woods." Cyborg frowned.

"That doesn't mean we can't keep a lookout." Robin placed his hands on his hips. "Cyborg, can you keep a data bookmark on him? That way we'll know who we're looking for if we see him."

"Yea." A screen popped up above Cyborg's arm. "I just need his birthday and current residence."

"Well, March 27th and, well, none." she replied nonchalantly.

They all looked at her. "He doesn't have a residence?" Robin asked.

She shook her head.

"Well, what about you?" he asked again.

"Nope." she shrugged, again nonchalantly.

The four of them exchanged glances while she stood there with her hands folded behind her back, with a small smile on her face. The television hanging on the wall reflected an HD image of John.

"Well whaddaya know, a person matches the description." Cyborg sounded surprised.

The image portrayed John with short brown hair, gauges, and a pineapple shirt. He had blue eyes and a few blemishes, but that was about it.

"That's him." she confirmed.

"Well, we'll definitely look out for him if we find him." Cyborg closed his arm screen.

"Thank you so much." Jane smiled, but then frowned. "In the meantime, I should probably get out of your hair." she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.

"What are you talking about?" Robin asked, appalled.

"Beast Boy and I were just about to start a new game in Mario Racing. We thought you'd like to join in." Cyborg nudged Beast Boy.

Stepping back, she was shocked. "What?"

"And I was about to make a killer batch of tofu bacon." Beast Boy smiled wide.

"What?" she asked again, looking at them all. "No, no, no. I don't belong here, I can't just stay here out of the blue." she shook her head frantically and crossed her arms in an X shape, signifying 'nope'.

"As I have just heard, you are out of a home, are you not?" Starfire asked. "We provide food, comfort, and a television!" she grinned.

"At least let me help you guys pay the rent, I can't just be a freeloader…" she offered.

"Nope, no rent. This tower is ours." Cyborg corrected.

"But I'm just a stranger. I can easily live in a way-side home in the city or something." she was trying to persuade them.

"You're a good person who's in need of a good home. And if you haven't noticed, the tower has plenty of rooms. There's room for you and more." Robin put his hand on her shoulder.

Her concerned look turned into one of relief and comfort. She looked down at her bare feet, stained jeans, and torn flannel. They were right, she needed a home. They said they would keep a lookout for John, but she couldn't help but feel selfish. Finally sighing, she accepted their offer with a head nod.

"Just give me a hair brush and we can call things set." she smirked.

"Yes!" Starfire excitedly hovered in the air.

Jesus fucking Christ in a candle, they're superheroes. Great. Fabulous.

Looking out to the risen sun, she scanned her eyes over the forest, thinking that all was hunky-dory. She had a roof over her head, at least for the time being, and a bunch of superheroes were keeping a lookout for John. All was well. She just needed a hair brush.

/

"Hm. How interesting." The man smirked to himself.

He was standing in the tree branches, unable to be seen to the average, as he spied on Titans Tower. Leaning against the trunk casually, he had examined six hours' worth of entertainment. All he wanted was some information on the speed of the wolves in the woods when he found something even more interesting to sniff out.

"I don't understand heroes. Letting a stranger house under their rooves simply because they were a citizen in need. But I guess that isn't any of my business." he squinted beneath his mask.

Just a few hours prior, a girl was found running for her life for some unknown cause, rolling and hurling down a slope of rocks and gravel without wasting a nick of time in the process. Ruthless, but she was smart. He didn't get a chance to get a closer look at her, because all of her screaming got her what she wanted, somebody to come and rescue her. Another interesting tidbit in particular was that her partner in crime was snatched up by his own partner in crime. He wasn't even a partner in crime, he was just an annoyance that just happened to be close by.

""Don't interfere" he said. What a fruit loop…" he muttered.

Leaping off the branch, his metal boots hit the dirt with a massive TROMP. He cracked his knuckles and got moving back the way he came. He had picked up shreds of the girl's flannel shirt when she tumbled down the rocks. It wouldn't do anything for him; it just would erase any evidence to those chasing her that she was ever in the area. He couldn't allow her to be captured now. But before he got too hasty, he stopped.

"I don't know her abilities. Should I stay? Or should I go?" he asked himself.

He turned around to face the tower again, only to smirk. He had a better idea.

