Surprise! Two chapters in one day! Just to tell you how well the writing's been coming. I was thinking that since the last chapter was so heavy, we had to have a nice light chapter. Well, as light as this story could be. So here you are!

Shout-out to Nightwing1387 whose vacation has come to an end. I dedicate this to you. And to all those whose hearts I've been breaking. Me sowwie. Kinda.

One more thing! I suggest you look up the videos for the DC2 songs mentioned on Youtube. MightyMeCreative has some good ones and AverageAsianDude so you can click their links. It helps you picture exactly how funny what's in this chapter is.

I awakened with the thought that I was a broken person. Despite having a good family, many good friends and more opportunities than many people had, I was broken. I got off my bed, said a prayer then headed for the bathroom to get ready. Gladly, I made my way to church with my family, the place where broken people went to seek healing. On a normal day, there was no way that we could get Jason to go with us but for some reason or other, most probably because he was staying with us and was not with his mother, he was content to come along with us. I couldn't tell if he was actually listening. I wasn't sure if one hundred percent of the time I was actually listening. I was sure I heard most of what the priest was trying to say but bits and pieces in between would be lost when my mind wandered off to think some obtuse thought or just contemplate the almost-man next to me.

Mass ended at eight thirty so, from there, I took January with me to the hospital to see Aunt Laila. She was very excited to see her and she crooned about how big she had gotten. I left after about ten minutes to grab a cup of something warm. I met Jason in the halls.

"Hey, what are you doing here? I see you changed your clothes," I said.

"Here to see my mom but I had to change before I came. She would never let me live it down if she heard I went to church willingly."

"She would tease?"

"Probably."

"I'll be sure to tell her anyway." He shrugged. "January's with her at the moment. I just needed to get something warm to drink. I'm cold."

"From the inside or just on the outside?"

"A very coherent question. Although I'm not sure. I'd like to think the latter but I'm more inclined to think that the former is the real truth." We stopped at the coffee machine and I decided to have tea instead of coffee. Last thing I needed was stimulants. My body was tired, of everything. "So you said we needed to talk?"

"Yeah. I didn't tell mom about our…extra-curriculars but she's agreed to let me go back for the rest of the year. I hear you convinced her that it would be better for both of us if we moved back here."

"I did."

"Thank you. I don't know if I would have had the courage to ask. I'm excited that she even went for it."

"It's a matter of happiness for both of you, especially you. Of course she would go for it."

"I'm glad she did. North Dakota sucks. Well, it's probably a very nice place but it just hasn't been very nice to us."

"They must have it out for California boys," I said with a chuckle.

"Hey, I may have been born there but I was raised here. By all means, I'm from Rhode Island. I know where my loyalties lie."

"Well, alright, pal." We started to walk back to her room while I started blowing on the steaming cup of tea.

"You home for the day?" he asked.

"Nope. Out all day actually."

"See, this is what I'm talking about. No wonder you're all scrambled up there. You're always busy. It's off-putting, for lack of a better word. Slow down a bit. Now's the time to enjoy life when things are easy."

I scoffed. "Things are never easy. Easy is a deceptive concept. Sometimes I feel like there's only hard, harder and impossible."

He chuckled. "Well, that isn't cynical of you at all."

"I won't say I'm sorry. We can thank this world for making me think this way."

"Isn't that the point of you being a Christian? You're supposed to stay hopeful when the rest of us adopt the belief that we're all screwed and the only we can get by is to screw over other people before they can do that to us."

"Some wise person once said that the church is a hospital for the sinners and I believe 'em. But I suppose, yeah, we're the ones who are always supposed to stay positive, hopeful and believe in the better future. It's just that some things in this world make it hard to stay positive or cling onto faith. It's a battle all the time. All I have keeping me where I am is the fact that I know I've been blessed and the peace of heart and mind that church gives me."

"I hate to admit it but I think I need you to stay that way or else I'd go straight to the dogs. I'd turn into absolutely nothing. You're the only thing keeping me on the straight and narrow. You and mom."

"Then I'll fight the darkness of the world even harder. For you."

"Thanks. Now, do you want to tell me what was killing you yesterday?"

"I saw something that disturbed me." I focused on the memory of being in Robin's arms, his scent, his warmth to block out the image that would flash into my head at the recollection of being disturbed. "I started to doubt that I was making any sort of difference. I realised that lately I've been losing who I am because I've been trying so desperately to block out that person's pain and sadness. Robin, Megan and Conner helped me try to sift through the darkness but there's only so much that other people can help you fix your problems. It's up to me now. But I fear I won't ever get to completely do away with all of them because I'm afraid that the biggest of all the problems is the one I don't want to deal with because that would mean telling the person involved the truth and that would hurt both of us for sure."

