A/N: After two year of stalling we have returned. (Sorry.) Some pretty significant character changes have occurred, but to get anything new done, we can't go back and fix everything about their written backstories atm. So, we're just gonna update you on the changes that will be considered canon from this point on (and we will go back and fix old chapters to conform with this later.)

Ren: MARIE LOGAN NEVER DIED. So, Ren was not raised by Bruce, and she did not live in Wayne Manor. Marie raised her two children as a single parent after her husband "died" (she still thinks he is really dead). They live in a lovely townhouse in Gotham, and both Ren and Gar go to Gotham Academy. Marie makes a good living by being a vet in the area after she finishes college. Bruce is still Ren's Godfather and considers the Logan's part of the family since Josh asked him to watch over them as he left. Ren still grew up best friends with Dick and all that. And she was still aware of Bruce's identity from a young age since he had to bring her to the League for her power training.

Autumn: Some tweaks to events, timing, and other stuff that is not relevant right now.

Our new goal is to have a chapter up once every two months since we are both freshmen in college with part-time jobs. Wooh.

For those who have been waiting for this, thanks for sticking around. For those newbies, welcome to this hell hole.

For anyone reading this, we love you tons. Feedback and constructive criticism are always super welcome!

In this chapter: Ren and Autumn have a much needed conversation.

Enjoy! :D

-Zin and Em

March 10, 2011

The atmosphere over the Cave was peaceful. Had been, really, since the fiasco in the Amazon about a week prior. It was nearing dawn. The sky was lightening, shades of red and orange starting to streak through the quickly-fading navy blue of the night.

Autumn watched as the light crept across the wall. She closed her eyes and evened out her breathing, trying to coax her brain to sleep-if she were going to get any sleep tonight, now would be the time-but to no avail. Her eyes blinked open again twenty minutes later. With a sigh, she rolled out of bed and walked over to the window, placing her elbows on the sill and her chin in her hands.

She often had problems sleeping, but this was getting ridiculous. If the pattern kept up, she wouldn't be able to fall asleep until she trudged back from school, her mind on nothing but her room, where she would stay until training. She'd already fallen asleep on one of the chairs in the common area earlier that week, which had been mortifying. (She'd woken up when Kaldur tried to drape a blanket over her and had almost decked him in the resulting panic, which made it worse.)

She scowled at herself. Many of her teammates had already told her that Garfield getting hurt had not been her fault, including the shapeshifter himself. No one involved appeared to put the blame on her except for herself. She should be able to believe her teammates. That's what a team did; they trusted each other. So why could she not bring herself to believe them?

Because she was self-centered and had a knack for drawing attention towards her own feelings and away from where it actually needed to be. Even if her teammates were right, and the incident itself hadn't been her fault, her... "guilty face," as she heard the team call it, had drawn undue concern towards her when it should have been on the boy being stabilized in the infirmary.

Garfield had later told her that Ren had been genuinely trying to apologize for her past overreactions, not accusing her of anything, but she wasn't quite sure she believed him. The dominant part of her still thought that Ren had, intentionally or not, pointed out a problem that she saw. A flaw in Autumn's behavior.

Well. That was something to work on, she supposed.

"Are you sure you're okay? You look greener than you did an hour ago? Do we need to get Black Canary? I'm gonna go get Black Canary?" Ren started out the door, trying to ignore her little brother's eye rolls.

"Oh my god. Ren. Stop. I am fine. Manhunter told us more than once that this whole green thing is a result of the blood transfusion M'gann gave me. Honestly, I think it's pretty cool! But, I'm healing well. I. Am. Fine."

Ren relented and stopped in her tracks. She turned around and sat at the edge of his bed in the Cave. That had been her resting spot for most of the week if you don't count the loveseat against the wall that she had made her temporary bed. Their mom had tried to get her to come home on multiple occasions but to no avail. If Black Canary thought it was best for Gar to recover in the Cave, then she was staying there too.

