The White Rose: Petals of Blood

by Jessemudflap

Never forget, Red, that happily ever after is only for the storybooks.

6. Chapter Five

Kira glanced down at the blue notebook in her hand with a small sigh. Despite the fact that Dante had given it back and it was now in her safekeeping, dread still beat frantically through her veins. Had Dante read it? Was there a slight chance that he had hidden his disgust behind his annoyance toward the teacher?

Frowning, Kiranne gently laid the book open; body leaned forward to protect any wandering eyes that might happen to glance over her shoulder. Thankfully, Chase and Dahlia were bickering over his bruised hip and Dahlia's knack for having a 'shitty attitude'. Shia was still puttering on through Grey's monstrous purse, eyeing every little object he pulled out. He stopped, however, when his wireless phone went off.

He glanced around quickly, the slim oval compact held in his large hand. His eyes landed on his twin sister, who was too busy doodling in her worn notebook. Content with this, Shia leaped off the marble seat, skittering around the cooing Titan couple, and darting behind the willow in which Dante was still with Miranda.

Kiranne turned her head just in time to see Shia wave off their gaze as he flipped open the compact, and a transmitted holograph of one Christian Hallowell appeared. Never one to pry, Kira glanced back down at her notebook, quickly flipping to the page where Dante had dutifully written down the notes.

She found it quickly; heart sinking when she realized it was behind her long, drawn out letter that stated every incident concerning her doubt in herself and her abilities. Fidgeting slightly, Kiranne's eyes drifted over the page. His handwriting was just as lazy as his personality, the words slanted and all in capital letters. As her eyes scanned the scrawl, she realized that he had added amusing little side notes and crude drawings about Mr. Mayson and his teaching abilities.

Kiranne smiled, gently tucking a wild curl behind her ear. It was just like him to add his personality into something as mundane as note taking. She shut the notebook contentedly, gaze searching out Dante. She knew there would never be anything between them, but it was heart warming, to know that despite this, he cared enough about her to take boring notes instead of his daily naptime snooze.

Dante was sitting up now, his back against the hard bark of the willow. Miranda was sprawled in his lap, head nestled against his thigh and body turned completely toward him. There was no telling what she was doing, and Kira forced her mind away from it. There was no sense it brooding over the fact that could never have what Miranda did. Besides, she added softly inside her mind as she slipped the notebook in her bag, I always knew I would never interest him. There's no point in hurting over it…right?

Kira sighed softly, head tilted back slightly to watch the gray clouds fight to block the sun. It was sure to rain which meant that Cyborg would have no other choice but to fix Samara's truck. He had put it off for months now, and the predicted rain would force him to stop his construction on the new wing behind the tower. She did not get to muse over the predicated rain, however, for there was an insulted huff, followed closely by a yelp. Kira's head snapped back down in time to see Dahlia slam her booted foot into Chase's.

"Gah, what is your problem? I just said you could have aimed a little better," Chase muttered, plopping down beside Kira to nurse his foot. "It's not like I said you were completely incompetent at aiming…"

Dahlia turned; eyes hot and teeth clenched. "Stop while you're ahead, jackass."

Chase smiled innocently, hands held up in surrender. "Planned on it," he said with a weary chuckle. When she glared at him one final time and faced away from him, Chase leaned in toward Kira inconspicuously. "Wonder what crawled up her butt and died," he whispered.

Kira pressed her lips together when Dahlia whirled, hands snatching out to grab him by the collar and haul him to his feet. Chase gave a surprised yelp. "Okay, okay, no more hits at you, I swear. It was all a joke. I would never say anything about your aim, 'cause it is better than anyone I have ever seen and you have proved it when you aim for me. Gah, I seriously did not mean any offence so can you please let me down so my feet can touch the ground?"

Kira deftly moved out of the way when she dropped him back down so he flailed and tumbled into the large, four foot deep fountain, thoroughly soaking Grey, Shia, Samara, Adara, and Cameron. Grey leapt up with a cry, her large purse overturning and contents spilled over the sidewalk. Ada was laughing hysterically at her soaked boyfriend, whose eyes were shocked and mouth agape. Sam, however, was not so forgiving. She jerked up, practically seething, and turned all that fire to Chase.

He blinked up at her from his sprawled position, carefully gelled hair drooping into his eyes. Samara stomped up to him, took in his innocent shock and wide black eyes, and then proceeded to burst into uncontrolled laughter.

Grey shook her head, sending droplets of water tumbling to the ground. "Warning would be nice," she sighed as she leaned over to wring her wet hair out onto Shia's shoes. He was too busy peeling his wet shirt from his back to care.

Dahlia cocked her head to the side. "I didn't know he would create such a big splash," she stated, green eyes scanning over his wet body in muted approval. "I guess I will know better next time."

Kira stepped away when Chase glared, and sent a wave of water at Dahlia. She didn't have time to move, however, and ended up covered. Her eyebrow twitched as she wiped water from her cheek.

"That's cute, Chase. Real cute."

Chase dragged himself over the edge, body completely drenched despite the water being shallow. He sighed and slicked back his hair. "Yeah, I know. I'm always cute."

Dahlia snorted, chin jaunting up haughtily as her eyes trailed down his wet chest, deftly taking in the pronounced physique of his muscles. "You, Chase, are the farthest thing away from being—hey!"

Dahlia's eyes widened when Chase grabbed her in a huge hug, body pressed closely against hers. It took her a minute to realize why he had done it, but by that time, her persona had wavered to the point where she was blushing profusely. For a moment, she looked so much like Kira that Chase had to do a double take.

When the knowledge did set in, however, the shy blush turned into one of fury as the water seeped into her shirt and jeans. Chase watched her eyes flutter closed as her eyebrows twitched in anger.

"Ah, come on now, Dahlia. Don't let a little water scare you. I promise you won't melt."

Her eyes flashed black when they opened. To save himself from predicted harm, Chase quickly reached out to snatch Kira and jerk her to him, arm slung over her shoulders. She yelped in shock when she came in contact with the soaked fabric, the water bleeding quickly through her white shirt.

With a wicked smile at Dahlia, Chase shook his head, sending tears of water raining down on them. Kira ducked her head as Dahlia fought to push herself away from Chase, laughter bubbling in her throat.

When he stopped, Kira was trying futilely to muffle amused giggles. Dahlia knew that if she tried hard enough, she could push him away, but instead found herself gripping onto his shirt when the sky opened up and rain pelted the school yard. The students loitering around screamed in surprised shock as they stumbled to the covered walkways.

Grey cursed as she knelt on the sidewalk to scoop up her belonging, hair plastered to her forehead. Shia, with a heavenward lift of his eyes, knelt beside her to quicken the work pace.

Ada and Cameron managed to dive beneath the awning, laughing the entire time. Shia and Grey joined them a few moments later, soaked and aspirated, though they seemed to find their own appearance amusing.

Chase chuckled at the irony, head tilted back to study the water falling from the sky. Dahlia merely watched him, almost as if in a trance, and not even the tug of his hand against hers snapped her out of it. When protect by the shelter, Dahlia still couldn't pull herself away from staring at him. It was then she decided that, not only was Chase sexy in all possible ways, but completely, and thoroughly beautiful.

Dante, once so comfortable against the tree, heaved a sigh, wet hair hanging down his face. Miranda had long past scampered for cover, claiming that her mascara was not water proof. It was sad, really, that he had been with the girl for a year now, yet could not bring himself to really like her. She was high maintenance, stubborn, shallow, and cruel, and the only thing good about her was her mind. The girl was smart, he would give her credit, and she was talented, outside and in the bedroom. The longer he thought about it, however, made him realize that it was wrong to be with the girl for mere sex. It wasn't fair to either of them, nor to Grey, who knew that he was only with her for that exact reason.

Dante lazily pulled himself up from the tree, shaking his wet hair from his face. Besides, it caused too much troublesome drama. His sister was disappointed in him, Sam thought him petty, and Kiranne…well, it just wasn't right. So, he would finally do it. After school, when he usually went to her house for a quick romp between her sheets, he would tell her it was over. Once he truly thought about it, he realized he was disgusted with himself. That and being single was so much better, for it didn't involve trying to be halfway decent. Seriously, all those times with Miranda and her nagging was taking its toll. It would be nice to be free. Besides, then he could really give Stevens something to worry about.

Pleased with this, Dante smiled cockily, eyes drifting over the scampering teenagers. His eyes landed on Kira, who still had yet to move from the spot near the fountain. Confused, he walked toward her.

"Hey, what's with you? Do you want to do to your classes soaked?"

But her eyes stayed on the distant horizon, arched brows pulling together and mouth slightly pursed. Her hands were loose at her sides, long fingers flexing ever so slightly. He knew it was her fighting stance, but couldn't figure out what was going on. It wasn't until he really stopped and listened that he heard it. A feint boom sounded across the town, followed almost instantly a harsh rumble beneath their feet and a cold gust of wind that slapped his hair painfully across his jaw. There was a yelp behind him as the students felt the unnatural earthquake.