"Well, sometimes you've got the break over a bone to make it heal correctly, isn't that right?"

"Interesting analogy. Sounds painful. I'm not friends with pain."

"No one is but it's just one of those things you have to deal with in life."

I sighed. "I hate wisdom. It never makes things easier."

He chuckled. "Very true but at least it gives you an end to look forward to. It helps you make difficult decisions. So are you going to sit your ex-boyfriend down and tell him the truth while finally asking for your damn answers?"

I turned to look at him. "Sharp bastard."

He laughed. "That's what happens when you try to be vague with someone you've already told all your problems to."

"Well, not all."

"You're keeping things from me?"

"No, I'm just choosing who I tell what to. All my problems have been admitted, just to different friends."

"I still feel like I'm being kept in the dark."

"Then turn on a light," I said with a laugh just as we reached the door.

"Hey, when are you going out?"

"After I drop January home."

"What if I take her home for you?"

"I still have to stop by at home anyway."

"Well, how 'bout you take off now? I'd like the time with January anyway. She's the little sister I've never had."

"Well, alright. So I'm not the little sister you've never had?"

"No, you're the best friend-slash-wife-slash-bro-slash-parole officer."

I laughed. "Yeah, I guess I am all that."

"And so much more."

We entered the room and I offered January and Aunt Laila hugs and kisses before I left. I also left the untouched cup of tea with Jason.

At home, I threw some movies, a change of clothes, my suit, my iTouch and a deck of cards in a bag. I told my parents I was with the team for the day, gave them each a hug, kiss and 'I love you' and then headed out. I returned a second after I went out the door and spirited away the Xbox Kinect and a both editions of Dance Central that we owned. In the end, I left the apartment with my usual bag with all the stuff that I had amassed. I got a cab and got to Mount Justice in six minutes since everyone seemed to be taking the opportunity to sleep in this fine Sunday morning. I gave the cab driver an extra two bucks for his dedication to be out here while no one else really was.

"Honey, I'm home," I called once I entered The Cave. I headed straight for the living room where Conner and Artemis were seated. Megan was in the kitchen cooking something. "Ah, nothing like coming home to the wife making breakfast and the children behaving."

Megan laughed and the other two offered smiles. "Hey, since when are we the children?" Artemis asked.

"No clue but you guys are just sitting there," I responded.

"We're waiting for the food," she replied.

"Ah, well, yes, I suppose that makes three of us. Can I offer you some help, Meg?"

"Uh, sure," she replied. "Can you get the hash browns from the oven while I deal with the sausages?"

"Your wish is my command."

I dropped my bag onto the floor beside the couch, washed my hands then proceeded to fulfil Megan's instructions. I grabbed a spatula and started to unstick them from the tray and transfer them to the dish in the counter. Just seconds later, Megan made her way over with the pan of sausage links, placing them onto the other plate. She telepathically got the fridge open, produced the bowl of fruit salad and placed it on the table along with the other dishes.

"And now we pray over the food." I signed myself and said grace before meals aloud while the other three just stood around the food in a solemn stance. "I'm assuming from the amount of food you prepared that we're expecting the others."

"That is correct," Kaldur said as he entered with Wally and Robin in tow. Half a second after they entered, Zatanna trotted in.

"Hey, guys," she said cheerfully.

"Glad you got to come, Zatanna," Megan said.

I smiled at the group of us. Today was going to be fun. We all took our seats around the table. I sat at one of the heads of the table and Kaldur was at the other end. Meg and Conner sat together, Wally and Artemis ended up next to each other and Robin and Zatanna sat opposite to each other next to Kal. I could feel the warm family vibe of the whole arrangement. I loved it.

Everyone dished food onto their plates, passing bowls and platters as needed. I waited for the sausages to reach me when something occurred to me.

"It," I began and their eyes flicked to me, "is too quiet in here."

Megan laughed. "Only because you haven't started talking yet."

"Very true," I agreed with a laugh, "but I think Zatanna should carry the convo today. I mean, technically speaking, she is the newbie of the group."

"How come you're so dressed up?" she asked me. Then I remembered that I had forgotten to change. I was wearing dress pants and platforms with a fitted, long sleeved dark purple shirt. My attire practically warranted questioning.

"I'm trying to impress you," I replied with a wide smile. She laughed at that. "I'm kidding. I just came from church actually. Well, not just came. I was at the hospital, too."

Megan, Robin and Conner turned to look at me gravely, putting their forks down, all at the same time. It was chuckle-worthy but I didn't give it one. I just felt really loved and like I had been a bad girl to worry them.

