Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.


CROW

"Ohh, this is so exciting! I can't wait! I can't wait! I can't waaaait!"

"You can and you will, now be quiet, he's trying to focus."

"This is ridiculous! Why can't she just brush her own hair?"

"She can, he just offered to do it. It's called being nice."

"Don't you lecture me smartass!"

"Wh-What if she thinks he's being c-creepy? I-I don't want her to think th-that."

"Yeah, we coulda rested a bit more if we just let her do it."

"Come on guys, it's great that he offered to do this! It's pretty much the only thing that could be considered slightly brave on his part, aside from the whole superhero thing of course."

"I agree with Brave."

"Of course you do."

"I detect sarcasm."

"No shit sherlock?"

"C'mon guys! Stop being all grumpy and stuff! We get to go to the mall with Maria!"

"Th-That's terrifying!"

"Noooo, it's exciting!"

"Let's just say it's both and leave it at that."

"Remember Happy, it's 'Changeling'; not 'Maria', not 'mistress', and not 'master'."

"Right, right, and Ruban is 'Crow'."

"Exactly."

"Could you all stop talking? I can't focus." I whisper.

"Sorry, sorry." A voice apologizes.

"My apologies as well." Another voice says; the other voices quickly following suit in a chorus of apologies. "However, you do remember the purpose of us speaking to you today, yes?"

"To keep my powers in check by having you guys tell me what I'm feeling one day per month." I recount quietly. "And tonight instead of dreaming we will have a conference and go over the day's events."

"Correct, and as such we cannot remain silent for long."

"I know, I know, just for a minute or two." I whisper.

"Crow? Did you say something?" A certain teammate of mine asks.

"N-No! Nothing!" I squeak. "I didn't say anything!"

"Alright…" Changeling murmurs.

I shake my head, clearing my thoughts. I readjust my grip on the brush and continue straightening my friend's hair.

I suppose a bit of context is needed. No, she didn't ask me to do this; I offered. It technically falls outside my duties as a ser- Um, the duties I would have as a servant, but I like helping her so I do it anyways.

I can remember the first time I offered. It was absolutely terrifying. I can remember the silence that followed my offering, how it stretched on and on… I can also remember her accepting in a somewhat shaky voice. At the time I had thought it was restrained anger, though I was informed later, much to my relief, that it was closer to joy or excitement than rage.

She said something about "coming out of my shell" I think.

"Stay still." I admonish after she shifts one time too many. "This will go faster if you stop moving."

She huffs in irritation and crosses her arms. I cringe, not wanting her to be annoyed at me. A few seconds later, as I continue brushing, she catches me eye in the mirror and shoots a grin, relieving my fears. She was just joking.

"You are so paranoid…"

"W-Well-"

"I-It was justified! She's the only p-person we can trust! We can't have her m-mad at us!"

"What, we can't trust Dad now?"

"I think Timid meant the only person on this planet. Dad is all the way in Azarath."

"Yeah, yeah. I suppose he's right then…"

"Shhh!"

"Right, right, sorry."

The next few minutes pass by uneventfully. I finally manage to brush out all the knots and snarls from Mar- Mistr- Changeling's hair.

"Smooth."

"Shut up Rude."

"Thanks Crow." She whispers, standing up, stretching, and giving a rather alluring smile. "I appreciate the help."

"And you could have so much more 'help' if you just ask~"

"Oye, shove off!"

"Hey! Can't a guy just-"

"No way A! Get lost!"

"Can't even admire the eye candy…"

"Affection."

"Alright, alright, I'm leaving."

"You know Crow can't act on your insinuations, please do not torment him further."

"I know, I know, but it's annoying that I can't even give my opinion."

"W-We're sorry, b-but-"

"There's nothing you can do, I know. I'm going. Geeze..."

"Crow?" Changeling says, leaning down so that she's on eye level with a concerned expression.

"Wah-? Oh, uh, well- I…" I stutter. "What do I say? What would a normal person say?"

"'You're welcome' perhaps?" The green girl offers almost as if she could hear my silent question.

"Ye-Yeah. You're w-welcome…"

There is silence for a moment. I scramble for something to say again, feeling as though I'm missing some social cue.

