Chapter 36

The Question...

Keeping his distance, Polybius grew wearier and wearier of the Titans with each passing day. What Polybius had expected to hear when he got back to the tower was an apology. Not being slammed at for encouraging Donna to punch a hole in the wall.

This reaction put the mute on guard and high alert. And when he reached out to Donna about it, she too was just as shocked to learn about this. This made her nervous about even setting foot off the island and going to anyone else aside from Polybius.

Naturally, Polybius encouraged her to continue her hero work, which she did. But she actively avoided talking to other Titans after both of their phones got blown up with angry messages for the others.

To the two of them, it seemed that the people they once called friends were turning on them. All because neither one was interested in dating. This subsequently led the two of them to count on each other more and more for support as they stopped receiving it from the rest of the Titans.

This series of events set Polybius on edge. The feeling of betrayal had set in for him. Just when he had thought that the rift from Beast Boy's prank had finally healed, it was now once again showing itself.

And of course, Darkbius and Hostbius also had things to say about it to Polybius. The two made sure Polybius knew that he was almost totally abandoned. And that there was only one person who would never betray him. And that he needed to go back.

However, so long as he had Donna, this would never happen.

That being said, however, Polybius still found himself in a precarious situation. He began looking at his options for the future and tried to figure out where he wanted to go from this point in his life.

Thinking back to Wonder Woman's offer, he pondered the idea of leaving the Titans for the Justice League like Speedy had fairly recently. And while he did talk to Wonder Woman about it, she explained that this wasn't a good time to do that because of some serious changes coming to the League. Many of which, she didn't like, but was outvoted on. However, she said that closer towards the end of the year would be a better time for him, but he was still welcomed whenever he wanted.

Polybius's issues with the Justice League is he was surrendering a lot of his freedom. He had always been an advocate of 'hero's autonomy.' This was the idea that heroes should be able to operate within a highly decentralized system. And the changes happening to the Justice League were going in the exact opposite direction of what he wanted.

Moving onto his next idea, he thought about going solo and living a life closer to one he had known before joining the Titans. Not necessarily going towards Alaska, but possibly heading towards Greece or Turkey so he could be closer to Donna was a nice idea.

But this too had a lot of problems. The first and foremost is that Polybius didn't have any documentation. Despite being born in America, he didn't have a birth certificate, social security number, or anything like that. This made personal travel quite hard. And the only reason he was allowed to stay in America in the first place was because of his volunteer work, same as Starfire.

Therefore, trying to move to a new country was going to be a monstrously difficult task. And even leaving the Titans a problematic task.

The final option for Polybius was to just go off the grid entirely. He was aware of heroes working solely from the shadows and hiding away from the world. And while the idea most greatly suited Polybius, he still had issues with it.

The most glaring problem with it was trying to keep in touch with Donna. Obviously, if Polybius didn't want to be found, he would have to leave his phone behind. And even if he got a new one, Donna wouldn't get one, and all the texting to two did, this would lead the Titans to him. And at the present moment in time, Polybius was alright with not seeing the Titans for a long while.

This left Polybius stuck at the tower for the time being. That being said, the mute always took the chance to get out and away from the Titans. He couldn't stand them at that moment in time. Them being so obsessed over him hooking up with Donna greatly concerned them. However, as far as he could tell, there was not an external force forcing them to think that way.

Meanwhile, on Donna's end, every time she picked up her phone, she had text messages from the Titans. All saying the same things. How she should hook up with Polybius.

It had gotten to the point where Donna only picked up her phone when she texted Polybius or needed something substantial. Otherwise, her phone stayed hidden all day.

Two weeks after the mock date, Donna was sitting on the steps of the grand temple when a surprise visitor came into view.

"Diana!" Donna said happily as she shot up.

"Hello, little sister!" Diana greeted as Donna rapidly approached her "I hear you've been having some fun?"

"Yes!" Donna said.

"Well, then why don't we go talk about it." Diana offered.

"Right now?" Donna questioned.

"Why not?" Diana asked, "You don't seem to be doing anything else. Come, I'm sure we have much to talk about."

"Yeah, sure!" Donna said, "I've been dying for someone to talk to."

That was true. In Donna's mind, her older sister was the only person she could comfortably talk to about this whole situation. She was on the outside, and while she was friends with Polybius, Donna felt that she wouldn't lie to her.