Slowly, Kira was flanked by her sisters, looking as much like kick-ass goddess as anyone could possibly manage. Dante bit back a dreamy sigh. His fantasy was brought to a halt however when a transparent black wolf darted through him. In a flash of energy, Grey appeared before him, her power caressing her form like fire. Dante scowled at the cold numbness sinking into his stomach, gingerly rubbing the skin with his hand. He hated when she did that.

Shia jogged up to him with a sigh. Flashy entrances weren't his forte. "Well, so much for normalcy." He pocked his compact idly, eyes scanning the distant horizon.

Dante grunted. "No kidding. Who do you think it is?"

Shia watched as his warrior girls readied themselves with pride. "Dunno. It's big, I know that. Stupid, obviously, for the direction of the sound is coming from the west, which means it happens to be close to the tower. We'll be getting a transmission from Dad or Uncle B any time now."

Instantly, the rings on each of their middle finger trembled and cackled. Dahlia held out her hand, palm facing the ground, and waited while Beast Boy sent his message through the ring.

Beast Boy's form shifted as the transmission went through. The holographic image of Beast Boy finally settled, and the attractive green shape-shifter sighed. "Well, I hate to tell you this, but you have a job to do. Robin's simmering at the moment, 'cause the wind from that witch damaged his dojo, and Cyborg is currently cursing his head off because that damn woman ruined his new building behind that tower."

He held up his hand with a scowl. "You see this? Yeah, that damn woman had the gall to blast me with glass, of all things." He watched the drop of blood roll down his wrist before he sighed once again.

"That was wind we heard?" Sam asked.

"Yep. I know, seems like it's some giant freak, but it's not. Just some bitchy woman who happens to have control of the wind. She's headed your way, by the by, and it'll take a lot of stealth and power. She had the advantage at the moment. You can't fly, or she'll send you into a building, and you can't throw anything at her, 'cause she'll just send it right back to you. The only way to take her down is to break her hands, I guess. The wind comes from propellers built into her palms, and is controlled by the direction of her fingers, believe it or not. Grey, sweetie, I had to say this, but you might need to sit this one out."

Grey growled, casing Beast Boy to poke his fingers together and shift uncomfortably on his heels. "If this is about my height—"

Beast Boy held up his hands in a form of surrender. "Well, sweetheart, she can toss you into next week just by breathing, no offence meant, of course. You are a bit too tiny to handle this—"

"Dad! I am fully capable of helping—"

Suddenly, Beast Boy yelped and dissipated before them. Grey blinked, scowling hotly as her mother took over control. She knew fighting with her was a last cause. "Grey, listen to your father. The force of her wind is twice your weight, if not more, and I refuse to heal you if you stubbornly refuse to listen. Shia, keep her at bay. Dante, help him. You're sister will try all matter of ways to help, damn her stubborn nature. This villain can be handled by strength. Sam, Kira, this is up to you. If Shia has the chance, he can offer his aid to you. Tell the Twain boys to get everyone inside, away from all windows, if possible. We've already dispatched the police. Keep her at bay until then. Can you do that? If worst comes to worst, take the offense. Just keep in mind that she is not one to be handled with your alien powers."

Sam and Kiranne nodded as Ada moved to tell the Twain twins. "She's fast approaching," Raven stated, "and she has no qualms with hurting others. If possible, I need you to make sure she doesn't destroy the school. We already have enough debt to pay because it's a prime target. I do not want to have another meeting with that bastard Macintyre. I leave this up to you, Kiranne. Samara. Just be careful. Grey can only heal so much damage inflicted upon you. Don't get yourself killed. When you come home, I'll make sure you are rewarded."

Shia managed a small snicker as Raven cut off the link. Dahlia dropped her hand, gently fingering the ring. "Damn. Guess I'm pretty useless about now."

Sam shook her head as the wind approached heavily, the rain sending needles of pain through her skin. "Don't worry about it. Just get everyone to safety. Tell Mom—"

"Already here," Starfire sighed, dropping down beside her daughters, both of whom stood taller than her own six feet. "I need to get over to the middle school and grade school to warn them. I will be very upset if this woman happens to destroy the building in which Luc is supposed to be learning. He has enough problems being a troublemaker. Having a villain attack his school because he's my child will make things more difficult with his teachers." She turned to her red-headed daughters; both nearly mirror images of her. "Can you handle this?"

They nodded, watching her as she took to the skies, deftly moving away from the direction of the wind. When her body seemed to meld into the dark skies, the Titan girls slipped into defense mode, lean bodies tensed and ready.

The wind woman finally appeared, rising over the buildings on what seemed to be a large fan of sorts, the winds visibly whipping around her in white puffs. Her long hair was an undistinguishable color, trapped somewhere between white and gray, skin as pale as the snow. Her eyes were a solid black, with no recognizable iris and her teeth were that of a piranha. From what Sam could make out, she had no distinct form, body slender and straight, a total opposite from the curved figures of the Titan females. She wore what seemed to be a solid white leotard, and for a brief moment, Samara actually thought the woman was naked.

As the unusual woman spotted them, Sam smirked. "Of course we can handle this, right, Kira?"

She nodded, head cocked slightly as her eyes roamed over the beige fan.

The woman wasted no time in preening over her hopeful victory as she sent slices of wind down at the Titans with a clawed-like motion of her hand. Kira gave a quick glance behind her to make sure all the students were safe before she dived out of the way, using her hands to push off the ground and propel her body to the side. She skidded slightly, eyes already gleaming green-gold as the wind ripped through the ground, leaving scars of broken dirt.

The wind woman laughed haughtily, smirk dancing over her white lips. "My name is Hélène, the Master of the Winds, and I have come to destroy you!" The white woman lifted her hands toward them. Four spears of gray spun inside her hand, and the wind, which had once been calm and tranquil minutes ago, screamed against their ears as it was controlled against its will.

Kira sighed, tossing her now loose hair behind her back. She dove out of the way as another splinter of wind cut through the air. This one, however, managed to cut across her cheek. A trickle of blood slipped down her skin, but it was ignored, for another spray of needles pierced the ground. From across the way, Kira heard a low growl. One of the shards had most likely hit Sam, which meant that her sister was about to switch to offensive. It also meant that Kira was to play second string, for when Sam's anger took over, it usually meant someone was getting hurt, and it usually wasn't the villain.

So she stood back, ripping herself away from danger when the wind headed for her and letting Sam take control. If things played out as usual, Sam would weaken Hélène enough for Kira to take her down without too many casualties. Kira continued to move away from the constant barrage of wind, taking note that if she were to be hit fully, it would pierce through her skin and cause serious damage.

Kira dove behind an overturned metal lunch table, narrowly missing another swipe of wind. Sam was brooding slightly next to her as she ripped off a piece of her shirt to wrap the wound across her forearm. "Damn bitch," she muttered, shifting on her haunches.

"What can we do?" Kira asked, jerking slightly when the wind pounded into their cover, the metal denting against the strong gust.

"Hell if I know. We need to stop her somehow. The only way we could do that is to drag her down to the ground. She wouldn't have an advantage then. One of us will be a decoy. The other will move behind her, and get her off her damn fan. Too bad Grey can't help. We could use her power. If only Dante had learned his mother's powers instead of only his father's."

Sam unconsciously wiped the blood from Kira's cheek, cleaning the smear off her fingers on the thigh of her jeans. "Seeing as I get mad easily, I'll be the decoy. When I have her attention, find away to get away from the fan and drag her down from behind. If that doesn't work, then we'll just have to play it by ear. Okay?"

Kiranne nodded as she pulled her hair into a long ponytail, stray curls whipping around her face. "Okay."

"Plotting against me? Now, now, that's not nice, little ones. We should at least play it fair."

Sam glared as she jerked up, tossing a disc of gold light at the villain. She didn't expect it to do any damage, so when the woman sent her own power back at her, she merely dodged. With her attention fully riveted toward Sam, Kira managed to pull away from the wind.

Hélène caught movement from the corner of her black eyes, and for a brief moment, the wind died down. It gave Sam plenty of time to pelt the wind villain with a strong blast of gold energy. She managed to dodge again, however, and in her rage at Sam's tricky move, sent a strong gust of wind toward the oldest Grayson daughter. Sam cursed as the weight of the wind hurled her backwards.

All Sam could do was cross her arms over her face as her back slammed into Dante's favorite willow, the force uprooting the ancient tree and sending it crashing down along with Sam. The loud boom had Shia and Dante running outside, heels digging into the cement when the wind threatened to knock them over.

Shia squinted against the rain, eyes searching out his sisters. "Dammit, I can't see anything."

Dante eyes snapped toward the fallen form of his precious tree, animal eyes instantly finding the splash of fire red hair. For a moment, his heart stopped beating in his chest. Suddenly, memories of ten years prior fled back into his mind.

The white snow, the stench of blood, the spill of red hair and crimson death. The sight of Kira, innocent, shy, beautiful Kira, slowly dying as her blood seeped onto the ground. The long, jagged scar that she now harbored, all because no one noticed she had disappeared from their sight.

