Back at the tower, the Teen Titans returned to the lobby and continued their attempts to piece together the day's robberies. It seemed that Red X had managed to get away twice- and the second time, they weren't even able to look the creep in the eye. The only evidence they had was a testimony from one of their own- Apollo- who had been left alone in the ransacked armory after the crook had escaped; and even her words made no sense. "So what are you saying?" asked Robin as he and the others questioned their witness, trying to make sense of the case. "That it wasn't Red X?"

"Yes. No; I don't know," answered Apollo. "I saw someone in the armory. Dressed in black, but, they were too far away for me to get a look at their face."

Puzzled by her statement, Robin closed his eyes and tried to channel his growing frustrations and shield his emotions as he always had in such situations. Releasing an irritated sigh, Cyborg turned and began to walk towards the computer to search for more evidence. 'Maybe she could've seen him if she'd take the time to fix her hair,' Cyborg thought to himself in reference to Apollo's unconventional style. "Are you sure it was someone else?" he asked as he pulled up the statistics of other villains. Finally he reached the slide for Red X; he then turned to face Apollo and Robin.

"Yes!" Apollo shouted offensively. Annoyed, she turned to the screen then looked at Cyborg, "I know what Red X looks like. We- I- just fought the guy this afternoon; I'm not gonna forget something like that that quickly!" Frustrated, she closed her eyes and placed her hand on her forehead.

"Then who was it?" asked Raven. "If we're going to rule out Red X then we need to have a replacement suspect. You had to have seen something?"

"I told you I couldn't see their face."

"Even during the fight?" asked Starfire.

"Kinda hard to focus on facial features when you're trying to knock someone out," answered Apollo, the offensive tone in her voice growing. "Look all I know is they were dressed in black. No masks, no extra gadgets, no symbols or identifiable articles," she continued as she analyzed the image of Red X. "Just a black suit."

"That's it!" asked Cyborg as he tried to find a matching suspect for her identification.

"Yes!" Apollo shouted as she sprung to her feet. "That's it! To be honest, I'm not even sure of what I saw. I couldn't even make out a face if I tried. It was just a black thing! I don't even know if I was fighting a person or… something else…" she paused and reflected on the smooth black figure she saw creeping through the building. Calmly, she faced the team and repeated herself. "I may not be sure of who- or what- I saw back there, but it wasn't Red X; and we're wasting time chasing him when the real thief is still out there."

"And so is he," added Beast Boy inconveniently, pointing back at Red X's image. Annoyed, everyone stared him down. "Heh-heh, forget I said anything." Frustrated and fed up, Apollo walked out of the lobby and to her room, leaving the rest of the team to discuss and analyze amongst themselves. "Wow, touchy," commented Beast Boy in response to her exit.

"A little too touchy if you ask me," added Cyborg as he continued to search the computer.

"What do you mean?" asked Starfire innocently. "We made no physical contact with Apollo, we only asked her questions."

"Yeah, questions she clearly wouldn't answer."

"She couldn't answer them," said Raven. "She said so herself, she couldn't see who the thief was. How could she answer our questions if she didn't know the answers herself?"

"She couldn't answer or she wouldn't answer?" asked Cyborg skeptically. "If you ask me I think she's hiding something. Why else would she be making this so difficult?"

"Because she really doesn't know," answered Robin quickly. "We asked her what she knew and she told us; if that's all we have to work off of, then so be it. She wouldn't lie to us."

"How do we know?" asked Beast Boy. "She sure was quick to eliminate Red X from the suspects."

"And determined to keep him off of the lineup," added Cyborg.

"Not to mention she gave us the most useless info in the world. I mean come on, 'a black figure'? How much more vague can you get!"

"If that's what she saw," said Raven in defense.

"I don't know ya'all," said Cyborg. "If you ask me I think she's hiding something-"

"Or someone."


