BeastBoy crawled out of bed around eleven. The sun brightened his messy room and warmed his body as he turned into a cat to stretch. The green changeling wandered out of his room and into the kitchen, where Cyborg shoveled bacon into his mouth.

"You're up early," Cyborg commented past a mouthful of bacon. "Usually you don't leave your room till noon."

BeastBoy tossed some tofu eggs into a pan. "I know, dude. I just couldn't sleep. Where is everyone else?"

"Star managed to drag Raven to the mall, which means that it'll have a few less stores by the time the leave. Robin is training…huge surprise. Seeing Slade last night really freaked him out."

BeastBoy poked at his tofu. "No sign of Tempest?" He transferred the tofu onto a plate and began to eat.

Cyborg cringed in disgust. "No, I don't think she's awake yet. Though, the smell of tofu might have scared her away."

BeastBoy glared and flung a forkful of tofu at Cyborg, who reacted with a surprised shriek. Several minutes of fighting left the kitchen covered in eggs and bacon and the boys without breakfast. Cyborg pulled bacon off his face and asked seriously, "What do you think about Tempest? Do you trust her?"

The green changeling recalled the previous night and Tempest's sudden pause after Slade shouted that name. "Yes," he replied honestly. "I trust her."

Cyborg scraped some egg off the wall thoughtfully. "I think I trust her too. I just want to…"

"What did you guys do to the kitchen?!" Robin demanded loudly. The two other teens babbled incoherently and gestured wildly about the kitchen.

"See, the garbage can was allergic to bacon…"

"…and then the fridge came to life…"

Robin rolled his eyes and smirked. "Sure. Are the girls still shopping?"

"Well, I'm not sure it they're actually getting any shopping done considering last time, Raven blew up some stores."

BeastBoy snickered. "And Tempest is still sleeping."

Robin ran a hand through his ink black hair. "Maybe someone should go and check on her just in case some…"

"I'll go!" BeastBoy volunteered enthusiastically. He left the kitchen swiftly.

"That was fast," Robin commented.

Cyborg glanced around the kitchen and realized BeastBoy's plan. "Hey BB! Get back here and help me clean up the kitchen!"

…

BeastBoy ran down the hall and snickered when he heard Cyborg's angry shout. "Sucker."

He arrived at Tempest's room and knocked loudly. Silence. He knocked again. A muffled response and loud thump sound from inside the room. A few moments later, Tempest opened the door, her eyes half closed and her clothes rumpled.

"Sorry, were you still asleep?" BeastBoy questioned.

Tempest rubber her eyes fiercly. "Yeah, I guess the battle last night tired me out more than I thought. What time is it?"

"Noon, baby." Tempest's brown eyes widened. "You okay?"

"Yes, thanks, I just didn't mean to sleep in so much." Tempest stepped back from her door. "Did you want to come in?"

BeastBoy accepted the invitation and looked around the sparse room while Tempest replaced all the covers back onto her bed. "Bad dreams?" he queried.

Tempest looked at her crumpled sheets. "I guess so," she murmured, "even though I don't remember them. I know I'm normally a pretty violent sleeper though." She finished making her bed and collapsed onto it. "So, what's on your mind, BeastBoy?"

"I was gonna ask you something pretty similar."

"Well, I'm guessing you didn't just stop by to look at the décor in the room," Tempest commented.

"You never know. Maybe I like white on white." Tempest smiled. "So…what happened last night?"

Tempest laughed dryly; she stood abruptly and crossed the room to the window. Worried, BeastBoy sollowed and cautiously placed a hand on her arm. "Tempest…"

"I think the better question is what didn't happen last night." She continued to stare blearily out the window. Finally, she questioned, "What happened to make Slade hate all of you?"

BeastBoy rested his head against the window pane. "I don't know if it's so much Slade hating us as us hating Slade. He just appeared one day and found a way of getting under everyone's skin, especially Robin's."

Tempest turned to look at BeastBoy. "Yes," she said slowly, "he is very good at that."

"So, what did you do to Slade? Or, more appropriately, what did Slade do to you?"

The brunette leaned back against the window and surveyed the bedroom. Her bedroom. This place could be a new beginning – a home with kind individuals. A family. "I don't know if I can tell you yet. When I do tell you all, you'll ask me to leave."

"You don't know that," BeastBoy insisted.

Tempest shrugged noncommittally. "What happened between you and Slade?"

BeastBoy stiffened unconsciously. He recalled the earthy blonde teen who left her painful mark on his heart. If Slade had not interfered, the two of them could have had a real relationship. Now, even though he had let go and moved on, the pain Slade caused lingered.