The memory had fear creeping into his throat; stomach lurching as he blindly ran to the red, prying it wasn't a repeat of the past. The wind cut into his skin, rain searing against his skin, but he had no thought of it. All he could think about was the waterfall of red hair and the unmoving body that could slowly be dying, all because he had been doing something other than protecting her.

But the form moved, straight red hair spilling onto the ground as she pulled herself to her hands and knees. He skidded to a halt beside her, paling when she coughed up blood. And then she lifted her head, two golden eyes leaping with fire.

"Sam," he managed to choke out, relief, fear and shock slamming into him like a freight train. "You…"

She swept her hand over her mouth and stood on shaky legs. "Dammit," she seethed. "That hurt like hell."

She felt the hot seep of blood down her back, and knew, without looking, that she had a shard of bark wedge between her shoulder blades. She turned her back to Dante, who still reeled with the shock of knowing Kira had not been the one hurt.

She's okay, she's okay, she's okay, he chanted as he numbly reached out to pull the small sliver from Sam's back. He couldn't figure out why his heart beat erratically in his chest, or why the relief threatened to drag him down to his knees. And then it hit him.

"Where is she?"

No one could answer him, for Hélène laughed merrily. "You, daughter of a human, think you can take me down with your meager power? No man on this earth can best me, for I am the wind!"

The anger boiled heavily inside her, but a quick nudge from her brother had her smirking. "You're right. No man can best you on this earth." And then she was grinning widely, teeth white against her tan skin. "But I can promise you this, oh great wind goddess, that you take women a bit too lightly."

The woman did not even have time to mull over her statement, for Kira had slipped behind her with the ease of a skilled warrior, the wind whipping her hip-length curls over her shoulder.

There were no arrogant words or witty comebacks as Kira grabbed hold of the villain's skinny shoulders and lifted her from her fan. Surprised, the woman tried to turn and rip herself from Kira's unrelenting grip, nails slashing through the tender skin of her hand. Kira was unfazed as she jerked her away from her fan, which clattering to the ground once its master's control was ripped away.

Hélène bucked against the hard grip on her shoulders, jerking her head back to sink her teeth into the side of Kira's wrist. Even when she felt the blood fill her mouth, knew she had caused serious damage, the girl's grip did not lessen. In fact, the more the pain took over, the more her powers seemed to strengthen. Terrified, the wind master glanced up into the most frightening eyes she had ever seen.

Kira gave no real thought to the woman as she lifted the woman in front of her and hurled her to the ground. Her scream was high and piercing, like that of a banshee. Dante yelped as pain seared though his sensitive ears, claws tightening painfully over his elfin-ears. The pain intensified, forcing the shape shifter to his knees. Dante bowed forward, forehead against his knees as he felt the blood pool against his palms.

Hélène crashed to the ground, body skidding as her left shoulder sunk into the wet ground. The pain was almost too much for her to bear, and the banshee wails continued. It was her last defense, for not even the strongest alien could withstand the sharp sound.

Sam cringed as the glass behind her shattered, hands over her ears. She had to stop the damn woman, but as she moved forward, she found her vision wavering dangerously. Her feet gave out beneath her, and it was all she could do to keep her hands over her ears.

Kira dropped to the ground with a crash at the horrible sound, body slamming into the metal table she had earlier used as a shield. Hélène was still wailing, the sounds broken only by the much needed oxygen she was forced to breathe into her lungs. Kira knew she had to wait for the one moment where the woman took in a large breath, despite the fact that she would have to pull her hands from her ears to do so.

Kira hopped there wouldn't be serious damage to her era when she pulled her hands free, but decided that she had to stop this. A few feet away from her, Dante was wracked with pain, blood seeping from his fingers. If she didn't stop her, Dante could end up losing his hearing.

Resolve coursing through her veins, Kira waited until Hélène face turned purple. When she paused to take a breath, Kira lunged. Terrified, Hélène let out another wail, but Kira was already upon her. Without thinking, Kira grabbed the woman's head, and slammed it against the muddy ground, successfully filling her mouth with wet dirt. Pain slamming through her skull as her ears threatened to burst from the pressure of Hélène's wails, Kira twisted the woman until her entire front was to the ground, and straddled her back. The woman bucked beneath her, choking on the mud she had swallowed.

Kiranne jerked up Hélène arms, both hands pressed to her back. She knew she had to do something about her hands, but did not know if she could truly break them. But one look at the pain-ridden Dante and Kira felt the anger flare within her once again.

Shoving her conscious aside, Kira twisted the woman's wrist until she felt the broken break against her hand. There was a muffled wail from Hélène before she went completely still when the pain because too much for her mind to handle.

Kira dropped the woman's wrist and sat there, eyes trained on the broken wrists of her enemy. She didn't know how long she sat there, staring numbly at the injuries she had caused, but when she lifted her eyes, she found the entire school standing beneath the archway, uncaring that the rain doused their clothes or hair.

They were wide-eyed as Dahlia pushed past them, giving rough shoves from behind. When she spotted Kira, she forced her mind to calm down. There was a long cut across her cheek bone, the broken flesh already scabbed over. A small trail of blood dripped from her right ear, but was slowly being washed away with the rain. Dahlia took a shaky breath, hands rubbing against her wet thighs.

Pasting on a cool face, Dahlia walked toward her sister. She crouched down beside her, skillfully masking her flinch at the broken wrists of the woman beneath her. "Come on, Kiddo. Let's go get you cleaned up."

Dahlia knew she was too shocked to even notice her presence, and had to force back the pain in her heart. Kira would break down later when she was alone, would cry and weep until she couldn't seem to breathe. And would be unaware of the fact that her family and friends stood outside her door, torn up in so many ways at being unable to comfort her. It was one of the times that Dahlia felt real pain, and she hated it.

Grey burst out of the building, wet hair curling against her back. Her violet eyes scanned the wreckage before skimming over the blood. Quickly, her skilled eyes roamed over every cut, every bruise, and catalogued the worst. Her brother still seemed to be in pain, and one glance at his bloody hands had her darting over to him.

Kneeling down beside his bowed body, Grey leaned down slightly. "Dante, baby, let me see your ears."

He flinched as he pulled his own claws from his skin and dropped his hands to his side. Grey cooed at the thick stream of blood sliding from his injured ears, gently pressing her small hands against them. "How bad is it?"

He shook his head, nails digging into the ground as she healed his damaged eardrums, oblivious to the blood slipping between her fingers. "I know it hurts, Dante, but I swear I'll do the best I can to heal it."

Grey's eyes fluttered closed as she concentrated on his injury, letting the black energy seep into her baby brother and mend the wrongs.

"Where's Kira?" He choked out, his volume slightly off due to his damaged hearing. Grey pressed her forehead against her brother's crown, gently forcing him to lay his head against her lap.

"She'll be okay after awhile, Dante."

Dante's hands moved to her knees, trying to push his body up, but her hands tightened ever so slightly against his head. "Sshh, calm down, Dante. She's in shock right now. She had to break that banshee's wrist, and she's tearing herself up for it. There's nothing you can really do for her."

Dante cursed, claws digging slightly into Grey's skin. "Dammit, why does she always tear herself up for things like that?"

The pain was slowly being replaced by the calming heat of Grey's energy and before long, Dante could hear normally again. There was still a slight ache, but it was so much better than the blind pain that he brushed it off as nothing more than an annoying nuisance.

The distinct wail of sirens mingled with the pounding rain as Grey pulled her hands from her brother. Dante stood up on shaky feet while Grey moved to help Sam, eyes searching for Kira. He spotted the banshee woman and scowled. Stupid woman had caused more trouble that she was worth.

Tenderly, Dante pressed his fingers to the soft skin of his ear, shuddering at the pain he had moments ago gone through. Dante stepped over the woman, who was now starting to awaken, eyes drilling into the backs of Dahlia and Kira when he caught sight of them.

"Hey, Dahlia, wait a second."

Dahlia turned, black hair hanging in thick wet waves to her collarbone and green eyes troubled, despite the calm stretch of her mouth. "What?"

He shooed her away with a wave of his hand, ignoring the amused lift of her brow as he took her spot beside Kira. He threw her a dirty scowl as he pressed his hand to the small of Kiranne's back, her wet hair draping over his hand.

"I got it," he snapped, knowing exactly what Dahlia was thinking. "Besides, the Banshee is waking up. You can handle her better than anyone now that she is otherwise indisposed. Besides, you can handle Chase when he pounds question on you about Kiranne's whereabouts. You know how he feels about Kiranne. Swear the boy would kill himself if she asked." He tsked with a shake of his head. "Kiranne's got the boy whipped and doesn't even know it."

Pleased with the blush of anger it brought to Dahlia's tan cheeks, Dante swept his hand beneath Kira's knees to bring her to his chest. Her hands fist against his wet T-shirt, but her eyes were still dulled with shock.

"Take advantage of her and I will kill you, Dante. No matter how much you deny it, you care about Kira, and one of these days, you'll figure it out for yourself. I just hope you figure it out before it's too late." With that said, Dahlia turned her back to him, lifting two fingers in a lazy wave. Immediately, she was jumped by Chase, who started spouting off questions about Kira, just as Dante had predicted. Dante smirked at the ridged line of Dahlia's shoulders. "Same goes to you, Dahlia. Same goes to you."

