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She awoke in the back of the T Car, hands cuffed behind her back, feet tied, and head swimming in pain. Lotus could already feel the knot forming on the back of her skull where Robin hit her. She groaned, eyes focusing and unfocusing in the all too bright light of day. The driver- which Lotus recognized as Cyborg thanks to the glowing circuits coursing through the panels of his extended arms- halved a glance at her.

"You're not in any danger, if that's what you're afraid of." he said quietly. She shrugged her shoulders to relieve the stiffness.

"Yeah. No danger. Just restraining me because you have a fetish for bondage." She replied, smirking sarcastically. A pair of boots lifted from the passenger seat and rested on the dash board. A few tufts of black hair poked over the top of the seat. It seemed Robin had decided to take a ride with them. She wondered momentarily if it was just to gloat in her face or humiliate her.

"It's precaution." Robin said. "We have to follow these things because, unlike some people, we follow the law." Lotus stretched out across the backseat, lying down to relieve her pounding headache.

"Well," she sighed. "not everyone can be a hero Bird Boy."


It was sometime later that she again woke up, only this time to find herself sitting in a cold, hard chair and slumped over a table of the same characteristics. A pair of handcuffs trapped her to her chair. She lifted her head, her free hand checking the bruise on her head. She winced as her fingers brushed over a particularly large bump. Glancing down at her wrists, she saw slight rawness and bruising from being bound and handcuffed. Satisfied that she wasn't injured more then a few scrapes and bruises, she set on finding out where she was.

Her eyes swept from side to side, trying to pick out anything else in the tiny, dark room. There was a door behind her, no doubt leading outside to wherever it was the Titans had shoved her. Her eyes narrowed as she focused up at one of the corners. A tiny, pinprick dot of red light shone back at her.

A camera, she thought. Great. They had her under surveillance. She lifted a hand, waved with a sarcastically cheery smile, then shot an obscene gesture. "I don't know if you can hear me Titans, but I'm going to have you all arrested for this." She looked with a solemn face directly into the camera. "Kidnapping the daughter of a police captain?" Lotus shook her head disapprovingly, tutting. "Bad idea."

Minutes later, just as she had predicted, the door behind her swung open and Robin marched in, file in hand. He leaned on the table with his hands, staring hard at her.

"Citizens have the privilege of pressing charges. Citizens have the freedom to claim kidnapping. But you don't. You're not a citizen today. Today, you're just another suspect in my interrogation room."

She sneered."Ah, I understand now. Kidnapping is legal, so long as you tie them up real tight, shove them in a car, and make sure no one else knows."

"This isn't kidnapping. Officially, we're arresting you and taking you into temporary custody."

Lotus stood up in alarmed rage, ignoring the yank of the handcuffs on her wrist.

"On what grounds?!"

"Don't play stupid, Lotus. You know exactly why you're here." She met Robin's gaze with her own furious one.

"On what grounds?" She repeated, drawing out each word in a chilly tone. Robin set down the file and slid it across the table to her, never breaking eye contact.

"Intent to murder."


She stared down at the file for quite some time before reaching out a hand and slowly opening it. The first item inside popped out at her with black ink and bold letters; a reminder of the most horrid day of her life. She withheld a cry and settled on a mere grimace. It didn't go unnoticed. He sneered.

"Remind you of something?"

"Where did you find this?"

"Access to the police database can go a long way. Oh, but you already know that, don't you?" She looked up at him, trying to ignore the news clipping still glaring up at her. "We found the documents in your bag- all of them police files and reports; the very same ones that happened to go missing last night." He meandered around the room, looking at nothing in particular as he talked. "Interesting thing too- they were all files on Akimil." She smirked.

"Well, fancy that."

"You don't have legal access to those documents, Lotus. That alone is reason enough to arrest you. But this," He turned towards her and gestured down at the article. "is so much more fascinating." He moved closer and planted both hands palm facing down on the table. Peering at her, he asked, "What's the connection between your mother and Akimil?" Lotus adopted a clueless look. "Don't pretend there isn't one Lotus. Both you and I know it would be way too much of a coincidence to have the two have nothing in common."

"You don't have any reason to think that Robin." Her eyes narrowed. "And I'd watch where you're treading, because I don't have much patience for nosey birds rustling in my past."

"What's in your past that you have to hide?"

"I could ask you the same thing, couldn't I?" she challenged. "What's with the mask? Why do you hide your eyes? What are you afraid of people finding?" Robin's mouth hardened into a thin line. For a while he didn't speak, but just stared at her with those masked eyes.