She sighed, "I'm sorry. It's just… you almost died, Gar. You could've died." Her voice got quiet towards the end, and she stopped talking before her voice could crack.

Garfield winced a bit as he sat up straighter in his bed and put a hand on his sister's arm, "But, I didn't. Thanks to you and M'gann and the rest of the Team and League. I'm okay. It's bad enough with mom here every second she isn't at work, but you literally will not leave my side. I love you. Really I do, but, sis, go do something else. Anything else. I am begging you here!"

Ren scoffed and pushed his hand away playfully, "You can be really dramatic sometimes."

"Look who's talking!"

"Yeah, yeah." She suppressed a smile. "Alright, I'll leave you alone for a while." She stood up and stretched before making her way towards the door. "Oh!" She stopped and turned around, "Canary said you were good enough to take home today. Mom's gonna be by after work to help with all of that."

Gar nodded with a smile, "Finally! I was starting to feel like I was a prisoner."

"Drama Queen."

"Pot, meet kettle."

"I hate you."

"Hey, send in Wally, will you? I need some 'dude time' with somebody."

"You got it, Gar-Bear. Love you," Ren said with a smile.

"Love you too, sis."

Ren made her way into the Cave's common room, looking around for any of her teammates. M'gann was in the kitchen, again. Wally had just headed to her brother's room. Dick was who knows where. Sterling was on the couch playing with his camera, and then there was Autumn. Sitting in the far of the corner of the sofa, reading.

Now that she thought about it, that was all she had seen Autumn doing all week. Granted, most of her time was spent with her brother, but still. Ren took a seat next to Sterling, "Hey."

"Why, howdy, darlin'. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Oh, tone down the country, Sunbeam," Ren laughed before her smile dropped a bit along with her voice. "Has Autumn seemed a bit… reclusive to you this week?"

Sterling glanced at the smaller girl across the room before nodding slightly, "A bit I would say. I've tried talkin' to her now and then, but she would find a way out of the conversation pretty quick."

Autumn, for her part, didn't notice the conversation. She had found a book that she was able to completely fall into, which was a great temporary fix that she always took advantage of. Between that and struggling to stay awake to continue reading, she wasn't paying any attention to her surroundings.

Ren observed her. Other than being able to tell that she was closed off, she was having a difficult time reading Autumn to see what was wrong past the surface level, something she had noticed was a reoccurring factor. Frustration grew in the pit of her stomach because with anyone else, this was never a problem. Every part of her itched to go over and push the younger girl to tell her what was wrong, but something stopped her.

'You know, that hasn't always worked well in the past, dear.' Great. The fucking voice was back. She didn't respond to it, but it did make an interesting point. It hasn't always worked well in the past.

Okay then. New approach. Leave her alone until she wants to talk. That's how Ren always prefers things to go when it concerns her… minus the talking part. She shot a quick goodbye to Sterling after she decided to go train some. Standing up, she walked past Autumn without a glance. (It wasn't as easy as it looked.)

The approaching footsteps snapped Autumn out of her half-awake daze, and her eyes flicked upwards as her friend passed. She felt her heart sink a little as she breezed by without so much as a look. They hadn't spoken since Garfield had woken up. Granted, Ren had spent the majority of the ensuing week at her brother's bedside, and Autumn couldn't blame her for that at all, but now that she was out…

Robin's voice played in the back of her mind. Words of advice: When the silent treatment ends, you have been forgiven.

She breathed a small sigh and looked back at her book. Apparently, someone else on the team was upset with her, now that Garfield was out of the woods- though she wasn't sure if it was for the accident itself, or for distracting her later. Apologizing was out of the question, as it always was with Ren, so all she could really do was wait it out.

Getting back into her book proved to be futile; now that her attention had been torn away from it, the pressure in the back of her head and the way her eyes kept closing without her consent demanded that she pay attention to her need for sleep. She didn't last five minutes. Giving her head a sharp shake, she stood up and made a beeline for her room. Noticing Sterling looking at her, she gave a small nod and ducked her head as she passed.