"Hospital?" Zatanna asked.

"Oh, right, you don't know. My parents work at the hospital and a week ago we had a sort of mission to get someone I know back from a mob hospital. In return, her son, Jason's going to be our spy. She's warded there now and I went to take my sister to see her. It's been three years. Anywho, speaking of that particular mission and those concerned, Jason's flying back to North Dakota tomorrow. He wanted me to inform you that he's going to make good on his end of the deal." I pointed at no one in particular with my fork. "However, Aunt Laila and Jason both intend to move back to Happy Harbour in July next year so it's going to be up to us to do something about that particular group of criminals before then."

"Move back?" Kaldur asked. The others seemed to relax and continue their eating.

I nodded. "Yeah. There's nothing holding them there. North Dakota hasn't been good to them and they realise it would be a lot better for both of them to just move back here where they have friends who can help them out."

"How is she doing?" Kaldur asked.

I smiled. "Spectacularly. Bickering with her son already. She has to stay in the hospital for a while but, after that, she'll be staying with us. Mom and dad will help her get a job and find a new place to live. I wish they could just move back next door to us but I guess that's not going to happen." I stared at my hash browns for a moment before I looked back up at them and plastered on a smile. "So, before we start interrogating Zatanna like she murdered someone, what's the plan for after breakfast?"

Megan looked at Conner who looked at Wally who looked at Robin. I laughed. "No clue. What do you want to do?" Robin said.

"Well, I was thinking we could go to the beach—"

"Are you crazy? This time of year? The water must be freezing!" Wally protested.

I chuckled. "Alright, alright. I'm kidding. I know that. I brought my Kinect."

"Your what?" Conner asked.

"My Xbox Kinect. It's motion sensor gaming. Quite literally, you are the controller."

"You did make sure to bring games for that, right?" Wally asked.

I smirked. "Of course."

Robin seemed to regard me wearily. "I'm getting a little bit suspicious. What games did you bring?"

My smirk widened. "Dance Central one and two." Robin and Wally exclaimed as if they'd just been told they lost a bet. I laughed. "Oh, what, you guys rock FPS games and fighting games but you can't dance? Are your talents with games so limited?" I was baiting them on purpose.

"You're victimising us. This is clearly your ultimate revenge," Robin remarked.

"I dunno. Sounds like fun to me," Zatanna said.

I sent Zatanna a kiss from across the table. "Thank you very much, Zatanna. Oh, come on, guys. Man up. The best dancers make the best warriors. Am I to take it that you guys are forfeiting already and that I'm the new videogame champ?"

"Not a chance," Robin responded, smiling. "I can beat you at whatever you throw my way."

"You've got an unfair advantage though," Wally said. "I'm sure you're probably familiar with all the songs and their dances already."

"No, not really. I can't remember when the last time I played these was and I haven't played all the songs. Off the top of my head, I don't know what the dances are like for 'Dip It Low', 'Money Honey' and 'Flashing Lights'. In fact, I don't know the dances for more than half the songs on the later game."

"How do we know you're not tricking us?" he questioned.

"You have my word. Cross my heart. Besides, you're pretty safe. The persons I wanted to victimise the most were Conner, Artemis and Zatanna. Our leader escapes because, well, he's our leader."

"I thank you for the sentiment," Kal said, smiling widely.

"Me? Why me?" Conner and Artemis said together.

"Because I usually don't victimise you two. Now enough protesting. After breakfast, we dance. Now, we ask Zatanna for her whole life story."

Zatanna began to tell us about her home in New York City and living with her dad. She didn't mention her mother which forced me to deduce that she wasn't in the picture of her everyday living. Being one to think of the worst thing first, I suspected that she was either deceased or separated from the family.

In the midst of Zatanna recounting a story about a spell that went hilariously wrong, something that had been tugging at the back of my mind came to the forefront. The same time that Zatanna finished her sentence, I face-palmed by reflex.

"Hello, Hyacinth. That's what's missing. Or rather who. We didn't invite Happy. Now I feel bad."

"You've got to be kidding, right? I thought you and Red Arrow didn't like each other," Artemis said.

I shrugged. "We...have an understanding, me and Happy. He just seems so lonely. It's in every word he says and he tries to cover it up with anger and indifference but I can see straight through his...mask."

"He...tends to be a bit of a loner, Hy," Robin responded. "Besides, I don't think he'd be too excited about the Dance Central vibe."

I laughed. "Oh, I can just see it now. It's hilarious. He should smile more. It can't be good for his face for him to be looking like he has a mace stuck up his a—butt all the time. Happy needs to loosen up." I sighed. "But I don't suppose he's the type you can convince of very many things unless he comes to the conclusion himself, is he?"

