Morgana had spent the last couple of days at home with Eek, Squeak and Archie. When Drake had left she'd been hurt and angry, then she'd just become sad. She couldn't believe the cruel things he'd said to her. Why would he have gotten involved with her in the first place if he'd wanted a normal girl all along? He knew from the beginning that she was different. And what did she have to do to convince him that she was good now? What more did he want from her?

Saturday afternoon, she decided she needed a distraction. She left her house and took a walk. Later, she found herself in front of that hamburger place Drake, Launchpad and Gosalyn liked so much. She decided to go in and have a drink, or two, or twelve.

Launchpad walked into the Hamburger Hippo and waited in line. He looked around, wondering if anyone he knew was here. It wasn't a long line, but it wasn't exactly a short one either.

"Let me have another one, please," a familiar voice called.

Launchpad looked over and saw Morgana sitting on one of the bar stools.

"Don't you think you've had enough, Lady?" the guy behind the counter asked.

"I'm the customer," she said angrily. "I'll be the one to decide when I've had enough."

"All right, Lady, if you say so. One more Koo-Koo Cola, coming right up. I'm telling you, though, your blood sugar's gonna go sky high."

Morgana thought of saying something like, "you let me worry about that," but knew she was only taking out her pain over losing Dark on this poor man, who had nothing to do with the way she was feeling.

"Hey, Morgana!"

She looked over and saw Launchpad heading towards her.

"Hi," she said, feeling uncomfortable. He was friendly enough to her, but she'd always thought that was because she was Drake's girlfriend, or because he was afraid of her, or maybe a combination of both. He was always so nervous around her. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. I'm here because we had a little accident with dinner. What are you doing here?"

She indicated the seat next to her and he sat down. "He doesn't look nervous now," a rational voice said in her head. It sounded like Dark, which surprised her. "Drake's not here either. Maybe he does like you."

"I got thirsty," She said, then belched loudly. She covered her mouth with embarrassment, but Launchpad grinned. She liked his smile. She couldn't help smiling back. Then she thought of Dark and her smile disappeared and she looked away.

"How's Dark?" she asked uncertainly. Dark was Launchpad's best friend and she was surprised he was still talking to her after the other night. She'd been sure he and Gos would be furious with her for barbecuing Dark.

"He's about as happy as you look," he said gently.

She looked up at him. He was smiling sympathetically and she could see in his eyes that he understood how she was feeling.

"This was the worst fight we've ever had," she said softly. "I barbecued him and he said he wanted a normal girlfriend."

"He didn't mean that anymore than you meant to barbecue him."

"He still thinks I'm evil," she said, starting to cry.

"No, he doesn't," Launchpad said, putting his arm around her. "You know DW; his mouth goes faster than his brain sometimes. He's hurting as bad as you are. He can't even think straight. He burned the dinner because he just can't concentrate. We even came home from patrol early last night because he felt so bad."

She started to feel hopeful. She knew Launchpad wouldn't lie.

"But he was so angry."

"So were you. Come home with me. Talk to him. I'm sure you guys can work this out. You're not gonna lose DW over one little argument, are yah?"

The line had thinned out and there was only one person at the counter.

"Think about it for a few minutes. I'll be right back."

He went up to the counter to place his order, leaving Morgana to wipe her eyes and finish her last Koo-Koo Cola.

Would he want her back? She had barbecued him; she'd regretted it almost before it was done, but she was so angry she couldn't stop herself. But maybe Launchpad was right. Maybe Dark had just reacted out of anger, too. Maybe he really hadn't meant any of the things he said.

A voice in the back of her mind nagged at her, telling her the Friday the thirteenth curse had doomed their relationship. But did it have to be doomed? Didn't she and Dark have any control over their own destinies? Why did one literally accursed day have to govern the rest of their lives?

Launchpad came back with his own Koo-Koo Cola and sat beside her again.

"It'll be a few minutes," he said. "Have you thought about it?"

"I want to work things out with Dark, but I'm so confused."

"What's to be confused about? If yah want him back-"

"I do, but I'm being forced to confront the possibility that something I've been taught to believe all my life may not be true. I don't want this to be true, but what if it is? What if I do try to work things out with Dark and it's destined to fail, anyway?"

"Yah mean because of Friday the thirteenth."

She nodded.

"Look, Morg, I don't know if there is anything to that bad luck stuff, but I do know you two are happy together and you're both miserable now that you're apart."

"But he ridicules my beliefs. How can I have a long lasting relationship with someone who thinks my beliefs are superstitious and stupid?"

"Think about it, Morg," Launchpad said, trying not to show his frustration. DW and Morgana were both so stubborn! "He was mean to you and you still want him back. You were mean to him, too, and he still wants you back. If your relationship was doomed, why would you be here guzzling down Koo-Koo Colas? Why would he be home on the couch too depressed to even fight crime? You know how much he loves catching the bad guys. Why would you be so unhappy if it was right for you to break up? If this was fate, wouldn't you both be feeling glad to be rid of each other?"