March 10, 2011. 6:35 PM

"The League has recently noticed that one of the Detroit gangs we've been keeping an eye on have been expanding," Batman addressed the four young heroes gathered in the common area of the cave. "They're still relatively small but are growing fast. What we need right now is information. This is a strictly covert mission. Do not engage unless attacked first."

"And, preferably, don't be attacked first," Robin cut in.

"Yes. They appear to be based near the Livernois area, though exactly where is uncertain. Any identifying marks or colors have not been determined as of yet. There've been reports of a blue 1981 GMC Vandura near most of their activity; it's suspected that it belongs to one of the higher-ups. If you see the van, follow it. Any questions?"

He was answered with four head shakes. "You are dismissed."

Once they reached Detroit via the Bioship, it didn't take long for them to catch wind of the van near one of the areas that were reported to have high gang activity. Ren imagined herself invisible and was able to get close enough to the van to stick one of Robin's trackers on it. Once the Boy Wonder got it connected, they were ready to go. They loaded up in the veiled Bioship controlled by M'gann and followed the van just a few yards behind.

"Okay," Robin spoke up. "Assuming the van is taking us to the gang's main hangout, I think we should split into pairs to get quicker coverage of the area."

"Sounds good," M'gann said.

"Perfect." Robin turned towards Ren and Autumn, "Fantasia and Screech, how about you two make one pair and M'gann and I make the other? That way the two people who can turn invisible are split up."

Autumn glanced towards the Creatonian a little nervously but nodded when she did. She wasn't about to interfere with a mission in the name of giving Ren space.

Ren didn't want to push Autumn too far this time, but they should be okay during a mission. Right?

"Right," Robin continued. "M'gann, establish mental comms."

She nodded. Everyone on?

After getting three affirmatives, silence fell until the van stopped in front of a network of small warehouses. Five people climbed out and walked towards different entrances.

Alright, M'gann and I will follow the three that went left, Robin said. You two take the ones on the right.

Got it. Ren responded as everyone left the Bioship. She imagined herself invisible once more and stayed far enough behind their men so that they wouldn't suspect anything. She noticed Autumn disappear on her right as she activated her own stealth mode. The pair they were tailing walked through the door, and Autumn heard Ren stop walking. Confused, she stopped, too. A few moments later, when the gangsters were about two yards in, Ren started moving again. Making the door intangible, she stepped through, and after figuring out what happened, Autumn followed suit.

There were a few makeshift rooms on either side, blocked off with anything from large pieces of plywood to cloth hanging over a line, but soon enough, the hall opened up into a central hub. About twenty people were gathered near the back wall. As their targets joined the group, they started scanning for a place to hide.

Looking up, Autumn saw that the warehouse didn't have a proper ceiling. The rafters were completely exposed.

Rafters? she tentatively suggested. I'll listen from there.

Okay.

Ren imagined her wings and quietly flew to the rafters, Autumn not far behind her. They found themselves nestled in a shadowed area where the beams met the wall. Glancing across the room, Ren took notice of another shape making its way along the rafters.

Robin, presumably with M'gann. Apparently, all their guys had been heading to the same place.

Hey guys, we're in the rafters at the far side of the room, she alerted them.

Gotcha.

Alright.

The comms fell silent again as they all paid attention to the group below. Ren could make out some of the words, depending on the volume and tone of the person speaking, but nothing that was very useful. Autumn, on the other hand, was utterly focussed on the conversation. They discussed the events of the day and how they related to previous happenings for a while. There was an occasional reference to "our goals." From what she could gather, they primarily dealt with stolen data, though also had a hand in the arms trade.

After a while of listening in and Autumn relaying what she heard to the rest of the group via the mental link, Robin said that he thought they had enough info for now and to head back out.

