I walked into the T-Tower, drenched, dripping, and just generally miserable. Well, I'd have been miserable if Beast boy hadn't been just as wet as me. Thank goodness for small favors…

He glared at me as the green elfling rang out his hair, "Wet." 'Funny, sort of funny. Maybe she has a sense of humor,' his chant echoed, even though his sullen look counteracted his body's cheerful babbling.

"Oh come on, you KNOW you're not that upset," I tossed him a towel then closed my eyes. 'Heat, just a little, remove the water; please?' The air about me shimmered for a moment, and then it dissipated; briefly filling the room with a warm breeze. I was dry, and my hair was perfect I might add; well perfectER.

"OH! Me too! Me too!" Beast boy exclaimed, jumping up and down excitedly. I smiled and with a brief wave of my hand gestured for Heat to do the same for him. It rushed around the boy, drying him quickly; if irritably.

'Do not ask too many favors child,' it chastened not unkindly.

'Sorry,' I unconsciously ducked my head a little. The Entity accepted my apology, though it was still irritated.

Auqualad and Speedy both stared at me, never having seen my powers before. "So, you control heat?" Speedy asked slowly.

Auqualad just studied me with his serene eyes, 'What an odd girl…'

I shook my head, "I control nothing. I only have knowledge." They only looked more mystified, but I hated explaining my 'gift,' after the hundredth time it got kind of old.

Beast boy smiled a little, a bit of his maturity leaking out from his childish shell. 'If she has anything it's the power to talk forever and say absolutely nothing.' A small chuckle burst out of me, the heroes all staring at me as if I was insane.

I didn't offer an explanation; I just gave Auqalad and Speedy a wave before heading back upstairs. It's odd; I talk with everything all the time, but I hate to actually speak in a human language. I'm sure a shrink would have a hay-day with me.

-------------------------------

"What's up with her?" Auqualad asked, plopping down on the couch; oblivious to the water he was dripping everywhere.

To my surprise Raven chose to explain, "Mage understands the languages of…everything," and though her words were bland, I could sense a sort of underlying empathy in her chant.

"Like, she talks to animals…?" Speedy said slowly, propping his legs up on the table and inspecting his arrows. There was a hint of Light in the arrow's chant, so of course; I missed part of the conversation and tried to understand what it was made of. All I got was that it exploded into blinding light when shot, and that it was a jerk.

When I did rejoin the humans' conversation all I got was, "So…she can talk to the universe," this from an engrossed Auqualad. It made sense; a telepath would be interested in matters of communication.

"Yes," Starfire said brightly, "Friend Mage has told me that the universe sounds like a giant symphony."

I smiled, it more than sounded, and it was.

They continued to discuss me, curious if I could be trusted. Oddly enough, Raven was once again the one to settle this. "She can be trusted. Mage has access to all information. She is probably listening to us right now."

I smiled wryly as the heroes stopped and looked around nervously.

"She is too much of an optimist to with to harm us. Mage believes in the good." They trusted Raven, and so they trusted me. That was the first moment of my life where I felt as much admiration for a person. Oddly enough, I came to look up to Raven. I didn't worship her, but in some ways I admired her.

Robin walked to the vents and yelled up them, "MAGE COME ON DOWN HERE!"

I winced, I could hear him if he whispered; he didn't have to yell. Air swirled down the vent and around the room, "I'm coming. And I'm not deaf," then I headed to the stairs. The elevator scared me, we hated each other and I KNEW it was going to try and kill me if I got in it. Well…maybe I was a little paranoid, but it's best not to take chances.

"Wow…" Speedy said, the Titans weren't quite so impressed. It was nice to be with people who just accepted your powers; I hadn't really realized it before. Looks like I was going to realize a lot today.

I walked into the living room, getting a kick out of the sprawled out and disorderly teens. "Yes?" I smiled a little, and actually flopped onto the couch, upside down. I loved doing that. It was so much fun getting dizzy when I stood up.

He tossed me a communicator; I never kept one as I didn't need it. That and I always lost them…but we don't need to comment on that. "Would you, Speed, and Starfire do a quick circuit around the city?"

Apparently this was news to all three of us, as the same 'Huh?' came out of all of our chants. I was the first to speak, "Sure…don't you have high tech stuff for that?"

"Yes, but Slade has apparently found a way to avoid it."

Beast boy and I glanced at each other; it wasn't only Slade who was arranging things under Robin's nose.

Speedy and Starfire stood up, "We shall go immediately friend Robin."

I groaned and rolled off the couch, "Yeah, but only because Starfire shamed me into it."

Horror struck her, "I do not mean to shame you my friend!"

"NO! No, you didn't…" I ruffled my hair, trying to think, "I meant that since you were being so kind I felt the need to be kind as well."

"So…this is a good thing?"

"I suppose so," I said doubtfully.

"My kindness will really make other people kind?"

"If they have a guilt complex," was my dry answer. I pulled on my hat and made a quick exit, amongst the heroes' grins.

Speedy and Starfire followed me, the girl floating and Speedy having an annoying habit of never needing to slow down. We reached the city and I looked around, "So, you want to split up?"

Speedy, he has to be Robin's clone or something, immediately took charge. "Starfire, you take to the air, Mage you get Town Square and the entire city south to it." Then they sprinted off. I smiled and closed my eyes, scanning the surrounded area for signs of Slade. The city spoke of his presence in the more run down parts; but he hadn't done anything. Apparently he was just feeling things out.

Then, my job done, I went to get an ice cream. Wasn't life wonderful?

Three hours later Speedy came across me, sitting in the park reading and eating a pretzel. "What are you doing?"

I smiled to myself, "Relaxing. Don't worry; I checked the city out."

"How?"

"I asked it if it had seen Slade."

His eyes widened then he whacked his forehead, 'and I could have just had her LISTEN.'

I laughed, "Yes, you could have."

His eyes grew even huger.

Starfire landed beside him, "Do not be surprised, friend Mage hears most thoughts relating to her."

"And the really passionate ones," I added, "They're so loud I can't ignore them."

Of course he immediately began thinking of everything he didn't want me to know about. I politely ignored him, focusing on Starfire instead.

"So, did the Good Ware skyscraper have any signs of Slade?"

She nodded, "Yes, thank you for the tip." Starfire sat down beside me, 'boot prints. Charred mark, wanted us to find, he's playing with us. Poor Robin.' Underneath this there was a deeper level of thinking; one might call it her intuition. 'There was a fight, Slade left, but he wasn't hurt. He just wanted to frighten them. Who's them though? Who is he after?'

Starfire took a deep breath and began to explain, "I found boot prints."

I waved it away, "I'm sorry; I listened in on your thoughts. So, you think he's trying to frighten someone?"

She looked at me, disgruntled and mystified but still keeping up. "Yes…"

"Why?" I asked patiently, well as patiently as I could manage.

"There were no scraps of clothing or blood anywhere on the building," she explained, thinking hard. "And the place wasn't as messed up as it usually is when Robin and Slade fight."

Speedy nodded, "Yes, I found similar things all around the city."

While I could learn anything with hardly any effort, the information you could get from actually seeing the place was invaluable. Not to mention that they thought more like a human than I did, so their jumps of intuition were better then mine.