Something about the atmosphere had gotten still and lost its carefree tone.

"Ah, I killed the mood," I said. "I'm sorry." I looked around the table. "Well, since everyone's done, I'll get the dishes while Sidekick over there will hook up my Kinect so we can get jiggy with it."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Just don't pass out at the sight of the knives in the sink," Robin threw back.

I scoffed. "As if. Who's afraid of knives here? Not I, for sure. Can I get someone to help me dry please?"

"Oh, I'll help," Zatanna offered.

"Thank you very much." She stood beside me as I began to run some water on all of the dished then grabbed the sponge. She already had a towel in hand.

"Zatanna, why don't you let me handle that?" Conner suggested. "I already know where everything goes."

"Oh, alright. I'll go see if I can help them set up," she responded.

"Yes, please help them. Tell them they need to move the couches to the sides of the living room and leave a wide space in front of the TV, especially if we're going to be playing in teams." She went off to the others with my instructions and Conner took the first dish from me after rinsing the soap off of it.

"Who knew you were so much of a leader type," Conner commented.

I chuckled. "I knew. I'm a bit bossy. Robin knows. Jase knows."

"Sounds like you two are on pretty good terms now."

"Yeah. I couldn't help it. He's made me realise he's really repentant about the whole thing and well, these days he's been the support system that's familiar, the one I need. There's something about the two of us that just can't be at odds with each other for very long. Anyway, I guess it proves that he's not really a bad guy, he was just cast into some unfavourable circumstances."

"Is that what we're going to call it?"

"Conner, think of it this way. If Robin, Wally and Kaldur had left you in CADMUS, you would have been a weapon of evil, too. That doesn't mean you're intrinsically bad, it just means that you've been forced by some internal programming to do what's wrong. Jason's situation is just like that. His care for his mom is the programming that forced him to join the other side when he needed to support her financially. Even if it's against what he really thinks is right, there's something else forcing him into it."

"Well...I guess you've got a point."

"Trust me, if you guys ever spent some real time around him, you'd realise he's not a complete and total jerk. He's just...someone you need to handle with care. He's a box of crazy covered in a layer of crude jokes but he's fun. And loyal. And kind, given the right circumstances."

"I guess I'll take your word for it."

"I wanted him to join the team after he moves back."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but I don't know how either him or the rest of the team will feel about that. Somehow, I imagine he's just going to want to hang up the waistcoat."

"We're all set," Robin called from the living room.

I threw a look over my shoulder to confirm that our arena was set up satisfactorily. "Good job. Just push those sofas further apart please."

"How much space do we need?" Wally lamented.

I chuckled loudly. "You have no freaking idea, Wally, my boy." He expressed some wordless displeasure and I just laughed at him.

"Are you really planning to make me dance?" Conner asked.

"Yes, please. Well, I can't force you into anything but I'd like to ask nicely. Trust me, messing up in this game is almost as fun as doing well. Unless you slip and fall, that is."

He gave a tiny smile. "If either you or M'gann are my opponent, then I guess I can go with it."

"Thank you, Conner. Who do you prefer, me or her?"

"Uh..."

"How about one round against both of us?"

"Yeah, I guess that's reasonable."

"Sweet. I'll pick some good songs for you guys. We'll have a lot of fun, I promise."

"I'll hold you to your word."

"If you punch me because you didn't have fun, I'll understand."

"Why do you always say that? I won't hit you."

I laughed. "I hope not. But I'm just saying."

"I don't hit friends."

"Nice to know, Con. You're getting better and better at this expressing yourself and the whole social interaction thing."

"Thanks. I guess."

We washed and dried the last few wares and I went to change while Superboy put everything away; thereafter, we headed to the living room.

"Anybody familiar with playing this game or is it just me?" I asked, kicking my shoes off.

"I've seen the ad on TV," Wally said.

"I've only seen other people play it. Never tried it myself," Robin responded. Everyone else was quiet.

"Okay, so I guess I'll do a round by myself to show you and then we start the face-offs."

"Good idea," Zatanna commented.

"But Wally will be my first victim. Robin, I'll let you pick the song." Wally started to lament again.

Robin laughed. "You're going to regret that. You're both going to regret that."

"Oh, I know I will. But I suppose that's what going to make it funnier."

I started off with 'Poker Face', the easiest song on the game, but put it on the 'hard' setting. "You're mirroring the dancer on the TV," I explained. "His or her right is your left and so on. It also helps if you get into the beat of the song. This is a dance game after all." The song ended. "Any questions?"

"Why are you picking on me?" Wally asked, sounded exasperated.

