"Red-X, huh?" Victor asked on his headset.

Robin smirked at his computer. "I pick a target. I take him down."

"Dude, legit," Garfield said over chat. "Way better than 'StoneDome.'"

"Whatever, 'Beast_Boy!'"

"I like it!"

"Hey, be nice," Robin laughed. "The nurses gave him that name."

"Yeah, the nurses picked it."

"Speaking of nurses," Victor asked gently, "how's Rae holding up?"

"Dude, it's only been a day. But it's sooooo weird. Mom slept on the couch so Rae could use her bed. Then Mom got up around seven to start breakfast, and Rae was already nearly done cooking! Mom said it's probably habit, but it's still weird. Good pancakes, though!"

"It's not an easy adjustment. Give her time," said Robin.

"How much time?"

"I don't know, Gar."

"Man, it could take ages, or no time. It's pretty personal."

"Yeah, but Rob should know, right?"

"What?" hissed Robin.

"Remember? When he got out of lockdown, he said he had trauma from the orphanage. But he's a foster kid now, so-."

"How do you do that?"

"Can we just play the game?" asked Robin.

"But-!"

"Garfield. Boundaries, man."

Garfield muttered into his mic, apologizing for not getting the social cues and for bringing it up. Victor also offered to postpone the game.

"No, let's play. Please," said Robin. "I need the distraction."

"Okay, if you're sure," Victor said. "I've been practicing with Alastar, and I think we'll be fine, but let's do some unranked games first anyway. Sound good?"

"Fine with me."

"Go for it, dude. Wait." Garfield must have covered his mic, because the conversation that followed was muffled. Then he said, "Hey, guys, Rae's gonna watch us play."

Victor laughed, "Man, you finally get a girl in your room, and you're playing video games?"

"Well, yeah, it's Raven."

A distant hi came over the headset. Robin sighed.

"I'm with Gar here. Considering recent events-."

"Oh, shit, you're right. That's my bad. Hey, girl!"

"Yeah, tell her we said hi."

"The guys say 'hi,' too. Okay, game's about to start."

"So what's this game about?" Raven asked, quiet from the distance.

"You pick an avatar with special powers and spells, then it's basically a game of capture the flag. You steal the relics from the other team to banish them. Right now, I'm hiding my relic," Garfield explained.

"How 'bout there?" she asked, much closer.

"That's… a great spot, actually. Nice one, Rae. Now it'll return me to the spawn point, and we wait."

As Garfield narrated his actions to Raven, Robin also hid his relic on the map and was teleported back to the start. A brief timer popped up on the screen.

"Okay, remember, Gar and I are a team and, Rob, if you need backup-."

"I'll let you know," said Robin.

"Rob's an assassin, so he'll stick mostly to the trees. He's also got the best chance of finding the relics, with his sneaky ninja powers. Me and Vic are gonna rack up a body count."

"But there's only three players," Raven said.

"Yeah, but they respawn. You know what, you'll see."

"They found your relic, Vic," said Robin, engaging the enemy assassin. "Looks like the other team is also using Tengin."

"Yeah, I panicked and didn't hide it well. Gar, slow down and summon something, will you?"

"I'm hurt pretty bad, so I'll hide this again. I'm sure- dammit!"

"What's up?"

"Kenori shot me. I'm down."

"Robin's avatar just died, so he'll respawn in a few seconds here."

"Where were you? I need to get that relic back."

"They have Vic's relic, so they might banish him- oh, score! I found one," said Garfield.

"So you can, what? Banish a player?" Raven asked.

"Yeah, if I get it back to our altar. Uh, spawn point. Cover me, Vic. Maybe we can keep this even."

Robin's avatar unlocked, and he pushed a button to teleport deeper into the arena.

"I'm in. I'll get your relic, Vic."

"Watch your five," muttered Raven.

"Is this cheating? It feels like cheating," Garfield chuckled.

"I mean, it's probably cheating," agreed Victor. "Just don't do it in a ranked game, okay?"

"I got her. On my way back with the relic. They got close, Vic. Hide it better next time, okay?"

"Copy that."

Robin had just crossed into his team's territory again when his screen turned black.

"Crap," he scowled. "Guys, I've been banished, and Vic's relic is barely on our side of no-man's land."

"Aw, that sucks," Garfield whined before relaying this to Raven.

"You did good, Rob. We took out their Obota, so they're down a healer, aaaand, I got their Tengin. Gar, hide my relic for me, man."

"Yeah, yeah, along the border, right?"

"That thing there?" asked Raven.

"No, but good catch. That's a supply pack. Dudes! I got a multiplier!"

"Find the relic, G. I'm almost to the altar."

"Hey, normally we're already dead in 2v2. This is great!"

Robin's phone pinged. He opened the screen and burst out laughing.

"Who did you guys just banish?" He asked.

"Starfire," said Garfield.

"Oh my god, invite them! That was Kori."