"BeastBoy?"

"I don't want to talk about it," the changeling said curtly.

"Why not?" Tempest prompted.

"I just don't, okay?!" BeastBoy snapped.

"Then why do I have to?" BeastBoy flinched at Tempest's tone and forced himself to meet her eyes. Though they stared defiantly, BeastBoy could see the pain. Pain that none of the tem knew about, but wanted to drag to the surface. He wilted slightly.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I shouldn't have snapped."

"No, don't apologize," Garnet implored. "I shouldn't have pushed you – I'm just a curious person." She moved away from the window. "Can you do me a favour? (BeastBoy nodded eagerly) Awesome. Could you tell everyone that in an hour, I'll tell you guys all about me…or, as much as I can remember."

"Sure," BeastBoy said happily. "See you in an hour!" He ran from the room.

Tempest opened her window, slipped onto the balcony and took to the air.

…

BeasBoy entered the main room in the middle of an argument. Robin held up several shirts while Starfire spoke animatedly and both Robin and Cyborg retorted. Raven sat on the couch with a book. BeastBoy sat beside the dark girl. "What's going on?"

Raven smiled cynically. "I can't even explain it, just sit and watch."

"But why do you dislike these garments? They are so full of colour and different from your fighting garments!"

Cyborg pointed at a yellow and orange flowered shirt. "Star, it's got flowers on it. I don't wear flowers!"

"No offense Star," Robin hazarded, "but these are way too colourful. Not to mention, they aren't exactly our style."

"They've got flowers!" Cyborg repeated. "Look Starfire, we really appreciate the thought, but we're not going to wear them."

Starfire's eyes flashed. She pulled the shirts away from Robin and shoved them into a bag. "Very well! I will take them back to the store and tell them that my friends are all Blarkfan arditas!"

Robin turned to Raven. "Why didn't you stop her?"

Raven cocked an eyebrow. "Have you ever been shopping with her? There is no way to stop her."

Starfire began to retaliate, but BeastBoy intervened. "Tempest said that in an hour, she'll talk to us."

Everyone paused. "What did you two talk about?" Robin queried.

BeastBoy replayed the conversation in his head. "The fact that we hate Slade."

Robin thought for several minutes. "Maybe I should go and talk to her and…"

"She's not in her room," Raven interrupted.

"How do you know?" Cyborg asked.

Raven glanced up from her book. "Because I do. She's on the roof now." Everyone exchanged a glace. "Check if you don't believe me."

Robin took the bait and slowly ascended to the rooftop. In confirmation of Raven's words, Tempest stood by the edge of the roof, her arms raised.

"Tempest?"

She turned, startled, and Robin noticed the sound of water crashing onto the rocks below.

"Sorry," Robin said. "Are you alright?"

She smiled easily. "Yes, thanks. I just needed to get some air before I talk to you guys." Robin joined her by the edge of the roof. "I also wanted to say goodbye to Jump City, and this seemed the best place to do so."

Robin glanced at the white-clad teen. "So, you're leaving?"

Tempest met his gaze. "That will be up to you all once you've heard my history. Don't think that I'm trying to guilt you into anything, though. I really will understand and respect any decision you make. I don't want to be around myself most of the time."

Robin frowned. "Why not?"

"Can you stand to be around yourself all the time?" she asked by way of response.

The Boy Wonder smiled. "No, definitely not." The pair stared silently at the water for several minutes. Eventually, Robin asked, "What were you doing when I came up here?"

"Just practicing and trying to perfect one aspect of my powers. I can create elements and wield those easily, but it's much harder for me to control elements that are already present in nature."

"Is that what you did last night when the earth under that lizard collapsed?" Robin asked.

Tempest assented. "Just doing that exhausted me, which was a nice reminder that I need more practice. I was practicing with the ocean, which is one of the harder things to control since it is inconstant. Would you like to see?"

"Sure."

Tempest stretched her arms out over the water and closed her eyes; bits of purple light escaped from between her closed lids. Robin watched the waves break steadily on the shore. Suddenly, one wave seemed to pause just before it collided with the rocks. Tempest opened her eyes and slowly raised her right arm. The wave hesitantly followed the movement of Tempest's arm. The wall of water rose several feet in the air and Tempest used her left arm to push it away from the tower. It stood almost majestically, a sparkling, moving liquid wall. Breathing heavily, the teen dropped her arms and the altered wave plummeted back to the ocean.

"Whoa," Robin commented inarticulately. "That was impressive."