To keep their cover as tight as possible, Ren and Autumn began carefully crawling back across the wooden beams to get to a window so they could leave. Ren was in the lead and noticed that one of the rafters had a significant crack in it. She almost thought about warning Autumn via the mental link, but decided against it last second, assuming her friend was paying attention to how she was moving but also forgetting that she herself was invisible at the time.

In addition to being unable to see her friend, Autumn still had an ear on the conversation below, so missed the change in the sound of Ren's movements and the crack in the beam. Her hand landed on it with a splintering sound that echoed around the room and immediately caused the gangsters to look up.

At first, their heads pointed in the direction of the sound, but, being unable to see anything or anyone there they slowly turned their heads to look in the opposite direction.

Where they saw Robin, despite his stealth mode being on. There were a few, long, quiet seconds as both parties realized what was going on.

It was broken for the team when Robin's voice rang throughout the mental link with a loud, acerbic, 'Oh, fuck.'

As soon as M'gann noticed the gangsters moving for their weapons, she yelled, 'Move!'

And they were off. No longer caring about being quiet, the foursome scurried across the beams and out the windows, the sound of blindly fired gunshots left in their wake.

Their full report was met with a somewhat confused Batman and Black Canary, a bewildered Robin and M'gann, and an embarrassed Ren and Autumn. The team was well known for accidentally blowing their cover on covert missions, but it was rarely for something as simple and avoidable as the rafter-crawling equivalent of stepping on a twig. This was especially true when it came to a pair that was usually pretty in sync.

This wasn't just a slip-up. Something was off.

Black Canary stood in front of the four, ready for answers. "What happened out there?"

"I don't know," M'gann said with a shrug. "Everything was going well for the longest time, and then they saw us. Or… Robin, technically."

"I should have said something. I noticed the cracked beam and thought Autumn noticed it too, so I didn't mention it. I know better than to just assume." Ren looked back and forth from Canary to Batman, gauging their reactions.

"I, um, was still listening to the gang's conversation," Autumn hesitantly added. "I wasn't paying attention to the state of the beams or the change in Fantasia's movement."

Robin spoke up from his spot next to M'gann, "Now that I think about it, the both of them were being… unusually quiet during the entire mission. I mean, quiet for Tasia."

Canary and Batman both turned their sights on the two heroes in question. "Okay, you two, what's going on?" Canary asked.

Autumn uncomfortably shrugged.

"Nothing that I know of," Ren added.

Canary looked between the two of them, studying each for a moment, before sighing, "Something I have noticed over the past few months is that you two have a severe lack of communication between yourselves at times. I wasn't going to mention it, because it didn't seem to be too big of a deal, but now that it is affecting missions, it needs to be sorted out."

Batman glanced at his fellow Leaguer, "What do you propose we do?"

"I think the two of them, right now, need to sit in a room together and have an honest conversation to figure out what is going on. It can be just the two of you alone, or I can sit in if you want."

"Nope, alone is fine," Ren immediately said, Autumn, nodding in agreement.

Ren and Autumn settled themselves in a secluded sitting room with the door closed. The Creatonian found herself tense and ready to run at the drop of a pin as she sat down but forced herself to push through. Dinah had made a really, really good point. They did have bouts of severe lack of communication, which they never really addressed. And the fact that it was affecting them in the field…

It might be time they actually had the conversation the both of them had been unconsciously avoiding. Ren chewed on her lip, dreading having to start the discussion that would inevitably lead her to have to open up.

But, she considered Autumn one of her best friends, and she trusted her so, she at least owed her that.

The two were silent for a good while. Neither knew who should start or how. It didn't take too long for the impending weight of the conversation to become a bit much for Ren. She shifted in her seat.

"I-," she took a deep breath. "I'm not very good at this if you couldn't tell. Um, but, I guess I'll start." She stopped for a moment before drawing her knees up to her chest, making her look younger than she already was. Her voice was quiet as she spoke.