Alone in her room Apollo sat at the foot of her bed in silence. A sketchbook in her hand, she stared down at the pad- eyes focused- and began to draw. In no time she had a rough- but realistic- sketch of a figure dressed in black, with a skull-like mask, and a jagged red slash across his chest- a red 'X'. Her eyes fixed on the paper; she studied the image then looked over to the blank half of the paper she had left. She closed her eyes for a brief second and listened to the muffled chatter still coming from the main lobby, at first she felt the temptation to go back and ease drop on their conversation, but she quickly changed her mind and continued her work- it wasn't like she didn't already know what they were talking about. Within minutes, she had completed another rough sketch of a character, shielded in black. However, unlike the defining characteristics and appearance of Red X, this sketch had no definite form. It appeared to be no more than a figure, a shadowy silhouette with elastic-like limbs.

Apollo stared at her drawings a moment longer, comparing and contrasting the two images. She knew what she saw, what she'd experienced, and there was a big difference between her two encounters; the character on the right wasn't Red X. This was someone different, someone new, someone who she felt would return. Whoever she saw in the armory wasn't finished and would come back; and when they did, she'd be ready. Driven and focused, Apollo took a final glimpse at her sketches before placing the pad on her nightstand and turning off her lights to go to bed.


Meanwhile, back in the lobby, the others continued to argue about the day's thefts and what to do about them. "We have to find Red X," stated Robin as he stood and stared at the image of their prime suspect. "It's the only way to put an end to this."

"Perhaps we should ask Apollo again," suggested Starfire. "She was the only one to face the Red X both times. Maybe now she will remember more from her encounters?"

"I don't know," said Beast Boy. "She seemed pretty ticked off after our last set of questions. I doubt she's gonna give us any more info."

"Of course not," mumbled Cyborg. "That would make it too obvious…" The others all turned to him in response.

"What do you mean?" asked Robin suspiciously.

"Think about it," Cyborg started as he walked toward his friend. "Two robberies in one day- by the same guy-"

"We don't know that yet," interrupted Raven.

"Well hypothetically speaking," continued Cyborg. "Let's just say it was; and Apollo just happens to be the only one to face him…" The others all stood in silence, pondering the evidence. "Not to mention that both times, the jerk managed to get away, leaving his accomplice alone at the scene to keep us busy."

"Wait a minute," shouted Robin, clearly annoyed by his friend's behavior. "Accomplice? What are you talking about? Apollo's not working for anyone; she's working with us! She's on our side remember. She's helping us to find Red X and whoever it was who broke into the armory."

"Dude, you actually believe that?" asked Beast Boy, standing beside Cyborg.

"Why wouldn't I?" he answered, looking his friends in the eye. "Why wouldn't we?"


Apollo's POV

It was the middle of the night as I lied in my bed- wide awake- staring up at the ceiling. I'd tried to force myself to sleep, but every time I closed my eyes, all I saw was that figure- haunting me- sneaking away from me; and every time I tried to chase it, whenever I got close enough, it would speed away. 'I have to find this thing,' I thought to myself as I sat up on my bed and looked out my window. Silently, I focused on the night sky and the moon hovering above the water. Its elegant crescent shape sat proudly in the endless black backdrop. Surrounded by stars- each glowing with its own level of radiance- the sky shone like it had been littered with diamonds… sparkling over a sapphire sea. I stopped and thought about nothing else but that sapphire ring; how it looked in the case, resting in his hand… sparkling on my finger. 'You never know when you might meet a babe who likes bling' began to ring in my- ring! Ugh, I couldn't keep that junk out of my head! It was like a parasite! Slowly boring its way into my memory; and I couldn't stop it. Just like the armory, I couldn't stop it; and now everyone was on my tail for not 'remembering' what I didn't see. Tired, I slouched on my bed and let out a long sigh 'Maybe,' I thought to myself. 'I'm just not cut out for this. My first real day, and- in their eyes- I've already screwed up. Maybe-' suddenly, my thoughts were cut short by the growing chatter coming from the lobby. 'They're still up?' You'd figure they'd call it a night and go to sleep by now, but then again, I doubt Robin lets them sleep. Curious, I left my room and walked down the hall to the main doors; slowly I crouched down beside them and placed my ear against the wall- not that I needed to, they were more than loud enough already:

"You guys are crazy!" Robin shouted. "She'd never do something like that."