I laughed. "Because it's fun, Wally. Trust me, you're going to enjoy this more than you're going to hate it."

"Alright. I'm game for some fun."

"Robin?" I asked, turning to him. He came and started scrolling through the list of songs. He stopped on one and I smiled at the preview clip of the song. "Good choice, especially for the first round. I think it's easy. I only saw the video of it on Youtube."

"I just remembered it because it's your ringtone."

Robin selected the song and put it on 'hard'. I pursed my lips to hide the smile. Robin moved out of the way and Wally and I took our places. 'Like a G6' started and I noticed Wally getting his game face on. I smiled and returned my attention to the screen in front of me. I would need it. In the beginning, both of us fumbled here and there but somewhere during the middle of the first verse and the start of the second chorus, we got our rhythm and started to get the hang of the dance. Robin was rooting for Wally. Megan was rooting for me. The scores seemed to be pretty close for the first half of the match but after the freestyle interval, I came back with a vengeance, beating him by five hundred points. Upon being declared the winner, I jumped up into the air in celebration. I gave Wally a bro-hug.

"Nice dancing, Flash boy."

"You, too, Hy. You're really good at this."

"I've got a somewhat secret passion for dancing."

"Not so secret, if you ask me."

"Who're the next two victims?" I asked, peering behind Wally.

Megan and Conner went next and I chose 'DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love' for them but on the 'medium' setting. Conner spent most of the song looking like he was getting frustrated but coming down to the end he seemed to kind of be getting the hang of it. Cheerleader Megan was doing a better job but with quite a few misses herself. In the end, she was the victor but Conner could only smile at her joy. Yes, he was exhibiting the attributes of a young man stupidly, hopelessly and completely in love. It was adorable to watch. In short bursts. Conner retired from the competition after that.

Artemis and Wally tried to tackle 'Whip My Hair' (Zatanna's choosing) and that turned out to be quite entertaining. Of course Artemis won but the both of them were doing a rather good job of tackling the song.

Next, Zatanna and Robin went. Wally chose 'Dip It Low' for them and Robin swore he was going to kill him if he got through the song intact. It was possibly one of the funniest things I ever saw. The odd thing about it was that Robin won. Robin requested a new challenger and when no one came forward, I volunteered. We let Conner pick the song, even though he didn't really know them. He chose one at random which proved to be our demise.

'Party Rock Anthem' was a hard song. It was a very hard song. Especially since Conner had been sure to put it on the 'hard' setting. I was messing up a few moves really badly and laughing a lot during the dance. Megan and Wally were having a fun time laughing at my facial expressions and my outbursts. Robin faltered as well but not comically as I did. At the end of the song, he nearly knocked me over but saved me just as I was about to fall. We were both laughing at that point. He won.

Artemis volunteered to go after that against me. Leaving Wally with the choice of song was always a bad thing. He chose 'Right Thurr' for both of us. The song had a very...sassy dance to say in the least. He hooted whenever the dance called for any booty shaking and prompted for us to not be so subtle with our moves. This one was also close and I won only by about a hundred points.

And then Robin chose 'Rude Boy' for me and Zatanna. I was getting pretty tired and he just wanted me to burn and suffer because that's what (wicked) friends do. They torture you for no apparent reason. I was bringing all the laughs so I guess I was kind of okay being the sacrifice. I would be dead on the floor for about a half hour after we stopped playing though. Despite all the sports I did, dancing was still a very strenuous thing. When I told Robin that I hated this disgusting song, he just laughed at me.

"Doesn't matter," he responded. "You still have to dance it."

"Bastard. Wearing me down like a mother."

"Maybe you should let her take a rest," Zatanna suggested.

"Well, I would, but see—" Robin started.

"We've got this thing going with games," I continued. "If I can be at the top for this, then I get some bragging rights. Therefore, after this round, Robin and I will do two more songs and that will decide the Dance Central champ."

"Not that this is a real game or anything but I suppose she deserves some credit for being a good booty shaker," he added with a laugh.

"I'll take credit where I can get it," I responded with a shrug. "Besides, this is more than booty shaking. It's eye-hand-foot-butt coordination. It matters."

"Alright, I'll give you that. I accept your challenge except we do three songs, not two." I groaned but then nodded. "Now enough talk. Dance."

Wally had such a fun time watching us dance to that song. They got their fair share of eye candy for the day. I won Zatanna by two hundred points.

"Is it just me or are you really good at this game?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I think it's the latter but you guys are really good, too. Did you check out your scores? You guys were pretty much tearing it up. I'm proud."

She chuckled. "Thanks, I think."

"I'm going to need a spine massage after all this popping, locking and dropping."

