Disclaimer – Own nothing.

To vi – Thanks for your review! I'm glad you liked the last chapter! I kind of wonder if the hair thing, is because his hair is shorter. Like, when your hair is longer, it gets messier and tangled more easily. I don't know but it can be really annoying lol. Hope you like this chapter!

To Guest – Well, I haven't actually gotten that far into the planning of that story, been busy with other stories and school. However, if I told you, wouldn't I be spoiling it? *Cue evil grin*. Hope you like this chapter!

AN – So, I haven't watched the latest two Titans episodes. Sometimes with shows like this, when it gets close to the end, I stop watching because each episode is super intense and ends on a cliffhanger that leaves me almost in a state of anxiety because I get super into the show, and I have schoolwork I need to concentrate on. I'll binge everything I missed when the finale airs. However, I have still been checking out what is going on, somewhat, don't know all the details, but at this point from what I do know, I want to punch Jason. Like, really, really bad. Hopefully the ending will be good and if not, well then, maybe I'll write an AU of it like I did with season 2. Hope you guys like this chapter! Quick little warning, there is mentions of a homicide/suicide case but nothing graphic. Just so you guys know.

Enjoy!

Dick entered the Tower slowly, dragging his feet as he walked. It had been a rough few weeks at work. Even though Bruce had somehow managed to clean up Dick's mess from when Deathstroke had come back, Dick didn't work that many shifts as a detective with the San Francisco Police Department. He was pretty busy taking care of and training the kids but he did enjoy being a detective. It was the legal version of his night job and helped him and his team get information they needed to solve cases. Sometimes though, it sucked.

The last few weeks, they had been hunting a serial killer that had managed to stay hidden, even from the Titans. Dick hated when the criminals were smart. They finally figured out the killer's identity today and went to arrest him, but he and his police coworkers discovered they were too late. Not only had the killer committed suicide, but he murdered his entire family. His children were all under the age of five. It was a disgusting and gruesome sight. One would think after all his years of crime-fighting, he'd somehow get used to it. But he didn't, and knew he never would.

The apartment was dark as he made his way inside, which Dick expected. It was extremely late. Patrol would've ended hours ago so everyone should be in bed. He had called to let them know that he wouldn't be joining them tonight and that he'd wouldn't home until very late, or early morning depending on how you looked at it. So Dick wasn't expecting to come across anyone. Which was way when he saw Rose/Jericho sitting on the couch in the living room, watching TV, he was surprised.

"What are you two doing up?" Dick asked in a low tone so he wouldn't risk waking anyone.

Rose glanced over at him, then turned back to face the large screen. "Watching TV, obviously."

"What are you watching?" Dick wondered as he cautiously made towards the couch. There was something off in Rose's voice. She was mad about something and when that happened, she was quick to lash out at anything.

"Some stupid animal documentary." She answered with a shrug.

"Didn't know you were into documentaries." Dick stated. When she didn't respond, he asked, "Mind if I join you?"

"Do whatever you want."

Sitting down on the opposite side of the couch, Dick propped his feet up on the coffee table and leaned back. He sighed as he felt his muscles relax into the cushions. He was so tired and sore. There wasn't much doubt in his mind that he could fall asleep right here, right now. Unfortunately for him, one of the kids in his care was upset about something and he should figure out why, and help if he could.

"So you just couldn't sleep or have you gained a sudden interest in penguins?" Dick questioned after a few minutes of them just watching the arctic birds in silence.

"I don't want to talk about it." Rose grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. Looking over at her, Dick noticed her fingers twitching.

"Does Jericho agree with that?"

Tensing up, the one-eyed girl growled, "Jericho can mind his own business."

"I think we know by now it's not that simple."

Ever since the Titans got back together after Deathstroke, there have been times Jericho would switch bodies with the others. Sometimes Rose just wanted some privacy, sometimes she and Jericho would fight and need some time apart, and sometimes Jericho wanted to hang out with someone else. For the most part, everyone was pretty accommodating in helping them out, but they also had to set up some rules. Because it could be hard for Jericho to take control of whoever's body he was in, they needed to make sure they would let him participate and have his say in what they were doing as well as make sure boundaries were being respected.

"Do you want Jericho to come with me?" Dick offered. Rose however, immediately shook her head.

"No, we're fine."

That had Dick raising an eyebrow. Rose was angry about something, annoyed with Jericho but wasn't willing to let him jump into someone else. That meant that whatever was wrong, not only did she not want to talk about it, she didn't want Jericho to tell anyone what the problem was. This wasn't the first time this happened. Rose wasn't a talker and did not like people getting in her business which led to everyone trying to figure out if the situation was one where they should respect her wishes or if it was serious enough that they needed to get involved.

"You guys sure?"

"Yes, we are. I just want a break from people."

"Yeah, I get that." Dick sympathized, turning his gaze back to the TV screen.

There have been many times Dick found himself sick of dealing with human beings. Being a vigilante meant seeing the most awful and disgusting side of people. Sometimes, it was so bad that he couldn't bring himself to watch movies because he didn't want to deal with any kind of people at all. When that would happen, he'd actually watch nature documentaries, just like Rose is doing now. It made him wonder if that was something they had in common of if it was just that she couldn't find anything better to watch. Probably the later because he couldn't really picture Rose as the type to enjoy nature films.