She pushed some curls out of her yes and checked a watch. "Thanks. My hour is up – are you guys ready?"

Robin merely smiled and led Tempest off the roof.

…

Tempest sat on an armchair, cradling a mug of tea. The Teen Titans sprawled on the rest of the furniture; Tempest felt slightly nauseous. She sipped some tea, forced her hands to stop shaking and began the tale.

"I suppose I need to begin sixteen years ago for you to understand everything. I was born and grew up in a tiny Mexican town that was very close to the American border. I lived with my parents and two brothers – one older and one younger. I also had five cousins, several aunts, uncles and grandparents in the village. We were the only ones who spoke both Spanish and English fluently. Everyone in the town knew each other superficially, but everyone had secrets. Husbands were unfaithful, wives ogled pool boys and indulged fantasies, children snuck out past curfew. It was the stereotypical, clichéd town with the exception of my family. Every single member of my family had powers evident basically from birth. My maternal grandparents had been chased out of Wales due to their powers, so naturally, we hid ours. This was toughest for my little brother, who tended to spontaneously burst into flames. When I was six years old – which means my brother was three – he exploded into flames in the middle of a friend's birthday party.

"There was no way to cover up what happened and, ignoring my grandparents' wishes, my mother told the truth. We were literally prepared for torches and pitchforks, but received understanding. Everyone treated us generally the same, though at times, they did exploit our powers. My older brother, Mar – uh – Excalibur, probably had the hardest time adjusting, but no violence ever resulted. Then, four years ago, everything changed." Tempest dropped her gaze in an attempt to gather her thoughts. The next section had to be told carefully to avoid a revolution.

Robin interrupted her thoughts. "Is Excalibur your brother's birth name?" Tempest shook her head. "What is it?"

Tempest looked up. "Mark. What's yours?"

Robin grinned. "Dick." BeastBoy and Cyborg began to snicker loudly. Robin shot them an angry glare, but they just laughed harder.

"But I do not understand," Starfire ventured. "Why does Slade wish to capture you?"

Tempest sighed; 'Might as well get it over with.' She fixed her gaze on a spot on the wall. "Slade is my uncle."

BeastBoy inhaled so sharply he started choking; Cyborg's laughter at Robin's phallic name ended abruptly.

"We're not related by any sort of blood," Tempest continued, "since he is my adoptive uncle. When my father was a child in Mexico, Slade wandered into town, alone and half starved. My grandmother took Slade in for the night with the intention of taking him to an orphanage the following morning. At that time, trying to find an orphanage with room was like trying to get a date with Batman – it rarely happened. My grandmother had to take Slade back home, swearing she'd put he in an orphanage the following day. That turned into the following week, then month, then thoughts of orphanages were forgotten.

"Slade grew up with only slight traces of his current insanity. According to my father, Slade liked to kill insects in unnecessarily torturous fashions. When I knew Slade as my uncle, he always seemed strangely silent, almost as if observing people made more sense than living with them. I felt sorry for him more than anything. (Tempest laughed cynically). November 1st, appropriately the Day of the Dead in Mexico, Slade planted the seeds of destruction. All the years he spent watching others taught him everyone's fears and insecurities, so he took advantage of that knowledge. To Slade, we were all ants prime for torture. He began by spreading lies to everyone outside our family about the magnitude and use of our powers. Once one person believed Slade, the fear and distrust caught on like a disease. It manifested physically at first in rude comments and segregation. Slade observed this with a sadistic smile. My grandparents decided that we should leave before this exclusion turned violent, similar to what happened when my mother lived in Wales. My entire family, with the exception of Slade, managed to pack up their entire lives in under a week. Slade spent that time feeding the hatred. When we attempted to leave town, someone punched the one member of my family who would fight back – my uncle José. He returned the punch with an electric shock strong enough strong enough to render the man unconscious. The jolt sparked a war; my family quickly switched from the defensive to the offensive. Slade sat and watched the battle with an almost joyous grin. At one point, I begged him for help. He continued to grin as he stood and joined the fight against out family.

"We were grossly outnumbered and there comes a point when sheer numbers beat any amount of power. The fight turned one sided; everyone in my family tried to protect each other, but people slowly fell. My grandparents, uncle José, my father. While Mark turned his attention to our injured father, I was targeted by Slade. He pummeled me too quickly for me to react. I fell, awaiting the next blow." Tempest fought the tears that always accompanied the next memory. The blame and self loathing forced tears down her cheeks.