"Kori plays?" Victor laughed loudly.

"They just texted me. 'Victor killed me. Make him stop.'"

"Hey, Raven, if you learn to play, we'll have enough people to do league games."

"Perhaps."

Victor laughed again. "She's enjoying this, isn't she?"

"Oh yeah. Sweet! We found your relic, Vic."

"I found it," Raven growled. "Hide it there."

"How was Starfire spelled?" Robin asked, opening the chat to invite them.

"Star-asterisk-fire, no caps," said Garfield. "Oh, shit. Vic, Kenori just killed me. He probably has your relic, and I'm in time-out."

"Victooor," a new voice whined over the chat, "you banished me!"

"Yeah, sorry about that, Kori. Didn't know it was you."

"Dude, you never told us you played BattleCasters!"

"I did not, until last week. You said you needed a healer, so I tried, but Obota was so perfect!"

"No problem," Robin said. "We need a ranged caster, too, so you still fit in. You're really good, for a newbie."

"And you are, too."

Not really, thought Robin, staring down at his raw knuckles. God, how fake was he? He was the first one out of the game and had been playing twice as long as Kori.

"Technically, that's a necromancer," Garfield's voice cut off his thoughts, "but yeah, Yovanni heals, too."

"Who is playing Yovanni?" asked Kori.

"Raven's thinking about it," Victor told her.

"Oooh, yes! Yovanni is a perfect avatar for Raven! Then I can cover for Robin, and she can heal you two."

"That's actually a great plan," Robin admitted. "You can distract the other team while I hunt, and your range should keep you from getting too hurt."

"If Raven stays at the border, she can guard relics and heal," added Victor, "with the bonus of a skeleton army."

"Are you going to stay Alastar or go back to Piggy?" asked Garfield.

"I'll probably go back to Sampson. His name isn't Piggy."

"Yeah, but he looks like a piggy."

"He's not a piggy! He's a biomechanical alien!"

"Wait, does Rae have a computer?" Robin asked.

"One second."

The sounds of static and shuffling invaded the chat, then Raven's husky voice came clearly over the line.

"Hello?"

"Do you have a computer, Raven?"

"I don't even have a flip-phone. Miss Logan is taking me to get one tomorrow, though. Maybe we can stop at the bank and I can take out a few dollars-."

"You have a bank account?" asked Victor.

"We thought you were broke."

"I never said that. You guys just assumed I was."

"You were saving to run away, yes?" asked Kori, and Raven snorted.

"Yeah, that worked out well. I probably had enough to-."

"How much?" asked Robin.

"I'm not telling you."

He sighed. "They might have lied to me, but Boss told us we had to earn a thousand to last a month outside."

"Damn it, I was so close," hissed Raven. "Another month or two, and I could have-."

"Don't go there, Rae," Victor warned. "You can't change the past."

"Right."

"But," Robin said, "you have enough for a decent setup. Do you want me to help you pick something out?"

"Y-yeah. I'd love that."

"Yes! I got the last one!"

"Gar, cover Victor. He's got the last relic."

"Sweet!"

"I'll meet you at Syber Space tomorrow, then," Robin said. "It's not far from Mobile Star in the mall, so I'll do some browsing while you get your phone, okay?"

"Thanks, Rob."

"Yes! Our first win as a threesome!" whooped Victor.

"And the last," Kori chuckled.

"Thanks, Robin," Garfield shouted, though it was quiet over the mic.

"I didn't really do anything."

"Man, you were our martyr. Once Kori's with us, you won't be running off into the dark alone. Someone was gonna get banished. Someone always does. But you kept me in the game long enough to be useful."

"Okay."

Robin's watch beeped angrily at him. He fumbled to shut it off.

"Hey, I gotta study," he said. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, okay?"

"See ya, man."

"Later."

"Bye, Robin!"

"Fi amen Allah."

Robin logged off without actually saying goodbye. Instead of studying, though, he flopped onto his bed and didn't move until his phone rang. Garfield? Why was he calling?

"Hey, Gar," he answered.

"It's Rae. They started another game and aren't listening."

"Oh."

"Who's 'Boss?'"

Ugh.

"That's what we called the guy running the last house I was in."

"I thought you were in an orphanage."

"It felt like one. No, it was a foster home, and Boss was in charge. He managed everything."

"So you grew up a lot like me, huh?" Raven paused like she was waiting for a reply, then said, "I get it if you don't want to talk. I just need to make sure of one more thing."

"What's that?"

"Tomorrow? Is not a date."

"Uuuh, why would it be a date?"

"It's not."

"Yeah, but why are you making it a big deal?"

"I'm not. I'm just making sure you know."

"I never said it was a date. Do you want it to be a date?"

"I think I've made it very clear that I do not want it to be a date."

"Okay?"

"So. Not a date."

"It's not a date."

"Good. See you tomorrow."

She hung up immediately, leaving him wondering what the hell prompted that call.