XxX

The hallways were oddly empty as Dante carried Kira toward the bathroom. Glass crunched beneath his feet from the shattered window beside the double doors leading to the front of the building. Dante sighed. It was only a matter of time before the principal called them to his office and tried to kick them out for 'bringing their trouble to his school'. It wouldn't work, of course, for Hannah would fix the school up in an instant and have security doubled from its previous number.

Dante found everything to be way too troublesome and wished, not for the first time, that they would find a new principle that did not hate every thing they stood for. Heck, the vice principle loved them, as did almost every other teacher within the school building. But, they were nothing compared to the jackass that gave Kiranne a detention for being in the hallway when he happened to stroll by. She had been saving a group of kindergartners from an overturned bus that had slipped on a patch of ice on the way to a field trip. No one had forgiven him for that, and though Mr. Mayson had gotten her out of it, no one could stand the man.

So, much to his distain, Dante found himself peeking over corners to make sure the man was nowhere in sight. For added precaution, Dante sniffed the air. Happy with this, Dante rounded the corner and made his way toward the bathrooms. He needed to snap Kira out of her daze. Maybe, if he managed to drag her back to reality, she would finally let herself be comforted. Dante scowled as his stomach leaped in nervousness. Why the hell should he be nervous? All he would do was let her cry on his shoulder. No big. He did it with Grey when she had been hurt two years ago, and even let Starfire weep on his shoulder when Adara told her she was ready to have sex for the first time and that hiding it would have hurt a lot more than sneaking around behind her back. Shia had been too moody to comfort her, and Sam and Dahlia were trying to keep Robin from murdering Cameron.

He admitted that he had been a little embarrassed at the time, but he had never been nervous. Kiranne was just Kiranne. There was nothing to be nervous about.

But comforting was on a whole different level than merely talking. It was…emotional, he admitted with a frown. But he knew, if he comforted Sam, he wouldn't feel like fidgeting, and he had been in love with her half of his life time. That was done and over with, however, but still. He would have thought that comforting the girl had wanted to be with since he was six would have sparked some anxiety.

Dante stopped in front of the restrooms, briefly debating on which on to use. With a sigh, he decided she would feel more comfortable in her own domain. He leaned back slightly, eyes scanning both sides of the hallway to make sure no one saw him, and pushed open the doors to the girls' bathroom.

Dante pouted as he walked into the pale pink room, the scent of fresh flowers wafting to his nose from the air conditioner. It was…girly, he though with a shudder as he gently sat Kira down on the white fluffed couch against the far wall. But he would have to get over it, he though grudgingly as he turned to the monitor beside the glass mirror, and programmed in a wet rag. He scowled when the damn thing offered tampons, and quickly hit no.

He grabbed the white rag from the slot when it finally dropped from the storage bin, and stuck it under the faucet. He moved back to her, dropped down onto his knees and gently ran the cloth over her forehead.

The heat seemed to bring her back to the present. Her eyes lifted to his slowly. Dante flinched as the scent of despair washed over him, and her eyes filled with tears. "I hurt her."

Worry dropped down into his stomach like an anchor as he ran the cloth over the tears that spilled from her wounded eyes. "Kiranne, you had to. She would have hurt more people if you had not of done that. Her hands were weapons and she could have seriously hurt you." Inwardly he frowned at how corny he sounded but shoved it aside.

He fidgeted slightly as more tears fell, busying his hands by running the wet cloth over the cut across her cheek. He knew that she wasn't aware of what she was doing or whom she was speaking to, for the pain and guilt clouded her mind until she didn't know which way was up.

"I-I could have…I could have stopped her without hurting her. I-I didn't have to—I could have…I was just so mad…she hurt you, and I just wanted…I wanted it to all stop."

Dante nearly sputtered at her teary admission. She had hurt that damn banshee because she had wounded him? That was why she had done it?

Well, hell.

Dante eased onto the couch beside her as her tears feel heavily onto her clenched hands. "Kiranne…" Dante realized he had nothing to say to her. There were no more words—corny or otherwise—he could think of that would help her now. His heart stuttered in his chest as he hesitantly draped his arm over her shoulder. He felt like an idiot until she leaned into him, exhausted.

The fire was back again, but instead of shooting down his arm, it made a beeline for his heart, before taking a nosedive into his stomach, where his damn hormones decided to take charge. Disgusted at himself for feeling arousal at Kira leaning against him, Dante adjusted his arms so he could pull her completely into his lap.

She stiffened at first, hands pushing against his chest to move off him, but he leaned foreword slightly, hands cupping her jaw. It was the closest he had ever been to her. "You can't hold it in all the time, Kiranne. For once, just let it out. Let me help you with this." Though her face flushed, there was something in her eyes that seemed to wrap around his heart. It was that one, frightening feeling that had him adding, "I want to help you, Kiranne."

Although she did not break like he expected her to, Kira seemed to give in a little at a time, until her head was nestled under his chin, body curled into herself until she fit perfectly into the circle of his arms. Dante found this amazing, that such a tall, strong girl could fit against him, just by pulling her knees up.

Dante could feel the tears soak through his shirt, felt her fingers clutch tighter against the fabric, and found himself pulling her closer to him. He never would have thought that would hold Kiranne like this; that he would want to hold her like this. Kiranne had always been just another person in his life, one whom he saw every morning and every night.

Unfortunately, she was also the shy, innocent girl who embarked some perverted fantasy in his mind about real love and actual relationships. Hell, he had dreamt of her on more than one occasion, and, though most of them would cause Kira to have an aneurism at what he was doing to her, some happened to be…romantic. He dreamed of other girls, like most teenage boys, but the ones with Kira happened to have something sweet and icky and all together fairytale-ish before it got to the hard core sex. For one who detested all the romantic crap that some girls seemed so fond of, it was amazing that such a innocent, virginal girl who had yet to even experience her first kiss could make him out to be so…gooey.

He had even had dreams where he was her first kiss, and he had behaved…gah, it was horrible to even think about it. And then his damn subconscious would throw random—he didn't know if he could classify them as nightmares, but they did have him jerking up in bed feeling sick to his stomach—images into his head. He hated waking up and remembering dreams of Kira with Dick, or Chase, or other men she had smiled at. It made him feel sick when he dreamed one of them took her first kiss, or heaven forbid, had sex with her. It ripped at him constantly, and there were times when Dante wanted to strangle the sad man who had the disadvantage of having him dream of them taking Kiranne's innocence. It was one reason why Chase avoided him in the morning.

He just couldn't figure out why, though. Sure, okay, he was physically attracted to her, and the thought of anyone else but him having her drove him up a wall, but why did those damn nightmare-ish dreams hurt so much? Why in the hell did he want her so bad, even if she was the exact type of girl he refused to have anything to do with. He didn't do first kiss/first time things. He was always the fourth or fifth kiss/lover, and it was all right with him. It made the guilt easier when it was time to break things off. If he were to be with Kira, and actually take her…first kiss and her virginity, he would forever feel tied to her, like breaking things off was as sin. And he didn't need that, no matter how much his traitorous body wanted to take them both.

Dante frowned heavily when his mind replayed past dreams of him doing just that. It took all of his willpower to keep from jerking Kira up and making those dreams reality. Instead, Dante gently picked her up.

Kira's head jerked up at the sudden movement, eyes bright with the final dam of tears as she pushed at his chest to get down. Annoyed, Dante snapped, "Stop moving, Kiranne."

He felt her eyes caress his face as she settled back against him, almost as if afraid to make any sudden movements, for fear of him snapping. The soured his mood even more. "Look, Kiranne, I'm going to take you home so you can get some rest. If I carry you, then I will have a valid excuse for not helping clearing up the mess outside, so it's a win-win situation. You get to smell my hotness, and I get out of cleaning."

He glanced down at her with a wink, mood lightening considerably when she blushed as he used his back to push out of the bathroom. "So, do you mind?"

A stray tear slipped down her jaw. "No. I don't mind." Dante bit back a groan at the throaty sound of her voice, and had to think about anything other than the sexy slide of it against his now-healed eardrums.

He was too busy thinking about non-arousing things to notice the sudden spike of cigar smoke and lemon heads coming around the corner. He did take notice, however, when he felt a deadly aura drilling into his skull.

He managed a sighed, "Damn," before the principal stormed up to them, smoke leaking from his red ears.

"Logan!" He screeched, his volume reaching painful heights. Dante bit back a flinch as he newly restored hearing threatened to leave him once again. He did, however, mange to stick his finger into his aching ear while still keeping a firm grip on Kira, who was fighting back heavily now.

"Yes?"

Dante jerked back when Kira pinched the tender skin of his ribs, a frown settling over his mouth as she push out of his grasp, cheeks hot. He scowled at her as he rubbed the abused skin, something akin to a pout forcing his lower lip to stick out.

