Eclipse was standing outside EJ's room. Not at the point where their rooms connected, but in the hallway. Which, he admitted, was odd, but ElectroJinx had been acting weird lately. What he had done to set her off, he had no idea. About a month ago they'd given into their emotions, and everything had been fine. Once Slade got more involved, though, things seemed to have gone more and more downhill. Eclipse had had to cut back on the time he spent with her, due to always being in training with Slade.

Today was her birthday. He had to make things right. Slowly, cautiously, he knocked on her door.

It seemed like time had stopped and he alone was the only one still able to move. He at last heard the doorknob turning and the door opened. ElectroJinx stood before him. There was another long silence before Eclipse finally said, "Happy birthday, ElectroJinx."

The blonde before him blinked. "You remembered…" she murmured, so quietly that he just barely caught it. Clearing her throat, she continued, more loudly, "Bout time you stopped calling me 'EJ'."

A small smirk took his lips. "Well, you and I both know that only Pyraine was allowed to call you that." Her responding smile was small, but Eclipse couldn't help but feel he had succeeded in a tricky endeavor.

"Ah, there the two of you are," came a voice from down the hall. It was the masked man, their 'boss' for all intents and purposes, Damion. Slade was trailing not far behind the young man, a look of annoyance in his eye, and behind him, a small girl with white-blonde hair.

The duo nodded their hellos, waiting anxiously to hear what he had to say. He turned to ElectroJinx, holding out a large, wrapped box. "For your birthday. Also, I have a mission for you two. Separately, of course."

Eclipse frowned slightly. A mission… that was separate from each other? They hadn't had a mission since Slade had arrived, and they had never had a mission apart from each other. He glanced over at EJ, who was unwrapping the present. A large, white box; she opened the box to reveal a black Gibson Les Paul guitar. The blonde's eyes widened.

"Thank you, Damion," she murmured.

"It's not a totally selfless gift," the man admitted. "Your assignment is to play at the upcoming museum gala. You will be distracting the guests while Imilia here—" he gestured to the small girl "—steals an important artifact." The girl giggled; she looked so young. Of course, Eclipse had heard of Imilia. She was one of X's most important agents. She was usually working in Russia, though by the looks of things, she seemed to be here to stay, at least for a while.

Damion turned to Eclipse. "You and Slade will distract the Titans. I trust that you will listen to his commands and do exactly as he says." Eclipse nodded. What else could he do?

Damion left, apparently satisfied, escaping down the hall. Imilia smirked at the duo. "I hoop thit you weel not deesapoint, mees EeleectroJeenx. Eet would be a peety to get reed of you." She again giggled like a school girl, skipping down the hall after Damion.

Now Slade spoke. "I expect you in the training room in half an hour, Eclipse," he hissed, going back down the hall the way he had come, clearly avoiding the other two.

Eclipse sighed, turning to EJ. "Having fun being eighteen yet?"

"What have you to report, daughter?"

Jessie hid a sigh. She didn't really want to do this anymore, but what choice did she have? It was, after all, part of Nightwing's plan.

"The Titans have begun to trust me."

"Excellent."

"X's plan is coming together. You shall have your revenge on this world soon, father."

"You truly are my pride, Hummingbird." She could feel the warmth of his smile – a smile reserved for her, the favorite – even through meditation. It was unnerving to know that she would betray him not too long from now.

"I have to go, father. The Titans will grow wary if I stay away for too long."

"Good bye, daughter."

The redhead opened her eyes, breaking the meditation. Dove was next to her, practicing her meditation. Her progress with meditation had grown exponentially, but she still had a long way to go. Quietly, Jessie stood and left the room she and Dove had been sharing.

'I wonder what Nightwing is up to?' she mused, making her way to the training room, where he was most likely to be. Hearing the regular sounds of him completing his training regimen, she walked to the door. Only then did she notice that he wasn't alone; Blue Rose's voice pierced through the air.

"I just don't trust her, Nightwing. I mean, come on, not even her own sister trusts her!" It didn't take long for her to realize that Blue Rose was talking about her.

"Raven doesn't trust anybody but me, Star, Cy, and BB." Nightwing sounded exasperated. Had they been having this conversation long?

"Not true. She trusts that Damion guy, the one that's fixing the Tower."

"That's not the point, Blue."

"You're right; the point is, Jessie can't be trusted. She screams 'follower of Trigon' for Christ's sake!"

"I trust Jessie. Is that enough for you?" he snapped. Heat danced across Jessie's cheeks; no one had ever stood up for her before. "People can change; everyone has the capability of being good or bad." His voice was gentler this time.

"You realize that Starfire pretty much hates her, right?" Clearly, this girl was not giving up.

Nightwing remained silent. 'No, say something! What's he thinking?' Jessie knew she could simply reach into his mind, or slip into the shadows of the room and watch then, but she had resolved not to use her powers on him; it just felt… wrong.

"Whatever," Blue Rose grumbled. She was walking to the door; Jessie quickly slipped into the shadows, waiting for her to turn the corner down the hall. As soon as Blue Rose was out of sight, she left the shadows.

"Oh, there you are, Nightwing," she greeting, walking through the doorway, a smile gracing her lips.

He returned the smile. "Hey, Jess. What's up?"

Jessie's smile turned sly. "I was just looking for you… to ask you something."

"Yeah?"

"Will you teach me martial arts?"

EJ could hardly believe her luck. A brand new Gibson Les Paul. A mission side-by-side with one of X's top-rated agents. Well… side-by-side being used loosely, of course. All in all it had been a good birthday so far.

The blonde was currently strumming away at her guitar; she was kind-of-sort-of practicing for the gala. In other words, she was laying on her bed, strumming at the strings absentmindedly, thinking about other things. Namely, Eclipse. With him having been taken on full-time as Slade's apprentice, she'd been avoiding him, mostly due to jealousy. Being Slade's apprentice was a mark that you were on your way to the top.

Perhaps you should kill him and take his place.

EJ blinked. The suggestion had come in the form of a hiss, not near her ear, but inside her head.

The fuck? She thought, brushing the comment aside.

You heard me, EJ.

Oh, stop it, can't you see you're freaking her out?

I'm freaking her out? Then she's weak. So very, very weak without Pyraine to save her.

"Shut up," she growled, not aware she was speaking aloud.

Now see what you've done?

Oh please. She's going to have to snap eventually.

ElectroJinx could not believe this. She was actually hearing voices in her head. Like, shoulder-devil and shoulder-angel voices. What the everlasting fuck?

Classy.

You're one to talk. Was she finally going crazy?