Once out of earshot of any of the other Amazons, the two sat down and began talking.

"So, I know you've visited Polybius." Diana started, "How is he? I've been meaning to visit him, but haven't gotten around to it due to just being too busy."

"He's been great!" Donna said, "He seems happy. Well, until recently."

"Oh?" Diana asked.

"It's a long story." Donna said.

"Well, we have all day." Diana assured her, "Take all the time you need."

"Alright." Donna replied.

The younger female would go on to explain all the events starting from her visit to Athens, where she found the terrorist group with the hit list. All the way to the mock date, the Titans forced her to go on with Polybius.

"A mock date?" Diana asked.

"Yes!" Donna assured her, "It is one of the strangest, most awkward things I have ever been forced through. We just sat there with no idea what to do."

"That doesn't sound fun." Diana said.

"It wasn't." Donna replied, "I don't get it. I don't understand why all my friends are acting this way. Why does everybody want me to start dating Polybius?"

"I can't answer that." Diana said, "However, what I do want to know is how do you feel?"

"What?" Donna questioned.

"From what you told me, it sounds like you feel differently towards Polybius than you do the other Titans." Diana pointed out.

"And?" Donna asked.

"Do you love him?" Diana asked.

Donna went silent as she looked away from her older sister. She let out a long sigh as she pondered the question. And after thinking about it, she had an answer.

"Yes." Donna answered, "I do love him."

"Then why haven't you asked?" Diana questioned.

"Well… It's because he is so anti-relationship. He doesn't want anything to do with it, and I'm afraid that he doesn't love me back." Donna explained.

"Doesn't love you back?" Diana questioned.

"Yeah." Donna said, "Because he can't talk, all I have to go off of is his body language and texts. And they don't tell me much about how he feels about me."

"I see." Diana said, "Well then, I guess the best thing you can do is ask him."

"Ask!?" Donna said, somewhat scared by the idea.

"Of course!" Diana said, "If you put him on the spot, then he'll have to confirm or deny whether or not he loves you."

"And what if he says no?" Donna asked.

"He won't." Diana answered confidently.

"But what if he does?" Donna asked.

"Just trust me, little sister." Diana said, "He won't. I'm quite sure he loves you as well."

Meanwhile, on Polybius's end, the mute Titan sat at his computer desk. He had both hands on his head and was clearly stressed out. And that was because he had both Darkbius and Hostbius standing over his shoulders. And they were talking to him.

"You love her, that much is obvious." Hostbius started, "However, the idea of you, doing a relationship, is about as believable as the Roman Empire coming back before tomorrow."

"And that is because you can't do one!" Darkbius said, "Say, did you know that more than fifty percent of all marriages end in divorce. And most of them, the women run off with everything leaving the man with nothing!"

"Or how about that child support." Hostbius said, "Oh, wait! We don't have to worry about that since dickless here could never satisfy her needs."

"Then again, like you could even bring yourself to do that anyway." Darkbius followed up.

Polybius had enough. He forced himself to stand up and hastily walk away. The two followed him all the way to the main room where the TV was on, but nobody was watching. The mute made his way over to the couch. However, he didn't see the remote. He looked at the TV, hoping it would drown Darkbius and Hostbius out.

"In today's news, we have a representative from the Women's Empowerment movement, who is here to talk about a very serious topic, sexual assault." The news lady started, "However, we aren't talking about men on women or men on men crimes, but rather we are talking about the rising number of women on men crimes."

As Polybius watched and listened, he felt his heart sink as the Women's Empowerment representative talked. But there was one line that hit him harder than any other string of words he had ever heard before in his life.

"Men can't be raped by women." The woman stated.

"You see Polybius." Darkbius said, "That didn't happen to you. You wanted it, like the dirty animal you are. That's why you should go back because she loved you. She cared for you. She gave you everything, and you left her. Because you thought things could get better for yourself? How selfish, you worthless piece of shit."

Polybius shook his head as Darkbius and Hostbius began to laugh. Their voices filled his head as he covered his ears in a desperate attempt to drown them out.

"But all of that is okay." Darkbius said, "I promise you, if you go back to her, she'll forgive you. There might be punishment involved, but she'll take you back with open arms."

Meanwhile, back on Paradise Island, Donna stood nervously in front of her older sister. Diana had encouraged her to practice asking before she actually did. That way, Donna would be able to come off more confident than scared and nervous.