Artemis and Zatanna laughed. "Tell me about it," the former said. "I can only imagine what yours feels like since you've been playing a few rounds in a row."

I made an intense fist and did an overly dramatic superhero pose. "I will overcome. I have the power!"

"Who's picking our songs?" Robin asked me.

"Artemis picks one, Zatanna picks one and Megan'll pick the last one."

"No fair. Let Kaldur pick one."

"I am unfamiliar with the songs," Kal said.

"So was Conner but he just picked at random," Robin responded.

"Actually, that's a great idea. So Artemis, Kal and Megan?" I asked.

"Sounds good to me."

"Zatanna, please pick the most torturous song you can find."

"Now you're just getting vicious," he commented.

"Revenge is a what now?"

"A dish best served cold," Zatanna completed. She started to search the list and very quickly made a selection when Robin and I were staring each other down.

"Wait, what song did you pick?" we both asked, realising it was about to start.

"You'll see," she responded, smirking. And that was the point at which I got worried.

She had chosen 'Milkshake'. I wanted to die. I spent half of the song laughing, for one because the song was ridiculous and for two, because it was another song with a sassy dance. I looked across at Robin a few times to watch him rolling his waist and laughed loudly each time because it was just so hilarious seeing The Robin of Dynamic Duo fame gyrating to 'Milkshake'. The whole damn scenario was a kind of hilarious that didn't exist in most spheres of the universe. When the scores totalled, I fell on the ground laughing at the fact that he had won.

"I guess you must be a better booty shaker than me," I commented when finally my laughter quelled.

"I guess so," he responded, helping me off the ground.

"Next song please."

Kal just scrolled through the list and then picked something. Our next song would be 'Body Movin''. I was particularly happy that I had taken off my shoes because of all the stepping I had to do during this dance. It prevented me from making lots of obnoxious noises when my feet hit the floor. Of course, acrobat Robin did not have this problem. His steps were well controlled. This bastard was my best match. However, at the end of the song, the screen announced me as the winner and I jumped excitedly and gave an extremely excited 'in yo' face'.

"Yeah, yeah, you're a gangster. Big deal," he said.

"Sore loser," I sang. "Next song please."

"No, hold on. Gimme a minute. You need one, too."

"Yeah, you're right. I can wait a minute or two for some more punishment." I turned to Kal and Conner on the couch to our left. "So, you guys have fun yet?"

"Alright, so this is fun. But I prefer to watch," Conner said.

"It is most entertaining. And very good training if I do say so," Kal said. I beamed a bright smile at him.

"Just glad you guys are bored."

"Bored? Is it possible to be bored whether you're watching or playing this game?" Artemis asked.

"I don't think so but, hey, I'm easily entertained."

"You ready to lose the next round now?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, sure. Let's go, Sidekick."

Megan literally closed her eyes and just picked a song because she really just didn't know what to pick. I laughed when I saw the song.

"That's for you, Robin," I said.

She reopened her eyes and immediately got flustered. "No, I didn't mean for it to fall on that one. I can pick another song—"

"Nah, Meg. This is fine. Just fine," I responded.

'You're A Jerk' started and I immediately got very happy. Nice slow song, nice slow dance. It was a very cool dance actually. And I won.

"I have more swag that you, probably," I told him.

"Didn't we already acknowledge that you're a gangster?"

"And you're a belly dancer."

He shrugged. "I can live with that." He pounded his fist with mine. "I hereby declare you the Dance Central champ. Although, this does not mean that you have taken my videogame title." He made as if he was bestowing a sash onto me and I bowed to our audience.

I followed his actions but onto him this time. "And I hereby declare that you have finally succeeded in beating me in a combat match. However, this does not mean that you are a better fighter than I am."

"Doesn't it?" he challenged.

"No. We were in teams so technically it wasn't a real one-on-one. You have yet to best me at one of those."

"Eventually it'll happen. Shall you grace us with an individual victory dance?"

I waved a hand conciliatorily. "Yeah, sure, why not?"

'Crank That (Soulja Boy)' was the last song. Then I dropped on the ground, cheek against the floor and pointed weakly at the couch. "Someone, take it off," I said in the most decrepit voice I could make. I heard some shuffling as someone came over to the TV to do something with it.

"So what next?" Robin asked. I heard someone rummaging through my bag. "Movies? Cards? Hy?"

"The person you are trying to address is currently dead. Please try again later."

"Oh, come on. Get up and let's play some cards."

I pealed myself off the floor. "What are we playing? Rummy? Blackjack? Poker? Cheat? Your Majesty?" I glanced at Conner. "Nah, I don't want to play Your Majesty. I'm afraid Conner sends my hand through the table where I'll never see it again." I winked at him and he half smiled.