'Bad idea,' the Voice sang. Shut up.

"I don't open up very much. It tends to make me really uncomfortable, which I don't like, so I run instead. Like I really want to do right now. I don't really know why, or maybe I do? Um, I'm pretty blessed with the life I've been given. I have a wonderful mom who has a stable job and a fantastic little brother who brings joy into my life. And I've got the best friends I could ever ask for. Like, sure, I've lost things, ya know? My dad.

"But not, not as much as other people. I don't want to seem ungrateful or bother people with my problems when they have their own. And to hide what I am feeling, I go a bit drama queen on people, so they'll leave me alone. I know I need to work on that. I'm sorry for the times I took stuff out on you.

"And so, I feel like I don't have the right to feel bad about anything when people are going through so much worse every day. I should be able to handle stuff on my own. Other people do every day. My mom has single-handedly raised two kids really well with little to no help. And my Godfather has been through hell and back, and yet he still takes everything in stride. I've been through less than them, so shouldn't I be able to do it too?"

'You aren't strong enough.' Go away.

Ren squeezed her eyes tightly shut, pausing for a moment before slowly continuing on, "And I, I, hate the thought of people looking at me with pity because of Daddy or something. I don't need it. I don't want it. I don't wanna risk it. And so, I don't bother with it.

"And I'm good at reading people and seeing what's wrong, which a lot of people like because they don't have to explain as much. It's always been easy for me to empathize with them and be there for them. To help in some way, because I can't do much more than that. And I like to help.

"But you, you are the one person I can't read to the depth I do other people. You're really good at wearing a mask if you didn't know," Ren cracked a small smile.

'She's going to pity your pathetic little self until the day you die.' Fuck off.

"And it is really frustrating because you're one of my best friends and I love you, and I want to help, but the only way I know how to, I can't really. And so, I push. Too far, a lot of times, I know. And I do that because I don't like to see people struggling, I guess. But, I think, a lot of the times I was pushing to satisfy my needs instead of doing what you actually needed.

"And that… was narrow-minded of me and selfish and I am sorry. That's why I tried the opposite approach this time, of giving you space, even though that didn't work too well. But, I am trying. And I will try with a revised approach next time, to be there for you how you need me to if you want that. A lot of it is a habit, at this point. That's not an excuse, more of an explanation.

"I'm trying to be more aware of when I get too pushy with you, so I can fix my behavior. But, sometimes, in the moment, that awareness escapes me. So, I want you to know it's okay to call me out on it, as Rob and Wally and my brother do. And I won't get offended. Okay, I might in the direct moment, but it will wear off fast. Um, and also that you can still talk to me about deeper stuff, if you want, on your terms. So… yeah."

'No one needs you.' Leave.

She buried her head between her knees and let out a muffled, "God, I hate this."

There was a long stretch of silence.

'See, no good ever comes from things like this.' Quiet. Still, shouldn't she have said something by now? Ren wrapped her arms around her knees and squeezed tight.

"I... love you, too."

Autumn's faintly choked voice finally broke the silence, and Ren looked up at her friend. Her expression was a jumble of emotions. There were fondness and warmth in her eyes, but also some pain. She looked stunned and a little... sad. Not disappointed or pitying, just sad.

And overlaying it all was her "guilty face."

"Ren, I..." She stopped for a moment, swallowed, then started again. "Just because there are people who have bigger problems than you, doesn't mean you're not allowed to be sad. Or angry, or hurt. It's like... that's like saying that you aren't allowed to be happy, because someone out there is happier. No one is going to think you're ungrateful if you tell them that you're upset. They're just going to think you're... sentient." An uncertain determination crossed her face as she looked Ren square in the eye. "You're a living, feeling being and you deserve to feel allowed to express it because you're amazing and whatever voice in your head is telling you that you aren't, needs to... to screw off."

'That's very true,' Ren thought.

Her moment of confidence gone, Autumn locked her fingers together and allowed her gaze to shift around the room.

