A/N: I have to admit that no, I've never had someone close to me die. I don't know the experience. But when I wrote this, I imagined that my close sibling had died, and so I had some kind of an idea of what it would be like. For me, anyway. And trust me - it was depressing just thinking about it.

The Titans found Julia sitting cross-legged at the dock nearest to the Tower. They didn't say anything as they let her back into the T-Car, nor when they arrived at the Tower. They didn't even make a comment on the paper bag that she was holding close to her side, refusing to part with it.

As soon as she was back in the Tower, Julia gathered up her gifts and bags, and went to her room, where she let everything drop to the ground. As she did, her eye caught the two boxes that Damien had given her, from himself and Roger.

Open them later, he'd told her. You'll know why.

Hesitantly, the Asian girl picked up the small and medium-sized boxes. Sitting on her bed, she lifted the bigger one to her lap, first. On the side of the box, which was wrapped in red paper, was a tag that said, "From: Roger". Blinking back tears, the girl opened the box.

Inside was a pair of slim black boots with inch-long high heels. Julia suddenly remembered seeing them once before, months ago. She'd been walking down the streets with Damien and Roger, and spotted the shoes in a store window. She'd stopped and stared at them wistfully, until Roger had pulled her away, saying that they were only boots, after all.

But he'd remembered that she'd loved those boots, and wanted them. He'd remembered, and bought them for her. Julia closed her eyes for a long moment, until she'd gotten a hold on her emotions. Then she took out the smaller box.

It was also wrapped in red paper, and had a tag saying, "From: Damien." Tearing apart the wrapping paper, Julia glimpsed the name of a jewelry store before she opened the box.

It was a pair of earrings, sterling silver, with a dangling yellow lightning bolt on each earring. They matched perfectly with the clothes that the Titans had gotten her, as if they had come with the outfit.

For a long moment, the Asian girl sat on her bed, unmoving, silent. She stared at the earrings, thinking. Her eyes were completely dry, and her face somber.

Finally, Julia stood up. Slowly, she began to clean up the gifts. Changing her mind, she changed into the new clothes, putting on the sleeveless red shirt, and the jeans with the lightning bolts on the sides. After buckling on the belt with the lightning medallion, she slid the metal arm guards over her forearms. As a last touch, the girl slipped on the black boots, and hung the lightning earrings in her ears.

Gazing at herself in the mirror, she had only one thought: I look like a Titan now.

"You say it like it's a bad thing."

Julia turned, seeing Robin in the door frame of her room, arms crossed. He'd come in without her noticing. Uncomfortably, the girl looked away from him. She hadn't realized that she'd said her thoughts out loud.

"It's not a bad thing," Julia said quietly, looking at herself in the mirror. She looked so different, so…un-Julia-like. Reaching up, she took off the hair band that tied her braid together. Combing her hair loose with her fingers, Julia parted her hair to one side, then let the extra hair fall over one side of her face, hiding one of her eyes.

There. She looked more like her old self. The one she'd been with Roger and Damien, and the one that had been fading ever since she'd come to live with the Titans.

Trying not to think about this, Julia looked over to see Robin still standing in her doorway, watching her closely. Examining her.

She seemed less and less like the thief Athene, Robin thought to himself, looking at Julia as she touched up her new costume. But somehow, a little more. The loose hair made her look more like Athene, and the way some of it hid half of her face…well, it reminded Robin eerily of Slade.

But the way she reacted to the victim's death…it wasn't like a thief to mourn over an innocent's death. From the tear tracks on her face, Julia looked liked she'd been crying over it. Surely a thief wouldn't feel that much guilt over someone he or she didn't even know.

Thinking this over, Robin stared at Julia. Perhaps she wasn't Athene, after all.

"So," Robin commented, leaning on the door frame. He crossed his arms. "About what happened this evening."

Julia didn't say anything. The Boy Wonder was still observing her carefully. She felt like his eyes, even behind his mask, were x-raying her for information.

"What happened?" Robin prodded, when the girl was silent for a long moment.

"I don't want to talk about it," Julia said finally. Turning her back on the team leader, she picked up the empty boxes and bags and began to clear them up.

"Do you trust me?"

Robin's question caught her by surprise. Straightening, Julia turned to look at him. The Boy Wonder looked completely serious. He really wanted to know if she, a suspected thief, trusted him.

"I want to." Unbidden, the words had spilled from her mouth. She hadn't meant to say them, but they'd come out. The truth.

"And do you want me to trust you?" Robin continued.

Julia met his eyes.

"Yes."

That, too, had come out without her wanting it to. A few months ago, she wouldn't have cared what Robin thought about her. She wouldn't have cared if he liked her, accepted her, respected her, or trusted her. But now…

Turning away again, Julia gathered up the boxes and bags and crumpled them into a tight ball of paper, then stuffed them into the trash can near her desk. She could see where Robin was going, dimly.

"Julia." Robin's voice made the girl straighten. She didn't turn to face him, but listened emotionlessly, staring at the blank wall in front of her. "Trust is a two-way thing. I can't trust or open up to you until you do the same thing for me, first."

His words brought on a sudden flare of anger in Julia, triggering the tumult of angry emotions that had building up inside her, ever since the Titans had asked her to save Roger. Ever since Damien had turned his back on her.

Whirling around, Julia glared at Robin, her eyes blazing.

"Is it really?" she demanded, her voice ice cold. "Are you saying that, if I tell you what happened, you would automatically trust and respect me like one of your own team members, even after what happened this evening?"

For the first time, Robin was the one to break eye contact first. He looked away, having the grace to look slightly uncomfortable.

"Well…"

Julia smiled bitterly.

"That's what I thought," she said. Raising her hand, she used a gust of wind to slam the door shut in the Boy Wonder's face.

Days passed, and Julia refused to leave her room. After a week, Starfire gave up knocking on her door each morning to get her to come out. Instead, the Titans left her alone, to stew in her own misery. Or so they thought.

Julia was partly stewing in her own misery. The rest of the time, she was sitting in front of her large windows, staring outside at the city and the Bay. She didn't cry, nor throw a temper tantrum. She merely stayed silent, thinking on a distant level, and ignoring the periodic alarms that went off in the Tower.

It was only at night, when everyone else was asleep, that the Asian girl came out of her room. She would slip out of her room noiselessly, then swiftly make her way to the Operations Room to get food for the next day, when she would stay in her room. Bathroom breaks were whenever she knew the Titans wouldn't come across her.

She needed to be alone, to think.

And Julia had a lot to think about, namely Roger's death and Damien's disgust at who she was and what she had done. She had to ponder what her future would look like. What she should do, after everything that had happened, and what she wanted. Both were hazy topics that seemed unreal at times, out of reach and understanding.

Roger's death was her fault. That much she knew for sure. And lately, nothing else seemed to be certain.