"What havoc have you brought upon us now? Have you seen the courtyard? Have you seen the glass? Have you seen the pandemonium and the parents' faces as they come up to the school and know that their children were minutes away from dying because of your need to prove you think you're better than us? I should have you all arrested! If I could, I would expel you all from my school and make sure you never get a decent education!"

Dante, used to such an expletive threat, merely nodded, idly scratching the back of his head as the principal fumed before him. "Yes, I know, we deserve to be punished for defending the city and making sure no lives are taken. I get it. However, we're doing everything we can to repair the damage, and all the students are fine. No one was hurt. No one was close to being hurt, and you know good and well the insurance covers the damage. Aunt Hannah—I mean Mrs. Matthews—will fix everything up in less than a week. Everything will be fine. Just…calm down. We don't want to get your blood pressure up, now do we?"

Mr. Macintyre exploded, face flushed and eyes flaming. "Logan, do not take that sarcastic tone with me! I am sick and tired of having to cancel my school for days at a time while we clean up after you. I am sick of walking into a class and having that damned communicator going off during exams, or having your mother pull you from class to go clean up after another villain. This is a building for education and you are screwing it up with your supposed heroism! If you are enrolled in this school, then you learn. Otherwise, get out. And, dammit, you're getting blood on my floor!"

"What?" Dante immediately sniffed the air, wondering how the hell he missed the pungent metallic smell. He whirled toward Kira, whose head was lowered, long bangs obscuring her eyes.

"Kiranne, look at me." Thinking that maybe the cut across her cheek was worse than he first presumed, Dante gently wrapped his long fingers against her chin to tilt her face toward him. He frowned at the scabbed wound. There was no trace of blood on her cheek.

His eyes dropped down to the floor, eyes narrowing on the small droplets of crimson splashing onto the cold tiles of the hallway. Muscles stiffening, Dante followed the trail of blood, only to find it dripping from her arm. Her jeans were stained with it, shirt painted roughly with red from where she had futilely pressed her wounded arm to staunch the bleeding. A quick glance at his own shirt showed him that she had been bleeding since he pulled her into his lap moments earlier.

His heart dropped into his stomach. "Dammit, Kiranne, why didn't you tell me?" Why didn't he notice it? Was he so worried about her emotional stability that he failed to miss the slow flow of her blood? How did he not pick up on it? Cursing his inability of doing anything right around her, Dante jerked her arm up to him, scowling at the deep fang marks marring the side of her wrist. It looked as if when the woman had set her teeth into Kira, she had jerked back, fangs still intact, ripping the skin from the wound. Biting back a flinch, Dante turned her hand over, palm against his, and took note of the long, jagged slashes against the back of her hand.

"Jesus, Kiranne, you took a lot of damage from that stupid banshee, didn't you?"

He felt her try to pull from his grip yet his hands stayed on hers. "Come on," he said with a sigh, brushing off the sputtering Macintyre behind him as he pulled Kira to his side. He would have preferred to just carry her out of the building, but he knew her pride couldn't take another blow. Having him cart her around like a weakling would have done serious damage. So, he pressed a hand to her back, keeping his pace slow so she could gain strength back into her wobbly legs. And when her body had gained back strength, it would start.

After awhile, the shock would ware off and the pain would come, but no one would be able to tell when the exchange happened. For one so easy to read, Kira was an expert at hiding her own pain. It annoyed Dante to no end, but he had to admit that he admired her for it. She didn't want to bring anyone down with her sorrow, but it was so much harder on her when the pint up pain irrupted, leaving her defeated and broken for days on end. And still, they were never able to tell.

Dante sighed softly as he pushed open the shattered door. The rain was still coming down in torrents, but the courtyard was desolate now, nothing but overturned benches and shard of Dante's willow littering the rain-soaked battlefield. Her sisters lingered around the now-empty parking lot in a variety of emotions. Sam looked ready to kill as Raven healed any internal injuries her crash against the tree had caused. Dante figured his mother had shown up with Beast Boy, Robin, Twain, Connor, Colt, and Harley.

Ada looked nervous, hands wringing as Colt explained about the injuries of the banshee. From snippets of conversation, Dante concluded that although the woman had both of her wrists broken, she was fine and screaming profanities at the officers courting her to the hospital. Cam, of course, was right there by her side, and though no part of him touched her, it was clear that he was her beacon of keeping controlled.

Dahlia, as usual, Dante thought with a smirk, was detached and cynical as her father ranted and raved about his dojo. A smirk was heavy on her lips as she cocked a hip against a pole, deftly avoiding Robin's expressive hands. Her eyes, in the process of rolling heavenwards, spotted them walking toward the familiar group, Kira's pace slow and steady.

"Kira," she said as she pushed herself off her resting spot. Robin, amongst his loud rambling, heard his daughters name and perked up immediately. He was beside her before Dahlia had a chance to blink.

"Hi baby. Are you hurt? Where are you hurt? Are you bleeding? Where are you bleeding? Are you okay? No broken bones? Where are the broken bones?" Kira smiled as her father panicked over her minor wounds, her walls constructing at a quick and unhealthy pace.

Dante was frowning down at her when Dahlia happened to approach them. Her stride was measured and just a little cocky as she melded her side against Dante's. His frowned deepened.

"So what happened in there?" She asked her voice airy and eyes smug.

He felt a vein twitch under his eyes. "Nothing, Dahlia."

"Really?" Dahlia's eyes scanned over her triplet's form, gauging every tiny scrape and bruise behind a mischievous glint. "You didn't happen to…" her voice trailed off as her eyes landed on her sister's wrist, but her tone slipped into her normal evil alto. "…take anything, did you, Dante?"

His body stiffed involuntarily. "What do you mean?" he ground out between clenched teeth, all too aware that both Kira and her father listened intently.

Dahlia, wide mouth creasing in a smirk, trailed over Kira once again. "You know what I mean, Dante. We all know our Kira has a lot to give." Robin turned heel and fled the opposite direction, deciding that his old heart couldn't take the conversation about anything his daughter had to give to any boy.

Dahlia smiled wickedly—which Dante realized was the only smile she had in her small array of facial expressions—and rested her callused hands on her muscled hips. "We still have reason to call her our Virgin Goddess, right?"

Dante couldn't help but sputter as Kira turned an interesting shade of red. "Wh—what? What the hell are you—how can you insinuate—do you really—how could you think—dammit Dahlia, you just made Kiranne faint!"

Dahlia folded her lips together in amusement as Dante fluttered over the still form of her still blushing sister, currently sprawled on the ground from her tumble. "Interesting," she murmured, body instantly recognizing the presence of Chase. To make her day ever better, she rammed her elbow into his midsection when he stood beside her. "Very interesting."

XxX

Robin liked to think that Sam was his child to a t. She was hardheaded, stubborn, and withdrawn from most people. She fought with her heart and not her mind, trained until her callused hands bled and her body wavered in strain. She was protective, kind in most aspects, and hated giving up without a passion. But her temper…

Well, he wasn't sure where she got that.

Robin inched closer to the car door as Sam fumed next to him, fury radiating off her body in dangerous waves. Robin tried not to breathe for fear of making her blow, but when his lungs demanded air, he had no choice but to drag in a large gulp of air. He waited, body splashed up against the window, for her to blow, or pummel him, or do something to him that eventually would cause him bodily harm.

But she merely seethed beside him, eyes and hands glowing despite the latter being crossed under her chest. He, being the warrior he was, let his body relax to the point where it was no longer painful and risked a glance over his shoulder at his youngest triplet, who still blushed from her earlier conversation with her sister. Dante brooded in the very back of the monstrous van, sandwiched between the Twain twins. Dahlia smirked happily in front of him.

"Hey, Dad, didn't Aunt Rae mentioned a surprise?" Adara asked, scooting closer to the second row of seats where her father sat. She was nestled between her sisters comfortably on the third row.

Robin thanked all that was holy for his little girl's comment, for Sam seemed to cool down enough for the heat to stop scorching his flesh. However, she turned hot eyes onto him. Robin shrank back ever so slightly. "Umm, yes, yes she did. He—I mean it," he corrected after Raven turned in the front seat to pin him with a glare, "it's at the tower right now."

Robin cursed Sam's ability at catching the smallest slipups when she asked, "Did you just say he?"

Raven spoke up when Robin only managed to stumble over his words. "Sam, you're scaring your poor father with your temper. He doesn't know which way is up, he's so melded with the door. Loosen up a little. It takes a hell of a lot to make your father this flustered."

Samara's anger deflated gradually. "Oh. I'm sorry, Daddy. It's just…not only did she cause more destruction to the school that we have to pay for, but she hurt Kira, Dante, me. Had Raven not come, I would have serious internal bleeding from being slammed into that damn tree. She nearly caused Dante to lose all his hearing, ripped his tree from the ground—which I'm sorry for, by the way—and made Kira hurt her just to stop her. It pisses me off that she just waltzed up to Jump City and caused pandemonium for no apparent reason. She's the first villain we've seen in a while and I guess I just wasn't as prepared as I should have been."

Shia exchanged looks with his father. "Does this mean you're going on one of those training binges where you work until you drop?"