"Yeah, how do you know?" asked Cyborg defensively. "How do we know she hasn't pulled stuff like this before; that she hasn't been planning this all along?"

"Old habits are hard to break," added Beast Boy. Intrigued and highly concerned, I placed my head firmer towards the wall. Clearly, the topic was no longer Red X. "Come on dude, I mean the girls an ex thief and top spy-"

"Double agent," added Cyborg. "How can we be sure Apollo's not playing a part in the robberies?"

"Yeah, since when does Red X hit up jewelry stores? That's not girly at all!" shouted Beast Boy, much to the offense of Raven and Starfire.

'What!' began blaring in my head. 'They think I'm the one behind this!' I was crushed, but way too infuriated to care about my pride. 'How could they?'

"No," Robin said firmly. "Apollo didn't do anything. She-"

"Then how do you explain her always disappearing once we get to the scene?" asked Cyborg.

"She's new to this," Raven quickly implied. "She's worked alone her whole life and has to get used to being part of a team. Besides," she continued. "Some obstacles harder to get used to than others." It didn't take a genius to know who she was referring to; listening to her statement, I slowly began to calm down. At least someone was on my side.

"That still doesn't mean she can disappear and let the thief get away the minute we show up!" yelled Cyborg. "If you ask me-"

"Which we didn't," mumbled Raven. There was a moment of silence- probably a stare-down- before Cyborg continued.

"I still think she's working for someone. She's an expert in her field, we all know that. I mean, the girl's been stealing since she was six- she said so herself. And who flaunts their stolen prize? If that's not a sign?"

"Yeah, and all that spy training means she's probably like the best liar on earth!" shouted Beast Boy eccentrically. "I mean really, if the girl can fool Slade- probably the baddest dude ever- then there's no telling what else she's lied about." Beast Boy and Cyborg continued to throw facts and arguments around until Robin-I- couldn't take it anymore, finally Robin managed to shoot back a response in an attempt to silence the bruising remarks.

"That doesn't mean anything. You guys just aren't willing to see through her past. If she truly was a thief, then she wouldn't be here; she'd still be working under Slade." There was a brief pause before Robin spoke again. "And those days are over…"

After another moment of silence, I slowly rose to my feet and- assuming the discussion was over- started walking back towards my room, then I heard Cyborg's voice, "How do you know they aren't?..." That was it, I had heard enough! The robbery was one thing, but to accuse me- to even assume; suggest… accuse- me of still working for my fa- SLADE! I can't believe it! Before anyone could utter another word, I stepped forward and allowed the main doors to fly open in front of me.

"Apollo," exhaled Robin nervously. I watched as he angrily glared back at Jerks 1 and 2; at least I knew that he trusted me.

"Greetings friend," cheered Starfire half-heartedly. "It is-" Still angry, I ignored whatever nonsense she had to say, and walked toward the fridge. Quickly, I snatched a water bottle and an apple. I then turned and quickly glanced at my 'friends' before the unrelenting anger and disappointment took over and I stormed out of the room. Walking down the hall, all I could think of was what I had heard through the wall. Silently, slowly, I continued walking away from the doors, my eyes focused on the end of the hall. As I moved further, I heard the faint sound of voices return as their conversation continued. Obviously they wouldn't speak while I was around- I couldn't be trusted. Once outside my doorway, I stopped and took another look out my window at the night sky. As I studied the stars, Red X's words slowly began to resurface in my subconscious, 'You sure you're on the right side?' buzzed in the back of my head, and honestly… I wasn't.