"I wasn't as mean to him as he was to me," she said petulantly. "I only singed his feathers; he-"

"That's what's gonna wreck your relationship if anything does," Launchpad said firmly. "Morgana, you fight dirty when yah do things like that. DW has no magic and he can't fight it. It's-"

He broke off. He knew if he went where he wanted to go with this it was probably going to make her angry and she might even barbecue him, or turn him into something unpleasant.

"It's what?" Morgana asked.

"It's almost like you're a bully," he said reluctantly. When she didn't say anything, he continued. "You can control him with your magic. You can get him, or any other normal, to do what you want because you can make them afraid you'll hurt them if they don't. In a relationship, it would be like you were the one who handled the money and you were using it to control your husband."

"Is that why you don't like me?"

"It's not you I don't like."

"It's the magic, then."

She felt betrayed somehow. He didn't seem like the type that would hold her magic against her. But she didn't think Dark would use her past, or the fact that she was different, against her either. But she felt much better when Launchpad explained.

"No, it's not the magic either. It's what you can do with it. I mean, I know you're not evil anymore and I know you'd never hurt DW on purpose, but what if you go too far one day? What if you get so angry that you do a lot worse than singe his feathers without meaning to?"

She stared at him. It had never occurred to her that she had so much control over Dark, or that she could abuse her power that way. Dark was normal. Of course there was nothing he could do against her magic, and he shouldn't have to either. In her own way, she had been as mean to him as he'd been to her.

"Do you really think he still wants me?"

Launchpad fought down another surge of frustration. What was it about couples that made them act like eighth graders when they fought, no matter how old they really were?

"Come home with me and talk to him," he said again. "You two are never gonna get anywhere if yah don't talk to each other. If you're both too guilty or too stubborn to try, then your relationship really is destined to fail."

Morgana knew he was right. Even if the relationship ended up not working out for some other reason, she couldn't just leave things the way they were now. She waited with Launchpad until his order was up, then walked out of the Hamburger Hippo with him, suddenly feeling better than she had since Dark had walked out, slamming the door behind him.

Gosalyn walked into the driveway just before Launchpad parked the Sedan. She stopped at the door when she saw who was in the car with him.

"Hi!" she said happily.

"Hi, Gos," Morgana said cautiously.

"Did you make up with Dad?"

"I'm going to try. Until a few minutes ago I was convinced that it was over, but then I got some advice from a good friend."

She smiled at Launchpad and Gosalyn opened the door.

Drake looked up when he heard Gosalyn's voice outside. He couldn't hear what she was saying, but suspected that she'd gotten home at the same time as Launchpad.

His eyes went wide when Morgana followed Launchpad in. They stared at each other for a few seconds.

"Hi, Morg," Drake said, trying to sound casual.

"Hi, Dark."

She sounded shy and scared.

"Gos, why don't we go up to the tower and eat so these two can have some privacy?" Launchpad asked, handing Drake's food to him. Then he handed some to Morgana. He had ordered for her, too, knowing she would decide to come home with him and talk to Drake. She accepted, surprised.

"Thanks. How much do I-"

"You don't," he said firmly, smiling at her. "Coming, Gos?"

Gosalyn followed him to the spinning chairs. He activated the statue and they were gone.

Morgana sat on the couch next to Drake, looking nervous and uncertain. Drake watched her for a few seconds, then tentatively put his arm around her. He waited to see if she would push him off, then spoke when he was sure she wasn't going to.

"I'm sorry, Morgana. I don't know what made me say all those things."

"I'm sorry, too, Dark. I never should have used the magic against you. It never occurred to me that I was not only trying to control you, but abusing my power. I was just so angry that you would bring up my past. But more than that, you making fun of my beliefs is the equivalent of my using magic on you."

"You're right. I promise not to disregard your beliefs if you promise not to use the magic against me."

"I promise."

They kissed, then Drake went to pull out some TV trays for them.

"You said it hadn't occurred to you before that you were abusing your power," he said later, as he cleaned up their Hamburger Hippo containers. "What made you realize it?"

"I had a long talk with Launchpad at the Hamburger Hippo."

"You were at the Hippo?" he asked, surprised.

"I needed a distraction, took a walk and ended up there. I-" Her expression changed. She looked alarmed. "Uh-oh!"

"What's the matter.

"I'll be right back."

"Are you OK?" he asked, concerned, as she ran up the stairs.

"I'm fine," she called back over her shoulder. "I just had six Koo-Koo Colas."

Drake laughed. Not only was she going to be bouncing off the walls soon, but she was going to be spending a lot of time in the bathroom. No matter how long the relationship lasted, life with Morgana would never be dull. He was hoping it would last a very long time.