Samara scowled at her twin. "My training is not that strenuous."

From the back seat, Dahlia snorted.

"Have you lost your mind? Sam, you nearly kill yourself every time you do that. You eat that nasty, healthy crap, you train from like, four in the morning till midnight, and you do it for weeks at a time! How many times have we had to dunk you in an ice bath just to get you to wake up?"

Sam opened her mouth to snap a scathing retort, but Kira spoke up quietly from the back. "I…I can help you train." She blushed when her sister glanced back at her with a raised eyebrow. "I—I mean if th—that might help you. You don't have to. I was just suggesting that maybe I—I help you if you think you need to get s-stronger."

Robin watched as his daughter went to scary/furious to cheerful/delighted. It was such a drastic change that Robin had to doubt his eyes. "You would do that for me?" Sam asked her voice soft.

Kira blushed again. "I—I—of course I would. I don't know how m-much help I could be to you b-but I would be willing to t-try."

Ada poked her shy sister lovingly in the side. "Not be of help? Kiddo, you could take every single one of us on at that same time and still kick our ass. You're like…the epitome of a warrior. I would run in a second if someone told me I was up against you. Sam's probably the only one who could put up half of a fight against you, and she's scary when she fights." Adara nodded quickly, long hair tumbling over her shoulder and resting against her breast. "You'd be the perfect way for Sam to train. I mean, if she can even get you winded, she would have like, I don't know, trained as much as she possibly could. Not even Dahlia, who is really, really hard to beat at anything, can't hold a candle to your superior strength."

Ada grinned when Dahlia made an insulted huff in the back of her throat. "You realize that you just slammed Sam and me into the ground, right?"

Ada laughed, easing her finger gently between her brooding sister's rib and causing her to jump and slap at her hand. "I know. But you know I'm right."

"You don't have to rub it in. I like to keep my inferiority under wraps, if you don't mind."

Kira opened her mouth to quickly exclaim that she wasn't as good as her sisters said when Cameron supplied, "You're an excellent fighter, Dahlia, but no one can match Kira. Not even her mother has the capability to beat her."

Kira was near the point of waving her hands wildly when Dante scoffed, "Doesn't matter what anyone does to her, she's always going to come out the winner. No cuts or bruises, or any form of wound could keep her down. Stupid stamina," he muttered, cursing his inability at real fighting strength. He could fight, that much he knew, but if he were ever against Kira…he would so get his ass handed to him in seconds flat.

"I-I'm n-not t-that g-good!" Kiranne stammered; face flaming at all the praise. She felt like her blood was boiling beneath her skin.

"No kidding. Dude, she nearly knocked me out with a freaking plush ball," Chase muttered. "And she wasn't even throwing that hard."

"I-I'm s-sorry—"

"Right? I think she popped my shoulder out of place that last time we played and the damn girl just tossed it aside. I was in the freaking way, I guess. I still have a bruise from it." Dante jerked down the right side of his shirt to see if his claim still held true, causing Kira to sputter and flame in front of him.

He inspected the healing bruise with a few clicks of his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Yep. There it is. In all its yellow/green glory."

Kira shoved aside all shyness as she ripped around in her seat to check for herself. Dante's eyes went wide when she ran two callused fingers against his skin, causing ripples of heat to race across his flesh. Her fingers moved to his collarbone where the bruise ended and he swore his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Next to him, Chase and Cameron snickered.

"I—I, you didn't tell me," she said softly, her wounded eyes lifting to his. He felt like a lowlife for no apparent reason. He cursed his damn mushy heart.

"I was in too much pain," he snapped, an involuntary pout shaping his mouth.

Kira jerked her fingers from his hot skin as if scaled, slowly turning back around in her seat with an expression that screamed guilt. Dante opened his mouth, apology rancid on his tongue, but Chase and Cameron beat him to it. They simultaneously smacked the back of his head.

"Hey! What the hell?! I was going to—"

"Shut up, Dante," Grey sighed. She was watching everything from her spot on her mother's lap, back pressed against the front car door. She shook her head when Dante opened his mouth. He closed it again as he tucked his hair behind his ear. Grey smiled.

"So, what is this surprise?" Ada asked again when the tension became too thick.

Grey leaned back to watch her mother smirk. "You'll see. It will…be interesting, to say the least."

Grey raised an eyebrow, but her mother did not elaborate. She thought about pocking around in her mind, or any of the adults in the van, but decided against it.

She was more of a surprise girl as it was.

So she settled back against her mother while her father chattered energetically at the wheel. Raven listened with half an ear, nonchalantly running her hand through her daughter's drying hair and twisting strands around her fingers.

Her smirk, however, never died.

XxX

Starfire waited at the garage entrance, hands loose against Lucan's thin shoulders. She smiled widely as her family poured from the van.

"How were things?" She asked, eyes roaming over her children's forms, smile still in place. It never faltered, even when hitting Sam's bloody back and forearm.

"Ah, you know. The usual. Villain attacks, pisses Sam off. Sam gets hurt/pissed again and tries to do things solo. Kira melds into the background, waits for Sam to wear the idiot down. Kira attacks, things get settled, and Sam still ended up fuming. Nothing different," Dahlia sighed indifferently, easily snapping her shoulder back when Sam threw at lazy punch.

Dahlia let out another huff of breath when her back popped at the sudden movement. Sam scowled at her younger sister before giving up with a shrug. "Whatever. I, uh, think I'm going to take a quick shower. I can feel the blood caked against my spine." She grimaced.

Raven winked at Shia as she gracefully stood behind Sam. "Before you do, let me check and make sure everything's how it's supposed to be."

The males quickly left as Sam made a move to lift her shirt. No one really wanted to deal with an angry Tameranian at the moment. The girls followed behind them, curiosity getting the better of them when Starfire softly murmured that they could see the 'surprise' Raven had mentioned earlier.

Sam tossed her bloody shirt to the side as Raven walked slow circles around her, trained eyes scanning over every visible inch of her. She was slightly jealous at the young girl's figure, thinking back to the days where her body harbored even a sliver of the muscle that Sam had. Finding her mind wondering into depressing territory of old age, Raven ran her fingers over her back, lazily tracing the outline of her tattoo.

"The wound wasn't that bad. But that sure is a lot of blood…that has to be uncomfortable." Raven patted the girl's back as she moved away. "You're smart in wanting a bath."

Sam smiled down at the tiny woman, gently rolling her shoulders when Raven asked, "Is there an ache?"

"Hmm, no. Just tense, I guess."

Raven nodded, keeping her eyes locked on Sam's as she walked back toward the doors. "Go ahead on up. We won't be doing anything for tonight, so there's no need in getting dressed. I'm sure you're going to work on your training regiment?"

Sam shrugged slightly, one eye narrowed slightly at the hidden smile dancing in Raven's violet eyes. "Maybe. Depends." Both eyes narrowed as the smile appeared full force. Sam frowned. Raven only smiled like that when someone was getting their ass kicked or she had something unpleasant planned.

Raven said nothing as she turned on her heel and disappeared down the hallway, leaving Sam alone and shirtless on the garage. She mulled over Raven's attitude as she snatched her shirt from the ground, spreading it open to gauge the damage on it. Since it was a black shirt, the blood was barely visible, but the long tear was. Her mouth turned down at the corners as she plucked shards of wood from the cloth. Finding the task useless, she tossed it over her shoulder, cringing at the thought of putting the dirty shirt back on. She would rather have Dante or Chase catch her without a shirt on. She'd have good excuse to pound them, then.

So she smiled as she pushed open the doors and made her way to the stairs. She really didn't feel like using the transporter. Beside, she amended as she took the long flight of stairs three at a time, I get a good workout.

By the time she hit the tenth floor, a fine sheen of sweat glistened across her chest and hips. Sam scowled. Normally, running ten floors would have barely caused her to breathe heavily. Now, however, she felt like resting her hands on her knees to catch her breath.

"I so need to work out more." She plopped her hands on her hips as she walked toward the bathroom, measuring her breathing to a slow, steady pace. Beneath her skin, her heart galloped at the exertion. She sighed and bowed her head. "No wonder I got my ass handed to me by that banshee. I've become a sloth."

Sam groaned as she glanced down at her black sports bra, adjusting it when it threatened to flash everything in the hallway. She really needed to get a better brand, she mused as she walked into the bathroom, nonchalantly pressing in the lock code onto the computer beside the mirror. After checking to make sure things were in order, Sam coded in the water temperature.

She settled on hot to help sooth her sore back. She had lied to Raven when she said nothing ached. She knew, by tomorrow, there would be a nasty bruise stretched over her shoulder blades. It would be a serious contrast against the tattooed dragon spread over her back.

Remembering about the new addition to her body, Sam turned to see where the shard had been imbedded. Had it not of been healed, it would have scared just above the black and red dragon's gold-slit eyes.

Sam smirked as pulled off the rest of her clothes and stepped beneath the hot spray. Her mother had not been pleased when she had announced that she was getting her first tattoo. Robin had sputtered and steamed when she jerked her shirt up to show him her baby. He had grounded her for a day, even though her brother (who had wisely hidden his) and Grey had gotten one with her. He had cooled down—well, almost—when he found that Starfire had sneaked one in as well. She had been the one to sign the papers for them, after all.