"Aiden, my…my baby brother, is the reason Slade wears that mask. While I lay on the ground, too stupid to move, Aiden arrived to rescue me. He was only nine – I should have protected him, but I wasn't fast enough. Aiden burnt Slade ruthlessly enough to blister and char his entire face. Always disgustingly prideful, Slade snapped my baby brother's neck in retaliation." Tempest gave up her attempts to stem her tears, they dripped onto her collarbone.

"I lived for my baby brother. I know you aren't supposed to have favourites in you family, but he was mine. I'd helped to care for him sine his birth and we were incredibly close. I blame myself entirely for his death; if I had moved or reacted, I could have saved his life. Instead, he gave his life for me." She swatted roughly at her tears. "I have incredibly vague memories of the two years after that moment. I know I got viciously angry. I know that I lost everyone in my family with the exception of Mark. I know that I did some horrible things during those years, but I can swear to you that I was not under my own influence. Roughly two years ago, I suppose you could say that I woke up in Slade's lair beside my injured brother. I had no sense of time in that vile, sinister hole, but it felt like days before my brother awoke. Slade had yet to make an appearance, but he hung pictures of our deceased relatives as a reminder of his power. When Mark awoke, I immediately plied him for information. Fortunately, he remembered much more about our lives over the years. When he told me our story, I almost wished I had stayed asleep. I still remember his exact words:

'Sammy girl, I can't fill you in on everything that's happened since I don't remember everything, and it would take weeks. But, I'll tell you the important details. We're alone in this big, bad world, as Slade so blatantly reminded us. (He stared pointedly at me.) Sam, when Slade murdered Aiden, you went ballistic. I've never seen you use your powers so mercilessly before. The light from your eyes blinded a few of our attackers, and the storm, the tempest, you created was immense. It killed the majority of the villagers and left the rest terrified and injured. You passed out before you could even land, and Slade caught you. I couldn't move to help you, mainly because I was under a fallen tree. Slade noticed and took me along for the ride. I don't know when the hell he got strong enough to carry both of us, but apparently, he worked out when he wasn't being a creep.

'You didn't wake up for so long that I though you were dead. Trust me though, little sister, its better that you were passed out because Slade made us his lab rats. For the past couple years, he's been injecting us with this red drug that makes us incredible susceptible to suggestion which allows him to control our minds. We've robbed, slaughtered, forged and destroyed, which is why you might have some very disturbing memories. The drug didn't work perfectly, mainly because I'm so stubborn and I'm not sure you have a mind to control, and we've fought it incessantly. Slade noticed we were more rebellious together, so he began to send us to different locations. You managed to escape entirely for a month at one point in an effort to find me, but Slade caught you again.

'I don't remember the last time we were drugged, or what we had to do, but it must have been pretty intense seeing as I feel like I got hit by a train. The fact that we're both lucid makes me think that it's been at least a week since we've been drugged. And, since Slade doesn't seem to be around, I think it's time for an escape attempt. Are you game, Sammy girl?'

"My older brother has always had the ability to talk me into anything, but he hardly needed to do any persuasion in this case. We were strapped to metal tables like test subjects, but some ice fixed that problem. When we emerged into the sunlight, I was entirely disoriented. I had no idea where we were or where to hide. I could tell from looking at my brother that he was equally confused. As we stood in the sidewalk in what I later learned was Metropolis, I pondered our situation and made a rather painful choice. I turned to Mark, 'Hey, big brother, the odds of Slade catching us if we're together are relatively large. Since I doubt either of us wants to return to that hell, maybe we should split up.' Mark stared at me and smiled.

'You read my twisted mind, Sam. I don't want to send you out into the world alone, but I think it's best for everyone if we're apart.' He took my hands. 'We'll keep in touch with very subtle signs, and if you ever get in Slade trouble, send me a signal. I'll do the same, that way we know if the other is alive and whatnot. Be a good girl, Samantha, remember our family, and stay alive. It would be a betrayal to our relatives' memories if we died now. I love you kiddo. Be safe.'

"He hugged me tightly and bolted down an alley. I took to the air and watched Mark until he ran out of my line of vision. I haven't seen my brother since, but I know he's alive since I've been receiving signs. I didn't send him a message when Slade reappeared in my life a month or so ago, because I don't want to risk him getting hurt. I lost one brother through Slade, and I refuse to do so again. Slade found me only days after I arrived in Jump City, and immediately since that moment has fought relentlessly to get my under his control. I will not succumb, I will not become his tool for destruction, and I will not dishonour my deceased relatives by dying. You all saved my life, and for that I owe you an immense debt. If you will allow it, I would like to try and repay you now that you know everything that I do." Tempest looked around the room. "It looks like the ball is in your court."