"Well," Changeling says after a moment. "We should get going."

"R-Right!"

I stumble after my mi- teammate as we exit her room. We quickly jog down the hallway and to the command room where Cyborg should be waiting.

"There you two are!" The metal girl sighs, turning away from the computer screen. "I was wondering where you got off to."

I shift to hide behind my green teammate and begin to apologize in a quiet voice. "S-Sor-"

"My fault." Changeling shrugs, cutting me off. "Crow was just helping me with my hair."

Our metal teammate raises an eyebrow, but doesn't comment.

"So," She says, leaning down and handing me a small square of plastic. "Here's your debit."

I fiddle with the card curiously. Turning it over reveals the name "WAYNE" embossed on the surface.

"Debit? What's that? What's WAYNE?"

"Some sort of code maybe? Knowledge?"

"I am unsure; the term is unfamiliar."

"M-Maybe C-Changeling can explain it later."

Agreeing with Timid, I just nod and pretend to understand.

"So, it turns out Rob gave us each five-hundred dollars." Cyborg says pointedly.

Changeling raises an eyebrow. "Five-hundred? To all four of us that's two-thousand dollars. Not many teenagers can afford to just give that out at random."

"Exactly, and here's another thing. See that name there? WAYNE? That's a private bank. Minimum investment five-hundred thousand dollars." The metal girl says, stressing the 'thousand'.

"Geeze, Robbie is loaded." Changeling murmurs. Even lower, she says. "I mean, so am I, but…"

I blink at her mention of being 'loaded'. I presume, based on the (probably?) high numbers that 'loaded' means they have lots of money, but me and mist- Changeling lived in a run down apartment for two months, and why would she need to work that horrible job if she had money?

"What was that?" Cyborg asks.

"Just my disbelief." Changeling responds smoothly.

"Right." The metal girl sighs.

"You don't believe me?" The green girl responds innocently.

"Of course I don't, but I'm used to secrets by now." Cyborg shrugs, but gives Changeling a smile. "But if you ever need, I'm here to talk. I consider it my job to take care of you kids."

"Kids?" Changeling huffs, placing her hands on her hips. "You're only a year older than us!"

"She's two years older than me." I think to myself, silently correcting her.

"That may be so," The metal girl says. "But between you and Robyn arguing, Starfire's absolute lack of knowledge, and how clingy Crow is, it's hard to see you as adults."

"I resent that!" Changeling pouts sarcastically. Despite her supposedly being offended, she sports a small grin. "I'm mature! I take care of the so-called clingy one!"

"Great, she thinks of us as some sort of child with separation anxiety."

"N-No…"

"Well she's not exactly wrong. I doubt we could survive this world without her help. We are completely dependent on her."

"But we're brave! We save people! Surely that makes up for it?"

"That's hardly better! It just means we're good at being violent!"

"Not to mention we still can't do anything useful outside of battle beyond cooking and cleaning."

"We-We're so…"

"Pathetic." I whisper.

Almost instantly an arm wraps around my shoulders. I glance up, surprised to see that the conversation is finished and that my green teammate is looking down at me.

"C'mon Crow! Let's go! Time's a-wasting!" Changeling says cheerily. She tugs me out of the command centre and to the elevator while Cybrog waves after us.

"Let's meet up at lunch!" The metal girl calls. "Pizza place! Downtown!"

"Alright!" Changeling yells back. She turns to me, "We need to be quick! We have so many places to go!"

"W-We do?" I ask, confused.

"Of course!" She chirps, jabbing the elevator button for the ground floor impatiently. "We need to go to a few clothes store to get some casual outfits, then we need to hit a bookstore, I have some textbooks I want to get, maybe some comics, and then-"

I listen in a faint daze, not exactly taking in everything she says, but still trying to listen and responding where appropriate.

The one thought running through my mind, despite the chattering of my emoticlones, is that regardless of how pathetic I might seem, "as long as I can be useful, as long as I can make her smile, even if just by listening, then I'm happy."

I resolve to try my best not to mess up this day out. Changeling clearly wants this, she's excited, happy, and I don't want to ruin it for her.

I refuse to ruin it for her.


To say Crow needs Changeling is an understatement. As Knowledge said, Crow is completely dependent on her.