Sam scrubbed at her skin with her favorite soap as the heat billowed around her, careful of her forearm. She hadn't let Raven heal it, for it was punishment for letting her guard down enough to get hurt. When the putrid smell of blood was washed from her skin, Sam scrubbed at her hair, scowling at each leaf and branch shard she pulled from the thick mane.

She couldn't figure out why it had been so easy for her to be beaten. The wind was a disadvantage, of course, but the fight had barely lasted thirty seconds before she had been hurt. She lifted her arm to study the long cut. Had her temper really gotten the best of her? Was the why she was always getting into trouble? Samara admitted that she was a bit of a hothead, but was the really the reason why it was so easy to defeat her?

She stepped out of the shower after snapping a command to shut off the spray, mind drifting to each battle she had been in. Each time, someone had said or done something to spark her anger, and each time, she had come out with a scar or bruise from it. And Kira had always been the one to do something about it. Kira was always the one there to save her when she let her temper override the logic.

That was wrong. She should be the one protecting her little sister, not the other way around. Dahlia could hold her own when it came to close combat and used her famous arrows only when everything else failed. Adara refused to fight, so when things got ugly, she moved out of the way and gathered civilians. But Sam? Sam fought and fought and fought until her fury clouded her judgment, leaving her angry and stupid. So she got hurt, though most times it was just a scratch, and Kira would jump into the fray with not a word, and take the villain down in less that a minute.

Was there something wrong with her? Was she just not good at what she loved? For the first time in a while, Sam started to doubt herself. Maybe she just wasn't cut out for the whole superhero thing. No one wanted or need a brash, overconfident hero protecting them.

She wrapped a thick white towel around her long body, quickly cataloging every scar she had. There were quite a few, but none stood out more than the one slashing across her right hip. Not even Raven could heal the wound she had sustained at thirteen. And it all boiled down to her damn temper. She had been clumsy and had gotten seriously hurt for it.

Gently, she traced the puckered scar with her index finger. No more. No longer would she allow her anger to get the better of her. She was better than that. If she could just rein it in when someone attacked, she could probably fight and win without the help of Kira. Every villain knew about her weakest point and all used it against her.

Well, that wouldn't be a problem anymore, she decided as she marched to her room. No one would be able to defeat her because of her anger. No one in the tower could poke and prod at her for being easy to flame. They would all see that she was a good fighter, that she could protect the city by herself if the time ever arose.

Content now, Sam slapped her lotion of the same scent as her soap while searching for something comfortable to wear. Tonight, she would allow herself time to kick back and enjoy life by stuffing her face with pizza and fries. She would watch a movie, maybe talk Kiranne into cooking her favorite desert. And then, she would sleep in until ten.

But after that, it was nothing but training. She would ask for Dahlia's help in controlling her emotions, then seek out Kira to have her spar against her. Getting her ass kicked would help serve in reminding her that she needed to be stronger, faster, smarter, calmer.

She wasn't a lost cause, she mused as she jerked a simple white tank top over her bra. She could handle anything thrown at her, even if it was her own goals she was setting. Things would be fine now. She could and would prove that she wasn't useless.

She pulled on her favorite pair of shorts that rode low on her hips and slipped high up her thighs, smiling down at the red cloth with a white strip down the side for no apparent reason.

After brushing her long hair and pulling it back into a high pony tail, Sam threw on her ancient white Nike Shox and darted toward the door, her mood at its highest. She shouldn't worry of her weakness right now. There were better things at hand.

"Hey, Sam, where are you? You've been gone for thirty minutes."

Sam twisted around to her computer where Shia had called from. She plopped down into her chair and directed the link back to her brother. "Sorry. I was…soul searching, I guess. That, and you know a girl has to take her long hot shower."

"Soul searching?" He asked with a grin. "Really now? That's…ironic."

An arched eyebrow rose. "Ironic? How so?" Behind him, Grey flapped around widely, waving enthusiastically and begging with her to come see the surprise. Shia turned around to swat at the tiny witch, who merely danced out of the way. He turned back around with a grunt. He opened his mouth to say something else to his twin, but Grey swooped in and planted a loud kiss against his cheekbone.

Sam chuckled softly as her brother flamed red. "So, what's the surprise? Did Cyborg finally fix my truck? I did wreck it four months ago."

There was a loud huff to the side of Shia. Someone shoved Shia out of his seat so he toppled to the floor with a yelp. Cyborg appeared moments later. "Hey now, I'm working on it. You freaking totaled the front fender to the point where I had to completely reconstruct it. That, and you somehow blew one of your speakers listening to your rap and rock music. But don't worry, little one. I should be finished by today or tomorrow."

Sam felt a thrill of pleasure skate down her spine at the thought of being able to drive her baby. Her red four-door 2008 Doge Ram was her child. It had killed her when a stupid villain had hit her head on during a chase. She had cried for hours after Cyborg had towed her precious truck away.

"Are you lying to me?" She asked, squirming in her seat in excitement. Cyborg chuckled.

"No. I swear on my T-Van that I will have Flame ready for the road by tomorrow."

Sam mumbled a excited "yes!", complete with a victory sign. If anything could make her pop out of her detached shell, it was her truck.

"Now," Cyborg smiled when someone laughed deeply behind him. Sam tried to place the sound with a face, but no one came to mind. She couldn't remember anyone having such a deep laugh before… "Why don't you come on down to the main room? Everyone is waiting for you." Cyborg gave a knowing grin as he shut off the communication.

Sam frowned at the black screen, wondering over everyone's strange behavior. She tried to think about possibilities as she walked down the winding hallways, idly pulling her wet ponytail over her shoulder and braiding the long length. For reasons unknown, her heart pounded in excitement, stomach sinking in nervousness. Something was up, that was for sure.

By the time she made it to the main door, her body was in all matters of nervousness. She thought about turning back and running to the comfort of her room, but decided against it. Besides, why was she so nervous in the first place? It was probably a huge pile of pizza waiting for her. That was all it could be.

So why was she so nervous?

Chastising herself for being such a coward, Sam shoved into the main room. All sound seemed to stop. Eyebrows rising into her hairline, Sam stepped completely into the large, crowded room.

"Okay, so what is this…surprise…?"

He turned at the sound of her voice, a smile spreading over his beautiful mouth. His smoky gray eyes were framed with long, thick lashes and dazzling against his tan skin. The scar slashing against his eyebrow was bright against his dark hair that was in its usual uncontrollable style, with a thick strand constantly swooping down over his scar-free eyebrow. His body, once so scrawny and slim, was padded with just the right amount of muscle. His simple collard shirt pulled tightly over said muscle, making him so much more appealing than he ever could have been at nineteen. He was tall now, almost as tall as her brother, which was more of a surprise than the muscle.

Sam felt her heart burst inside her chest as he grinned down at her, teeth impossibly white against his tan skin. "Hey, Sammy."

She watched him rake his long fingers through his curled hair and felt a blush explode along her skin.

"Christian."

XxX

Rebecca leaned against the railing, cheek cupped in her palm. A sad sigh escaped her painted mouth. "She failed."

Gizmo grunted beside her, arms folded over his beefy chest. "Yes. Taken down by the youngest triplet. Barely put up a fight, despite her having an upper hand."

She pouted as she watched her toys kill each other off to prove their strength. The top ten fighters would become her army. She had no use for those who were weak, so she decided that offing each other was the best bet at finding the true strength. . "This doesn't surprise me. Not in the least. It's nearly impossible to be victorious when Kira gets mad. I take it the wails hurt Dante Logan?"

"Hmm, yes. Badly. His sensitive hearing was damaged."

Rebecca chuckled. "You hurt Dante, you're going to be beaten down by her. She's hopelessly in love with him. She'd die for her him the chance ever arose." Rebecca sighed again. She hated the fact that Kira wanted someone else, that her heart had already been taken by some boy who didn't even acknowledge she existed. It was disconcerting, this fact, but made the fact of taking Kira for herself all the more appealing. If there was one thing more that she love other than watching virginal girl be raped, it was raping a virginal girl while the boy she had loved since childhood watched; finally figuring out that the same girl who he had ignored was the one who he really wanted. She knew, from experience, that watching the girl he just figured he loved was taken from him, body and soul, right before his eyes. It broke them more than any form of torture ever could.

They couldn't handle it. Rebecca loved watching them break as her husband or Kenneth mercilessly raped the girl. It gave her the utmost pleasure to see them beg and weep for the girl's mercy, their body ripping at the chains holding them until blood seeped from their skin. Oh, and then watching their faces as she killed the girl nearly brought her to a climax every time. She knew, that if she raped Kira over and over again and forced Dante to watch, every other victim would be completely insignificant to them. There would be no greater pleasure in her life than knowing she was breaking two of the Titans children in one fatal swoop.

She was nearly giddy with the thought as she latched onto Gizmo's thick forearm, body pressed up against his side. "Oh, oh, oh, Gizzy, I know what I want."