"If I promise not to make anyone's hand disappear, will you explain the rules of the game so we can play?" Conner asked.

"Oh, alright. Game's real simple. Share out the deck amongst the players and the cards stay faced down. From the dealer's left, the players start to turn over one card in a clockwise motion so if Robin's to my left, he flips over one then the person to his left flips over one and so it goes. If someone turns over a king of any kind, everyone has to say 'Your Majesty'. A queen, everyone bows. A jack, raise your right hand and say 'Hi, Jack'. And if it's an ace, everyone hits the ace. The person who does the wrong action or doesn't do the action has to pick up the stack of cards. The first person to get rid of all of his or her cards wins. Still game?" Everyone gave some form of consensus. "Alright then. Let's move the couches around the coffee table and we can start."

"Who wants pineapple juice?" Megan asked. Everyone did. Conner and Wally went to help her with the drinks while Zatanna shuffled. I watched with rapt attention as she shuffled the cards. She was very skilled at shuffling. But, hey, she was a magician, what did I expect?

We played about three rounds of Your Majesty before moving on to Rummy for another three rounds. Midway throughout the third round of Rummy, Black Canary made her appearance.

"What's with all the commotion in here?" she asked, probably having been attracted by the noise.

"Oh, nothing, Black Canary. We were just playing cards," Megan said.

"Oh, alright. After you're finished, suit up. Time for training," Canary responded before heading back into the main atrium and training area.

Zatanna stuck around for training but opted to just watch from the sidelines since she wasn't sure how her dad would feel about her training. After the training exercises, we settled into the living room for a movie. Just for the hell of it, we chose the superhero movie and spent more time talking about whether or not the stuff that happened in the movie actually happens to superheroes than actually taking it in. At the end of the movie, my phone's message tone went off.

U ever intend 2 come home?

I smirked at the message.

Why? Do you miss me?

Maybe. I *am* leaving

tomorrow & I wanted

some help packing.

How lazy of you. I'll be

home within the hour.

In fact, I think I'll leave

now.

U don't have 2 do that

4 me. I'll just make u

stay up & help me :p

I think I need my sleep.

I'll tell my friends

goodbye and then come

straight home.

U sure?

Positive. I spent the whole

day here, anyway.

Alright. See u in a

1/2 hour.

Yah. Bye.

Oh, did you delivr my

message?

Yes, I did. They're pretty

okay with it.

Alright, l8r.

And stop texting like a

dumbass.

He didn't reply to that one so I closed the phone and stuffed it back into my pocket. The time was about eight fifteen p.m. so it was about time I made a move to go home. I stood, fixed my pants and top, found my shoes and went to my bag.

"Going somewhere?" Wally asked.

"Yeah, I gotta go help Jase pack."

"Oh, right, I forgot he was leaving."

"For a moment, so did I. Thanks so much for having me over and for all of you coming to spend the day here. I had a lot of fun and I'm so glad we could just get the time to chill together."

"Chill might be the wrong word with all the sweat we probably broke out into during the game," Artemis said.

"True that."

"I think I should be getting home, too," Artemis said. "It's getting pretty late."

"Aw, is everyone going home now?" Wally asked.

"Well, tomorrow is a school day," I said, "and I don't know about you guys but I need sleep."

"Yeah, I guess it would be a good idea to go home now," he admitted.

I went around giving everyone a hug as I said goodbye. Zatanna seemed to not realise she was going to get hugged, too.

"Oh, wow. Bye," she said, sounding a bit weirded out.

I waved it away with a hand when I let her go. "If you're going to be part of the team, you're going to have to get used to me. I'm an overly affectionate, obscene, straight talking, Catholic island girl which means I'm going to hug you every now and then."

"Most of the time she's an overly affectionate, obscene, straight talking, Catholic island girl. Sometimes she's a cold, quiet unfriendly person," Robin threw in.

"Only when things aren't peachy. Today was peachy so I was totally my overly affectionate self." I did a quick check to make sure everything was in my bag. "Alright, time for me to go. Bye, guys. We should do this again soon." I started to walk out when Robin caught up to me in the main atrium. "Where're you going?"

"With you. Duh," he responded.

"You don't have to."

"Please, let's not get into this." He took the bag from on my shoulder and placed it on his.

"Alright. Thank you very much."

We exited The Cave and began the trek across the field.

"I still can't get over the fact that you're such a wicked dancer though."

I scoffed. "I really don't listen to like half the songs we were dancing to today but hey, it's a fun game."

"I think you're lying. I saw the way you were dancing to some of those songs. You were liking it."