"Go ahead." Diana said, "Pretend I'm Polybius. Ask me out on a date."

"I don't know about this." Donna said.

"Look, I know in man's world, it's usually the man who takes the initiative and asks the girl, but times are changing. And if Polybius is as anti-relationship as you think he is, then the odds of him asking you are slim to none. You've gotta take the initiative if you want him." Diana explained, "Besides, I'm sure Poybius will like a girl who is both strong and highly confident."

"Alright." Donna said.

The younger girl took a deep breath and looked at her older sister in the eye and began.

"Hey Polybius." Donna started somewhat nervously "Do you maybe want to go on a date with me?"

"That was good." Diana said, "But you gotta be more confident. Throw out the maybe and ask!"

"Okay." Donna said, more confident, "Do you want to go on a date with me?"

"Better!" Diana said, "Again!"

"Do you want to go on a date with me?" Donna repeated, even more confident.

"Again!" Diana encouraged.

"Do you want to go on a date with me?" Donna repeated, being as confident as she could be.

"You've got this." Diana said, "Next time you see him, just go and ask him."

"You sure he'll say yes?" Donna asked.

"Sister, he'd be insane to deny you." Diana assured her.

Meanwhile, back in Jump City, Nathan was sitting in his room looking out his window. It had been a couple days since he last heard the voice and he was scared. The teen had heard it almost daily since the voice had first started talking to them. It had been more than three since he had last heard it.

Pushing the voice aside, the teen felt guilt-stricken ever since he murdered that Amazonian girl, Zenobia. He hated that he had to kill her and realized that he didn't want to kill people. Even if it was Polybius or a close friend of his, he didn't want to. He just wanted to go back to a normal life. Go to college like he had wanted to and major in chemistry.

However, Nathan had enough of this bullying he had been put through. His mother had been killed and restored dozens of times. Each time she came back completely oblivious to anything being wrong. Or that she had even died in the first place.

Therefore, he resolved to do the only thing he could think of doing. With the lack of the voice, Nathan began to believe he wasn't being watched. This would allow him to finally kill himself and end his miserable existence.

Pulling out a vile of poison he had bought off the black market, the teen held it up in the light and looked at it. It had a skull and crossbones on it.

"This is it." Nathan said as he opened up the vile.

Not even hesitating, the teen put the vile up to his lips. However, instead of feeling a liquid running into his mouth, he felt nothing.

Confused, the teen pulled back the vile to see that all of its contents were gone. He then realized that he wasn't alone.

"Nathan, my boy!" The voice said, "You thought about leaving with work that still needs to be done?"

Nathan felt his heart stop. He held his hands to his head as he began to feel a migraine set it.

"You fool!" The voice said, "You think that just because I'm not talking to you, giving you a small break, means that you are free to go?"

"Agh!" Nathan shouted as he hit the floor.

"You are so freaking stupid." The voice said, "That's what I like about you. But don't worry, Nathan, I'm almost done with you. One, or maybe two more things depending on what I decide to do afterwards. But anyway, once I'm done with you, I shall let you go and have fun doing whatever it is you want to do with your miserable life."

Meanwhile, back in Titans Tower, Polybius sat alone in his room. However, this was ended by a knock at the door.

Answering it, Polybius found Starfire and Robin standing on the other side with a smile on her face.

"Hello friend Polybius!" Starfire greeted, in her usual happy tone, "How are you on this glorious day?"

The mute gave an apprehensive thumbs up.

"Good to hear!" Robin said, "Mind if we come in?"

The mute, again, apprehensively let the two into his dwelling. He took a seat on the end of his bed while the two stood in front of him.

"So, Polybius." Starfire started, "Robin and I are wondering, why are you so anti-relationship?"

Polybius wasn't taken off guard by this question, but it was one he didn't want to discuss. Especially with his friends. Not after his journey to this point in his life.

"Look, I know that there are bad people out there." Robin started, "People who want to hurt and use you, but I promise Donna is not gonna do that to you."

The mute didn't understand why everyone was so obsessed with him hooking up with Donna. What was it about the idea of the two of them dating that was getting everybody so excited?

"Yes!" Starfire concurred, "Donna is a very charming and nice girl. I think it would be a good idea for the two of you to start the ship of relation."