He glanced down at her, eyes soft and mouth hard. She trembled at his expression. "I want Dante, too. I want Dante to watch us rape her! I want him tied up, completely vulnerable, with no chance of him escaping us, so he can watch and scream and cry and beg until his throat is raw and his mind and heart and soul is ripped from him. Ooh, ooh, ooh, can you do that for me? Can you make it to where we can torture Kira in front of him?"

She waved her hands in excitement when he nodded. "Oh, this is going to be amazing! This is going to be so fucking awesome! I never thought about making him watch us! Then, then, when Kira's broken, I can have him too! He is so adorable! I mean, he's not handsome, but he has this baby face that just make you want to tie him up and take him over and over and over again until he's exhausted and spent. He won't mind…Ooh! Wait! We can then make Kira watch that! Wouldn't it be amazing to have them both watch each other get raped by us?" Her fingers tightened against his skin, eyes imploring as they searched his.

Gizmo fought back the urge to fidget. "I don't like rape."

Rebecca pouted as she ran her finger over his thick collarbone. "But, but…I want to see you rape Kira…that would…I would…it would give me so much pleasure seeing you do that…" When she glanced up at him, tears swam in her eyes.

This time, Gizmo did flinch. "You really want me to rape…rape Kiranne Grayson?"

She nodded slowly, tears slipping down her cheeks. "I would love for you to do that. It would…I would feel so much closer to you if you did." She sniffed softly, and Gizmo decided that he as so whipped.

"Only once, right?"

Her eyes brightened. "Yes, only once. You can have her first. But you gotta promise me that you'll enjoy it. That and you have to really hurt her. I know you can. I know you make her scream in pain. Oh, please, Gizzy. It's all I ask of you."

Feeling sick to his stomach, Gizmo nodded. "Okay. I'll do it. But just for you."

She squealed in excitement, arms tight around his thick neck as she kissed him soundly. "Oh, this means so much to me."

She was grinning as she turned back to watch her pandemonium. "Besides," she added with a soft smile as Blade twisted around, angling his broad sword to slice an unsuspecting head off another man's shoulders. She trembled in pleasure as blood coated her basement floor. "Once you do it, you can't seem to get enough of it. Trust me. Just watching draws you in, I promise. It did me." She turned her head to smile lovingly at her favorite villain. "I used to be sane long ago."

Gizmo nodded, but he did not trust her words. He didn't know if he could handle raping the young girl, but if Rebecca wished it of him, then he would do it. He just had to psyche himself up to it. Maybe keeping an eye on her movements would help him out. Rebecca did keep enough footage of her to maybe spark his lust.

But it did nothing to stop the sick feeling eating away at his insides. His hands tightened against the metal railing, the metal denting under his strength. Rebecca merely smiled. "You know," she said easily as a spray of blood splattered against her cheek, "I researched your former teammate."

Gizmo stiffened. "Really?" His voice was hard, warning her that this was not a topic he wished to discuss. If Gizmo had to rape any woman, it would have been that traitor Jinx.

"Umm-hmm. She's got four kids. Rose, the oldest, who is twenty years old. A set of twin girls, Sakura and Sahara, both eleven, and a son, Wesley, who is five." Idly, she wiped the blood from her skin. "Rose—ironic, that she would name her first child Rose, given the circumstances—is a mirror image of her mother. The coloring is different—her hair is red instead of pink, but her eyes are exactly like her mothers—but there is no mistaking the blood. Believe it or not, the red hair, pink eyes thing is really hot."

Gizmo felt the blood boil beneath his skin, but wisely kept his mouth shut. "They live here in Jump City. Cute little place on the beach. Real close to the Titans, but they don't keep in contact. Rose's is enrolled at the community collage, working on Computer Science. She's plans on getting a job with the police force. You know, breaking into government files, crap like that. She's a hacker, by the way, so we want to keep out of her line of view. That's about all I know of her, save for the fact that she was a brilliant student in high school, if not a bit lazy. She's got her father's speed, which she uses on the computer. She's thin, but she eats constantly. That's it, though. Just figured you want to know."

She smiled at him. "Jinx owns a gothic antique store. You know, skulls and crossbones and the random array of ceramic unicorns—which she makes by hand. Wally—which is his name, but the way—did his whole superhero thing. Made a good buck in foreign countries, too. Oh," she added when Gizmo was near his breaking point, "and they do fuck like bunnies."

She patted his hand when he broken the metal in two. "I only thought that you might want to have a go at the daughter, just for kicks. I mean, it would be a way to get back a Jinx for tossing you aside. Taking her daughter would really prove your point. You wouldn't even have to rape her. Just beat her around or whatever."

Gizmo said nothing, just watched the battle below, teeth clenched painfully. Rebecca gave up with a sigh. "The offer always stands, okay? We can do something about it."

"Mistress."

Rebecca turned away from Gizmo when her ancient butler appeared, nose high in the air as always. "Yes?"

"Ten warriors have survived. Eighty-six have been killed. The master Blade is bringing them up. I have not checked on the super villains yet, madam." He bowed, old bones creaking, and shuffled off to check on the statistics of the villains with the speed of a teenager.

Rebecca smiled as he disappeared. Williamson was a pain in the ass, but she loved him like her own father.

True to his word, Blade strutted up the stairs; ten weapon-wielders following close behind. He was covered in blood, yet his demeanor was as calm as always. "We have ten, as you instructed. No one was injured from my group."

Her eyes roamed over each person who survived the battle. She smiled at what she saw. "Good. Show them their rooms. Get them cleaned up. Then, we will celebrate your victory tonight."

Blade frowned. "I'm not a maid."

Rebecca had the insane urge to kiss his pouting mouth. "Okay, okay. I'll have Williamson do it. Until then, you can go clean your weapons." She shooed them off with a wave of her hand, glancing down at the field of dead bodies.

"We'll need to burn them. Get a butt load of bleach. Eh, I'll have Williamson's scrub the floor later. But for now, I want to see my survivors."

As if reading her mind, Williamson trotted back in, at least fifteen villains trailing after him. "Sorry, miss, but there were five that no one could seem to kill. You have fifteen instead of the designated ten."

Rebecca nodded, but before she had a chance to look over her new army, a strong, thick hand darted from the group and wrapped around her throat. No one had time to move before the man had her dangling over the rail.

Rebecca's eyes went wide with terror. "I want Grey," he growled, dark eyes demented. "She's is mine, do you understand? I have no qualms with killing you right now."

Pushing down the fear, Rebecca grabbed hold of his wrist and pulled her body up slightly to take the pressure off her windpipe. Gizmo was trying to pull the man from her, but not even his strength could deter this amazing man.

"Why would I tell you no?" She managed to choke out, scowling down at him as her arms shook at holding her body up.

The man raised an eyebrow at her, head titled slightly. He hadn't expected this woman to be mad instead of scared. "Dunno," he said with a shrug.

Rebecca gawked. He just went from crazy to indifferent in one moment. This man, she decided, was insane. Maybe more so than she was.

"You want Grey, okay. Sure. Wanna give me a reason? Well, on the other hand, wanna let me down so I can breathe?"

The man grinned wolfishly at her before jerking her to his body. Arousal sparked. The muscles against her were as self-induced, unlike Gizmo. This man worked for his strength. And he was also terrifying.

"She is my toy."

Rebecca glanced up at him, breathing ragged from the tight grip around her body. "Toy? As in…?"

He smirked. "You know without asking."

"Ah, a sex slave, I take it?"

"Is there any other form of toy?"

She grinned up at him, fingers digging into his flesh. "That's good to hear. Grey is yours. All I asks is that you let me know how things go. You know, maybe tape the good parts and send it to me? Ooh, speaking of, maybe you could send it to her parents as well…" She trailed off, eyebrows drawing together. "What's your name, by the way?"

He smiled hatefully. "AJ."

Rebecca felt a chill race up her spine when he jerked her face to his.

"I'm the son of Adonis."

XxX

I am so sorry this took so long. You see, my beta is having serious computer/Internet trouble, so I couldn't get the chapter back corrected, so what you just read was only betaed by me (which means there are tons of mistakes I missed, probably). If things go right, when she does finally send me the corrected chapter, I'll replace it with this one.

On a happier note, I decided that I would start The Book of Garion. I love this story, I really do, but not many people are interested in it, so I figured that I would have a complete Titan fic out in the open. I've already written 25 pages of it, and still have many more pages to write. I've also started the second chapter to it, as well as the next chapter for this, so I haven't been completely goofing off. Also, just so you know, I'm rewriting But I'm Only Human. I've managed to fix chapters 1-6, but I haven't had time to rewrite and edit the rest.

Anyway, since this week is my last year of Junior year (why does that sound funny?) I will have all summer to work on all I have planned, if my teacher doesn't get me a summer job. I'll try to update on regular intervals, but considering this is me, all I can promise you is trying to update on regular intervals.

So again, I am so sorry about all the mistakes, but I figured that since I've been fished with this for more than two weeks, I mine as well post it.

Wow…32 pages…not bad for someone like me.