I chuckled. "Alright, so maybe there were like two songs that I'd rather not admit that I like. You know those songs? They're utter rubbish and have no musical value but it's so damn catchy that you can't help but like it."

"Yeah, I know 'em. So which songs?"

"Take a guess."

"'Right Thurr' and 'Rude Boy'."

"Well, aren't you as sharp as ever. I like 'Like a G6', 'Party Rock Anthem' and 'DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love' though. Those songs are pretty great."

"I always knew there was this wild side that you hid from other people. You're the good girl who only shows certain special people your bad side. I think I got to see a piece of that back when we were..." he let his sentence trail off. I wondered if he just didn't want to say the words or if he just secretly knew that that was delicate territory.

I didn't respond. Didn't know how to anyway. I preferred not to talk about it altogether. But there were questions I had to ask. I remembered that I had to try to find out who I was again.

"Hey, Robin, if you could name five things that best describe my personality, what would they be?"

He seemed to think on it a while before he answered. "Five things are pretty limited. Why do you ask?"

"I'm...trying to figure out who I am to the people around me. I want to see what attributes most people pick out and those will be the ones that really define the person I am to the people I care about."

"Sounds like there's some other purpose for all this."

"I think if I explained it, it would skew the results. So shoot."

"Alright. So first I would say animated, like you can barely stay still or quiet. Or rather that's when you're 'peachy', as you put it. Which, I might add, you haven't been a lot these days." I opened my mouth to comment—say what, God alone knew, but I wanted to comment—but he lifted a finger to stop me. "Don't bother. Just let me continue. Second, I would say loyal. You know where your heart lies and your priorities are in similar order and that's pretty darn admirable. Assertive is another one. You're generally pretty sure about yourself, your path and your goals. Almost everything about you seems solid. Fourth, you're just a saviour kind of person, always trying to save someone be it from no-good guys or trying to save their soul. That's just how you are. And lastly, I would say generous. You give of yourself a lot. You give love, attention, affection, your hard work, friendship, compassion, all kinds of stuff. You're one of those nice people that most people look at strangely because they don't believe a person that nice could exist and not be a con artist. Well, that's the five I think personify you best, off the top of my head. Had you given me a little more prep time, I think my answers would have been better."

"No, no, they're fine. Thank you. It's the things that come to you first that would really be the most honest description of what you see as my outstanding traits. Thanks for your input. I'll think it over when I go home."

"Now will you tell me what the end result of all this is supposed to be, since you've already gotten your information?"

"Not really."

"Why not?"

"It's so connected to the mess in my head that I'm not sure if you'd get it."

"Try me."

"Okay. I'm trying to feel my way out of the darkness by discovering what attributes I've always displayed best. That way I can figure out what's like me and what's not."

"Sounds like you're having an identity crisis."

"Sort of."

"You'll be fine but good luck with your search for answers. But I'm pretty confident you already know and you just aren't digging deep enough. I bet you're allowing something to smother it and that's why you can't find it."

I turned to look at him and began to really wonder if his explanation was right. Someone as sharp as him was pretty unbelievable.

At the end of the field, I chose to do something that would feel a lot like martyrdom. I waited for an incoming taxi and signalled it as it approached.

"Hey, Robin, do me a favour."

"What do ya need?"

"After I get into the cab, can you make sure Zatanna gets home alright? She might be an amazing magician but I don't think she'd do too well if she got ambushed."

"You're worried about her?"

"A little bit. She's so tiny and frail-looking. And too pretty to not draw the wrong kind of attention. Lecherous guys are just everywhere."

"Uh, hey...You said you were at the hospital this morning..."

"Yes, I did notice the worried expressions on your, Megan's and Conner's faces. What did you want to know?" Somehow I already knew the question but I needed to ask for it anyway.

"Um...that lady you saw last night...how—"

"She died. On the operating table. The fifteen percent wasn't in her favour."

"I'm sorry."

"I didn't know her."

"But it still affected you anyway."

"It's better this way, if you ask me."

"How could you say that?"

"Now she doesn't have to live with the trauma of knowing what was done to her. She doesn't have to wake up every morning and try to work past it and keep fighting the same demons over and over and over again. Her spirit can find peace now."

"Unless she's haunting the hospital." I threw a glance at him. "Sorry."

"Anyway, I've got to go." I took my bag from him. "Thanks for walking with me and see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, later. Be safe."

I watched as the car pulled away the moment he turned his back and sprinted for The Cave, going to Zatanna. I felt the tiny sting at thinking that he turned away far too quickly to go to her. It was the exact same way I felt about our breakup and his newfound crush on her. He had turned away too quickly from me to her.