Polybius shrugged his shoulders, hoping the two of them would explain why, or, better yet, leave.

"Come on, Polybius!" Robin pressed, "You two are perfect for each other!"

Polybius then motioned for the masked leader to go on.

"Well, for starters, you two are very similar." The voice of Cyborg said.

Looking at his door, Polybius saw Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven entering his room.

"Yeah!" Beast Boy said, "You both like the outdoors, fight for the same reasons, and you complement each other very well!"

Polybius was taken a bit off guard by the arrival of the other three. He grew a little nervous as to what this meant and why they were here. And he didn't make an effort to hide his feelings either.

"Look, Polybius." Robin said, "We aren't going to press you as to why you are the way you are. But we just want you and Donna to be happy."

Polybius's nerves began to relax as he heard these words.

"And as of lately, it seems that you are only happy when you're with her." Raven added.

"We just want what's best for you." Cyborg went on.

"Which is why we want you to give Donna a chance." Beast Boy added.

"And we are confident that if you asked her that she wouldn't deny you." Starfire agreed.

Polybius thought about what they were saying. Maybe he should give Donna a chance. Maybe things would be different with her.

"Only to set yourself up to get hurt." The voice of Darkbius said.

Polybius looked over at his window to see Darkbius standing there. It was clear to the mute that none of the other Titans were unable to detect his presence. The darker version of himself was looking right at the mute.

"Face it, Polybius! They are lying to you!" Darkbius stated, "They want to see you get hurt, and you know this to be true. Remember Beast Boy's little prank. And how long it took them to apologize to you?"

The mute looked down at the ground as he remembered the gap in time between the prank and apology.

"Please don't feel conflicted about this!" Starfire said.

How could he not? In one ear, he had the Titans telling him to pursue a relationship with Donna. And in the other, he had the very familiar and surprisingly trustworthy voices of Darkbius and Hostbius telling him not to. That he was setting himself up to get hurt.

The mute began to shake his head.

"Please!" Starfire begged.

"No." Darkbius followed up in a tone, mocking the alien princess's.

"Yeah, come on, Polybius!" Cyborg encouraged.

"Don't do it!" Hostbius said, appearing next to Darkbius, also unable to be detected by the Titans.

The next thing the mute knew, the room quickly became filled with the voices of the Titans, begging him to consider the idea of a relationship and the voices of his two counterparts ordering him not to.

Polybius covered his ears in an attempt to drown out all the voices and began shaking his head. When this didn't work, he quickly bolted up and ran out of his room, leaving everyone in the dust.

"Why did he do that?" Beast Boy questioned.

"Did we push him too hard?" Cyborg asked.

"No." Robin said, "But I think we might need to lay off of him."

"But-" Starfire started before getting cut off by Raven.

"Robin's right." Raven said "Maybe pursuing a relationship might be too much for him. I'm sure he has good reasons as to why he is the way he is."

Polybius made his way outside to the top of the roof of Titans Tower. Once up there, he took his hands off of his ears and looked out at the setting sun. He slowed his approach as he moved towards the edge.

Polybius stopped and took in the complete silence. Finally, for the first time in a while, he was alone and could hear himself think. And not hear anybody talk about him pursuing a relationship with Donna. He could finally get his thoughts in order.

But he wouldn't be afforded that time to do so.

"Polybius!" He heard the voice of Donna call out from behind him.

Spinning around, he saw the young heroine flying towards him and landing on the tower. While he was happy to see her, he was also alright with not seeing her at this exact moment in time.

As the two approached each other, the Titans, as well as Darkbius and Hostbius, came up to the roof.

Donna approached Polybius with her head held high and full of confidence. She had a smile on her face because her sister had convinced her that Polybius was not going to reject her.

"Hi Polybius!" Donna greeted.

The mute smiled as he always did, and had no clue as to what was about to happen.

"Polybius!" Donna said, "I have an important question for you!"

Polybius was all ears as Donna suddenly felt her confidence vanish. While she did her best to hide it, everybody was able to pick up on it. As her nerves began to tense up, she took a deep breath to calm them down and look Polybius right in the eye.

"Polybius." Donna started, nervousness evident in her voice, betraying her attempt at confidence "Would you like to go on a date with me?"

Oh snap! What will Polybius say? What do you think'll he'll say, or should say? Let me know as I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a lovely rest of your day!