Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans or nothing like that, of course.

-T-

Adelaine Wilson struggled hard to free herself from the man's vice-like grip on her wrists, her face streaked with tears and her heart pounding. She kicked and screamed, but no matter how hard she hit the man, he seemed to feel no pain. Addie turned her face to the left, her eyes pleading with her teenage son behind her, who stood motionless and seemed frozen in place.

"Joseph!" she pleaded desperately.

He wanted to help her, only he couldn't move. He tried to take a step forward, but he had almost no control of his body, which refused to obey his mind. He stared in horror as the man lifted a dagger above his head, an evil grin sweeping across his face, and thrust it right through Addie's sternum, and her face twisted in a silent scream. The man dropped her to the ground and stretched his arms in obvious pleasure with himself.

Joseph suddenly regained control of his body, and he rushed forward at the man in a rage, only to have his wrists siezed violently. The man looked down his nose at him and tightened his grip, causing Joseph to cry out in pain and kick wildly at the man's shins, but as before, the hulking mass of man seemed immune to pain. He once again raised his dagger, but this time his target was the boy's throat.

Joseph's hands shot to his thoat, and he knew he should feel the pain of the slice, but strangely he didn't, though the blood was running through his fingers plain as day. The man dropped the knife and literally disappeared into thin air, and as he did this Addie moaned from a few feet away. Joseph turned to her, and she raised her hand at him.

"Oh, Joseph. Joseph."

"Joseph! Falling asleep in class again, I see?"

Joseph Wilson woke in a hard sweat, in utter confusion at his surroundings until he realized he was at his school desk in Tibet and his algebra teacher was towering over him. "Sorry, I'm sorry, Mr. Johnson," he signed quickly with his hands, then fingered the scar on his throat which was mostly hidden by his jacket collar.

"You should be. That's the fourth time this week, Joe. It happens one more time, and I'm gonna have to call your mother."

His mother. Thank goodness she was alive and that it had all been a bad dream. He nodded slightly, and his teacher put a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Is it maybe that you're not getting enough sleep?"

"I sleep fine," he signed. Mostly.

"Whatever you say. Only-" But Mr. Johnson was interrupted by the bell and then the sound of the class grabbing their books and rushing out the door. Joseph looked at his teacher and waited for him to decide if he should go or stay after class for a lecture. The man seemed to know what Joseph was thinking and sighed. "Go on with the rest of the class. You're too good a kid to be staying in here and listening to me rant, anyway."

Joseph grabbed his backpack and headed out the door, letting out a sigh of relief. It was only going to be so many times that he was let off the hook, he knew, but sometimes sleep overcame him at school at the strangest times. Mostly in class, but sometimes even at the lunch table. Joseph was thankful that his sohpomore year was nearly over, and summer vacation would offer lots of time to sleep undisturbed.

He was almost to his locker when he felt an unpleasantly familiar hand on his arm. He stiffened as his backpack was pulled off his shoulder, and he heard it unzip and all his books hitting the floor. He turned around slowly and was not the least bit surprised. Jared Thomas, Joseph's one-and-only personal bully.

"Hope you didn't need those, Joey," Jared teased, and slapped Joseph hard on the back.

Joseph didn't like confrontation and was not much of a fighter, so he just bent down and gathered up his books. Jared wasn't the only one who treated him this way, so he was almost used to it. He didn't know why there were so many people who disliked him- probably because he was mute. Everyone saw it as a weakness, even his own family, but they didn't seem to understand that gentleness did not automatically mean weakness. He could hold his own if he really tried, having learned a lot just from watching his father train his older brother Grant in martial arts for all those years, but he figured it was best just to let the teasing slide for now.

After picking up all his books, he stood up and reached for his backpack in Jared's hand, who leaned forward and shoved Joseph's books out of his hands and onto the floor again. Joey knew the boy was trying to provoke him into showing anger, but he wasn't going to let it happen. He bent down to his knees again and slowly picked up his books once more, as Jared grinned and said, "I'll catch you later, mudo tirante."

Joseph didn't stand up from the floor until Jared had dropped his backpack and walked away. He crammed his books back into his bag and headed down the hall, stopping quickly in the bathroom to look in the mirror and wake himself up.

A few hours later, the final bell rang and the high school was soon empty of students. Joseph stepped out intot he bright sun of the afternoon hauled his backpack onto his back, preparing himself for the thirty minute walk home. A brunette girl from his English class poked him on the arm. "Why don't you ride the bus, Joey? It's too hot to walk today."

Joseph smiled and shook his head. "No thanks, I have guitar practice."

"If you ride the bus, you'll get there faster."

He shook his head again. He really did want to practice guitar when he got home, but in reality he avoided the bus as much as possible because there was no way he was getting on there and being stuck with Jared Thomas for fifteen minutes straight. He had tried it once and had been hassled the entire way.

The girl shrugged. "Suit yourself. Well, I've got homework, so I'd better get going. See ya."

He waved slightly, then took off down the sidewalk at a jog. He was good and ready to go home after the ordeal with Jared, but he knew the next day would bring the same thing over again, or worse. Some kids liked to attack the fact that he couldn't talk, but he tried not to let it get to him. "Blondie", "Stickman", and, of course, the classic "Teacher's Pet" had been some of the few choice names given to him. Others were unmentionable.

Joseph continued to jog as best he could in the heat and with the heavy backpack, and he tried to keep his endurance up for as long as he could stand it before walking again. He had been trying lately to build up some muscle on his thin frame, but it seemed no matter how hard he tried his body just wasn't handling it. His frustration only drove him to continue with his goal.

He finally reached his apartment and flung open the door, panting all the way up the stairs to the fourth floor. He took the key from his pocket and reached to unlock the door, but it swung open unexpectedly and Addie stood in the doorway.

"Hey Joey, I know I'm not usually home at this time, but- well, I'll explain it to you when you come inside."

Joseph came in and closed the door behind him, letting his backpack slide to the floor and looking at his mother quizically. She moved her son's guitar case from beside the couch and set it in a corner. Joseph noticed the house looked strangely and overly clean.

"We're having company for... awhile. Now don't give me that look; I know this apartment's not big enough as it is, but you father actually requested-" She was ineterrupted by a sharp knock on the door. "There she is now."

She walked by him to open the door, and Joseph signed, "She?" but his mother ignored him. He was then jarred by a loud and boisterous voice.

"Hey, Mrs. Kane!"

Addie raised an eyebrow. "Um, it's Wilson."

A girl walked into view, her luggage seeming to be a mere messenger bag, ignoring the correction and throwing her things in the middle of the floor. Addie cleared her throat and put a hand on Joseph's shoulder. "This is my son-"

"Yeah, I know," the girl interrupted. "Jeremy."

"Joseph."

"Whatever." She jumped over the back of the couch and landed gracefully in a sitting position. "Yo, nice crib, I guess. Needs some remodeling."

Joseph raised an eyebrow and glanced at his mother, who appeared to be nervous. They had to live with this girl, and for how long? He didn't normally dislike someone on the first encounter, but this girl, whoever she was, might just be an exception.

Addie cleared her throat, her irritiation on the verge of showing. "I'll show you your room in a minute, but I'd like to make a proper introduction first." She touched Joey's shoulder again. "Joseph, your step-sister Rose, Rose, Joseph."

Step-sister? Joseph hadn't even known he had one! He turned his angry look to his mother and signed, "Why didn't I know about this?"

"It's a long story, honey," Addie whispered. "You'll know everything when she leaves."

Joseph only hoped that would be soon.