/

Brushing her hair with a brush she had acquired from Starfire, Jane sat in a chair while Cyborg donned a mini chef's hat. Beast Boy sat to her left while a girl she wasn't introduced to sat on her right. She was blonde, and her hair was almost as long as Jane's. Almost. It wasn't quite to the tailbone yet. She didn't want to stare, but she couldn't help herself. If the girl noticed, Jane would look away quickly. All she did was continue to brush the same area of hair for a prolonged amount of time. When she was finished grooming, he flipped her hair, like a mermaid, out of her facial region. Her hair was a monster when in her face.

"How do you shampoo all of that?" she heard.

Startled, she looked at the blonde, who was looking at her hair in a type of awe.

"Oh, um, it isn't that hard. I just use a lot. And stand in the shower for thirty minutes." Jane smiled modestly.

"Does it ever get tangled?" she began to feel Jane's hair, which she was used to.

"Of course it does, but then I just brush it again." she shrugged.

"To you, I'm totally a creeper checkin' out and feeling up your hair. I'm Terra."

"Good to put a name to a face." Jane smiled again. "I'm Jane… I kinda was the one by the river. And, well, here I am." she shrugged.

"The more the merrier." Terra put up her fist.

Jane gave her the fist-pound she gestured for, earning her another smile and, surprisingly, a stack of pancakes. Cyborg had set a glistening plate of warm and fluffy pancakes, smothered in syrup, directly in front of her on the table. Her eyes lit up and grew wider than dinner plates, her jaw dropping. The edges were perfectly crispy and the pancake itself had the perfect amount of vanilla added to the batter so it wasn't too sweet.

"I. I just." she swallowed a giant mouthful.

The others joined her in feasting on the lovely breakfast, laughing a talking resonated all around her while she chewed, washing down the dough with fresh orange juice. Looking around, she didn't see Raven, which made her sad, but at the same time, if Raven had a problem with her she needed to suck it up. When she finished her plate, she leaned back in the chair and rubbed her stomach. That was the first time it had been full like that in a long time.

"So, Jane, if you have no residence, where is it you come from?" Starfire asked, spurting mustard on her breakfast.

Jane folded her hands and leaned over the table. "I live with John in, I believe, one city over. I lost track of the distance between there and here."

"Was it like an apartment scenario or something?" Terra wasn't quite filled in.

"No. I, we, worked at an orphanage for special children."

"What kind of special?" Robin asked, rinsing the plates off.

"Like, kind of like a place you'd see in an X-Men movie. A place where all the kids with mutant powers go, but, some of their powers die out when they get older, and they get put up for adoption. The rest of us end up living there to work forever or learn to silence the powers ourselves." Jane explained, not paying attention to pronouns.

"Wait. 'Ourselves'? 'Us'?" Robin turned around to look at her from the sink. "You're talking as if you know from experience."

She shrugged and finished the last of her juice. Setting the glass down, she looked at her eyes in the reflection on the glass. All eyes were on her right now, which she hated.

"I said we learn to silence our powers." she repeated with a frown.

"But were they dangerous?" Beast Boy asked.

"I don't remember." she answered honestly. "I haven't used them in such a long time…against people. I try to use them in secret, but John always yelled at me. I figured it'd be better off if I just didn't use them."

"Could we draw them out?" Starfire offered.

Jane looked surprised. "Draw my powers out? You must be insane."

"We've done crazier." Cyborg reassured, gesturing at Terra without her noticing.

She shook her head. "No. Unacceptable." she yawned. Hopping down from the stool, she looked at them again. "If I change my mind, I'll let you know. But, to be honest, it'd take a nightmare and a half for that to happen."

Robin walked around the counter and over to her, as if to escort her out.

"You look tired. Let's get you to a room." he opened the door for him.

"Just stop waiting on me, please. It's annoying, people doing shit for me." she waved to the others as Robin guided her down another hallway. This one only had two rooms in it, and walking by, it seemed Raven's room was one of them, for a lack of colored paint outside her door. Jane's room was all the way at the end of the hall. Robin was surely walking slowly enough for the room being right there…unless he was stalling.

"Who were you running from?" he asked, seriously.

She let out a chuckle. "You aren't going to drop that anytime soon, are you?"

"Not likely."

"Well then, what if I told you John and I were being trailed by the police?"

"You don't look like a criminal."

"I've been told the opposite as well."

They reached the bedroom door and Robin stopped.

"We aren't going to judge you, you know." he lifted the serious tone. "Just think of this as a new beginning for you, Jane." he began walking away from her, back to the main room.

Left alone, she turned the knob and stepped into her bedroom. It was plain and simple, but that would change soon enough. Leaning against the door with her eyes closed, she sighed.

"Right. A new beginning."