"A problem with the case happen?" The bluish-blonde hesitantly asked.

"We closed it. Problem is that we didn't catch him before he murdered his entire family then shot himself." The brunette answered bluntly.

"Oh f**k." Rose mumbled under her breath. "That's despicable. I'll never understand psychos. And I lived with one for three years."

"Me either, even after growing up in Gotham fighting the most insane, worthless excuse of human beings."

"Like the Joker?"

"Oh he's got to be the craziest psycho that ever lived." Even though Rose had never faced off with the clown, she had heard enough stories about him to make her hope that their paths never crossed. And that if they did, she'd be able to put her sword through his chest.

As she watched the penguins on the screen dive off a glacier and into the ocean, Rose asked, "Why do people suck?"

"Because they were taught to by their sucky parents, who were taught by their sucky parents and so on and so forth. And some just have very screwed up brains." Dick responded.

"You think people can ever change?"

"Honestly, I have no clue. Depends on the person and if they want to change. But since it can be pretty hard, a lot of people don't. It's easier to just stay the same regardless of the possible consequences."

From the corner of his eye, he saw Rose nod but she stayed quiet. Dick was now really getting concerned and confused. She might act like she doesn't care about anything but they all knew that wasn't the truth by now. She did care, more than she'd ever admit to anyone. Whatever was bugging her must be personal to her.

"Did patrol go okay?" Dick questioned with a nonchalant tone.

"It was fine." Rose replied, still sounding annoyed. Instead of pushing her, Dick stayed quiet, letting the growing silence be enough to cause enough tension to force her to do something.

After about two minutes, she said, "There was this thief that we caught. He was covered in burn scars. It was like his skin had completely melted or something. When we caught him, he immediately started crying. Nearly had a panic attack when he saw Kory's powers. He was just a teenager that was living on the streets because his parents had died in a fire, the fire that burned him, and the rest of his family didn't want anything to do with him. Apparently, they are the kind of people who believe that they shouldn't have to take care of someone else's kid. Told him that he should consider himself lucky that they paid off his expensive medical bills. Because of his scars and injuries, he couldn't find a job. He said that nobody wants a guy as ugly as he was around."

"What did you guys do?" It was heart-breaking, but there were a lot of people like that on the streets. They just need help, not jail-time.

"We took him to a shelter and Dawn said she'd try to find something that will get him the help he needs."

"That's good."

"Yeah." Rose then fell silent again for a few seconds before she added, "And it made me think of something that happened earlier today."

"What happened?"

"I went to the mall with Rachel, Gar and Conner. We were just hanging out or whatever, but, I got a lot of stares. And there were some people who were obviously gossiping about me. It just made me think if…"

"If the same thing that happened to that boy could happen to you because of your eye?" Dick slowly finished her sentence. Rose didn't say anything but she lowered her head which told Dick that he was right.

"You know, we can look into, seeing if there's something we can do to um, try to fix it?" Dick awkwardly asked, trying not to sound insensitive but not sure how else to word it.

"No, it's not that big of a deal." Rose said with a shrug.

"If it's something that bugs you and you think it might cause problems in the future, maybe we should look into it." Dick told her. Sitting up straight, he leaned forward and cautiously placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. When she didn't shrug it off, he continued. "Rose, what Slade did you, wasn't your fault, and it had consequences that he probably didn't even care about. You shouldn't have to pay for that."

"I know, but I'm fine. Today was just a rough day is all."

"Okay. But if you change your mind, just let me know. And, just so you know, you have a lot of people who care about you. If you need anything, we'll be there."

"I know that too." To Dick's surprise, she gave him a rare smile and leaned forward to hug him. "And thank you, for reminding me that not everyone sucks."

"You're welcome. And thank you for making my terrible day a little bit better." He said, returning the embrace. He expected her to quickly pull away. In the time they've all lived together, he had maybe gotten one hug from her that lasted less than three seconds but instead, she shifted so she was lying across the couch and was using him as a pillow.

"You're welcome." She mumbled, already half-asleep. Grinning, he relaxed into the cushions once again and closed his eyes.

AN – So I couldn't remember how much of Slade's plan Rose was on board with. From what I do remember, it didn't seem to me like she was willing to give up her eye in order to get in with the Titans. Also, I know she might seem a bit OOC but, does anyone besides me wonder how difficult it might be for her to go around in public with an eye-patch? People are bound to stare and unfortunately, there are some really sucky people who will judge and mock. I can't imagine that not getting under Rose's skin. And when it came to the hug, it was a mix of her remembering that Dick likes hugs, realizing that he could use one and possibly being touch-starved herself. Also, when it came to the case that Dick was dealing with, I was trying to come up with something that would affect Dick because of his lengthy experience he would have a bit of a tough skin, and that came to mind because I was recently watching someone react to the original Land Before Time movie and it made me think of what happened to the actress who played Ducky. I'm sorry. Hope you guys liked this chapter though! See you guys next time!