"And you don't need to, apologize for pushing me too far. I don't think that's you being selfish, I think that's you doing your best with what I've given you. I know I... don't really show when something's wrong. You're right, I am really good at wearing a mask. And most of that is, just, an unconscious... thing, I think. I'm just not... not used to having people I can turn to. I'm used to needing to hide what I feel because if something were wrong, it would either be taken advantage of or ignored. Or, like, the thing that was wrong involved something I couldn't explain to the people around me, for my own safety. And, I always forget that it's not like that anymore." She sent a small smile at her friend. "Some of your pushings was actually very helpful. I... needed the reminder and the-assurance, I guess?-that you actually wanted to know what was happening.

"But I think that part of it is also-I'm not sure, but I think it's my way of avoiding pity. Because I don't want-" She cut herself off and took a breath, steeling herself. "I don't feel I deserve it. I don't deserve pity, and I don't deserve the compassion that goes into it. And I don't want to make others uncomfortable because they aren't sure how to respond. So I just show nothing. I'm sorry that it's made you frustrated-that's not what I was trying to do."

Ren cut her off there, "You deserve to have someone to listen and you deserve to have compassion. Also, you don't need to be sorry. It's not your fault and trust me, I get it."

Autumn smiled, relieved. "Thanks. And good. Great. I'll, uh, try to work on it though." Her smile drained away a little bit. "But, I also understand-not so much the frustration, I suppose, but, wanting to help someone and not knowing how. I... You're my first friend since Gavina, and because that didn't end well... I don't know how to help people in general. But I still want to. So when you looked upset a little after we first met, I tried what you did with me and... that didn't end well, either. And after that first fight, Robin said that when you're upset with someone, you give the silent treatment, and you end it when you've forgiven them. So when you passed by me earlier today without saying anything and then didn't speak during the mission, I... misinterpreted it. I thought you were mad at me."

"Yeah," Ren said with a sigh. "I do need to work on the 'over dramatic silent treatment' thing I do. I guess that ties into the 'avoiding opening up' stuff. And I am sorry about that, I guess I took it too far in the other direction."

"It's alright," Autumn said. "You were trying to help. I just... read into everything too much."

There was yet another moment of silence, which Autumn broke. "To fix our 'lack of communication,' next time something's wrong, I will try to remember that I can come to you. And if I don't, just ask me what's wrong or what I need. I'll try to be straightforward." She looked up. "And if you ever want to talk... I may not know what to say, but I'll listen."

Ren took a deep breath and brought her feet back down to the floor, "I may just take you up on that, in specific situations. Again, something I am working on I guess." She gave a small smile and suppressed a giggle, "God, we're kinda fucked up, aren't we?"

Autumn chuckled and wiped at her eyes. "Yes, just a lot."

Standing up and stretching, Ren yawned, "Well, being emotionally vulnerable makes me exhausted, apparently. I think this was good for us though. We should do it again in the future but to a less dramatic extent."

Autumn closed her eyes and finally relaxed into her chair. "I've been exhausted since last week, I barely noticed the difference. Maybe if we just do this periodically, we won't have to do anything as intensive for a while."

"Sounds good to me," Ren said with a laugh. She stretched her arms out to the younger girl, "Hug it out?"

Autumn smiled and stood up, walking into the other girl's arms and accepting her embrace.

After a moment, Ren released Autumn and stepped back, but not before ruffling her hair, "C'mon kiddo. Let's get out of this room we've been stuck in for the past hour."

"Please."

The two girls made their way to the common area of the Cave, where it was empty except for Black Canary swiping through her phone, pretty clearly waiting for them. She looked up when she heard the footsteps coming towards her and smiled at the two younger heroes, "How are you guys?"

Ren glanced at Autumn, who looked more content than she had seen her in weeks, then back to Black Canary with a smile on her face. "A lot better than we've been in a long time."

Fin