"It says here in this article," he finally said. "that a women named Mary Hughes was found face down in an empty apartment with traces of several drugs in her system and fresh track marks on her arms and feet." Lotus looked away quickly, unable to meet his unfeeling eyes. "Says she left behind a daughter and a husband when she died. With no inheritance of health insurance, I'm sure the funeral must've put a dent in the family's bank account." Lotus gripped the arm of the chair, biting the inside of her cheek hard to keep from saying anything. "It's a pity- the cops couldn't even find the drug dealing shit that gave Mary her fixes. They just gave up. Probably didn't care about just one more dead addict."

"Shut up." Robin looked down, a grin hidden behind his facade of coolness.

"What was that?" She ventured a burning glare at the vigilante.

"You have no right to talk ill of a woman you've never even met!" She slapped aside the file, scattering the papers all over the floor. "And I've already warned you once- watch your goddamned step."

"So, this is what you meant when you told Cyborg your mother walked out on you?" Lotus' eyes widened and she whirled in her chair to face him.

"He told you what I said?!"

"I asked him to. I knew he stopped by during the mission to talk to you. I was curious." She suppressed feelings of slight betrayal. "Just tell me and this'll all be over faster, for the both of us."


"...My mom didn't die right when she left, if that's what you meant." Lotus admitted. "It started out slow. She had an …addictive personality. My mom had a few habits she wasn't proud of. Both I and my dad tried to help her deal with them all. We really did."

"'Habits', as in more then one? Drinking? Gambling? Sex?" She shot him a killing glare.

"No. Just drinking and ...drugs. She was getting her fixes from somewhere, but we couldn't figure it out. No matter what we did- tie her to her bed, lock her in a room- she would always find a way out. So I ended up following her one night when she snuck out for a rush. I followed her downtown to the dregs of the city. She met a shadowy man in an alley and handed him a clip of cash- where she got it, I don't know. We could barely scrap together enough cash for ourselves while still paying for mom's rehab." Here she paused and glanced at Robin to gauge his thoughts. He just watched her silently, expressionless. She continued. "He took the money and handed her a box. When she opened it and pulled something out, I recognized it as a syringe." Her voice broke and she looked down, clearing her throat. "After that, I just ran. I couldn't bear to watch her any longer."

"The shadowed man," Robin pressed. "who was he?" Lotus sighed.

"I-I have reason to believe it was Akimil. He was a petty drug dealer in his earlier years, long before he began killing."

"And your mother? When did she leave?"

"A few weeks later. Her addiction was stronger then her will. She just up and walked out one day, without so much as a goodbye to my father. She hugged me though, and told me to make a better life for myself then what she had. After that, it was only a few days before we heard that they found her in that apartment room." She nudged the article with her foot in disdain, wishing she could rip it to shreds and burn the remains.

"She picked the syringe over you and your father," Robin said. "and you can't forgive her for that, can you?"

"I'm not mad at my mother for leaving. She was sick! She wasn't in the right state of mind!"

"Then who do you blame? Akimil?" Lotus looked down, seething. "That's what you want him so badly for- to avenge your mother? It wasn't his fault though. Your revenge is misplaced."

"Don't you say that!" she growled. "That bastard was the one who fueled her addiction. Without him, she would still be alive!"

"She would just find another dealer and end up the same way she did." he replied, matter of factly. "If your mother was weak willed enough to abandon you, then she would be weak willed enough to pursue her addiction elsewhere." Lotus's eyes narrowed dangerously. She stood slowly, clenching and unclenching her hands. Suddenly she lunged at Robin and swung out her hand to slap him. He caught her hand in midair, unfliching.

"You son of a bitch!" she yelled. "It was Akimil! He did it and he needs retribution!"

"She OD'ed Lotus!" he shouted, his voice cruel and unforgiving.

"No! He murdered her by selling her those drugs!" she screamed. "Giving them to her was like giving a suicidal person a gun and a bullet!"

"It was her choice to make. Hers." His tone lowered to a menacing softness. "You can't blame him for what she did." Her entire body trembled with anger and hatred. Her lip quivered precariously before the dam broke and tears finally gushed forth from her eyes. Robin released her hand and she sunk into the chair, sobbing quietly.

Her hair fell over to shadow her face, blocking her streaked cheeks from view.

"I-I need my revenge Robin. Please. You couldn't possibly understand-" He cut her off.

"Yes, I do. You have to know that revenge isn't all it's cut out to be. All it brings is more pain."

"I don't care about myself. All I want is to avenge my mother's death."

"I can't let you do that Lotus."

"With or without you and your Titans, I will get my revenge. I'm only warning you now Robin; you can either be there to help me and keep me in check, or risk letting me kill him. Your choice."


Aaaand, wala~! Lotus' hidden secret is finally revealed. It's unexpected and kinda tragic, isn't it? Thanks for reading and please review!