Chapter Seven: Ifs are Doubts

I, Maeve of Azerath, found that I absolutely adored bread. It was an absolute wonder to me how many different ways it could be made and the variety of toppings made for it. All the sections were the same in that one aspect. They all had bread and they all tasted different. The Seventh somehow found means to sell every kind of bread I'd ever tasted and many I'd never even heard of. Like pumpernickel… It was an amusing word and a delightful flavor! In the several weeks I lived on Earth I decided that tasting each and every one of Earth's breads before I died was to be my goal in life! It was going to be my most noble of accomplishments.

Today, the day after my midnight excursion with the mysterious Red-X, I miraculously convinced Beast Boy and Raven to escort me throughout Jump City's bakeries. Beast Boy had been easy to bring along and I enjoyed his company, Raven had skepticism bleeding out of her eyes by the time I finally managed to drag her along. Clearly my sister did not enjoy the finer things in life, like enjoying the sunlight, fresh air, stretching out her legs, or baked goods. Raven had to come along though; it was the only way I was going to get out of the Tower. She had the cuff, not Beast Boy. This predicament had been my selling point in encouraging my little sister into coming with.

The smell of baking bread was probably my second favorite thing in the world. Apart from the cold metal of a blade against my skin of course, bread and its scent place a great second in my life. More good news to celebrate about, my weapons were back! The amount of heated debating with Mr. Team-Leader had be exhausting, but oh-so rewarding. Even if it were only my three-pronged sai and the hidden blades on my wrists, that was enough of a win to me. They were my everything, the parts of me that I would never cut out. The only reason I'm sure the kid returned my blades was because I had potential to wield dark matter. Which scared the stars and stones out of all the titans. But they sure weren't alone in that fear. I was scared "shitless," as I've heard it said. I've been in plenty of hard scraps before, but nothing like dark matter ever came to my aid. That's how one gets scars…

Another reason for my outing into the city's fabulous bakeries: the new training Raven was going to have to give me to control my dark matter was not something I looked forward to. She had believed the ability was living dormant inside of my soul, or something, when we first met. She didn't really think it was possible to awaken it. I figured it was because my blood called to her blood. Rokakas were superstitious just like every other species out there. Since it was a race made up of different races, we- Rokakas believed that the potential of the Rokakas' way of life called out to each other. There were no weak hearts living amongst the clans. Strong males and females moved into the way of life and most of they simply knew it was their calling. Others, like myself- had been- were born into it and simply knew of nothing else.

Raven thought about my theory. She deemed it plausible. I had never been around another Azerath since my purchase, so I never felt the need to learn or use my dark matter. Since I was Raven's sister, and our mom was a high priestess, I apparently had a great ability at bay. This little tidbit pissed Mr. High-and-Mighty greatly. Now, if I wasn't before, I could be a potential threat. Super, wonderful goodies all around…

Of course the little stunt I pulled with the last pair of cuffs was definitely enough to have me "grounded" as the slang applies. Robin found out the second after Red-X took off what I had done. Since Raven had clearly told him that I was out of range of their cuffs but somehow I was unexplainably not in any excruciating pain when they showed up. And when The Boss asked for an explanation, my pettiness that motivated me into stealing the cuff suddenly appeared meager and pathetic, but it saved my ass. I would not be succumbed to that pain again. If there was a way around the First, I was the best candidate to find it. So it was hard to take his "disappointment" to heart.

But for now, I was eating a cinnamon muffin with butter and sugar on top. Nothing but utter bliss for today. The only thing Raven could give me. She rarely spoke to me now, but with the "awakening" inside of me, I figured we were going to be doing a lot of talking in the next few weeks. There was nervousness to be said about that. Why I was nervous about spending time with my sister I could not say, but it was there and pressing against my mind nonetheless.

Beast Boy no longer found my company awkward. He actually regarded my sudden ability "awesome to the max." Cyborg congratulated me too, but almost regretted it when Robin blew a gasket (I marveled at my adaptation to Earth's silly metaphors), which was why Beast Boy was with me and not the metal man. He seemed like the most accepting to my companionship and truly related to the boxed-in feeling I was ailing from while I stayed at the Tower. The changeling also found my love for bread rather amusing. The fact that he was the only one who could coax a smile out of Raven, a marvel in itself, (one that I also tended on capturing today) might have something to do with my pick in escorts.

"Come on Rea!" Beast Boy grinned ear-to-ear as he waved a piece of lemon pound cake in front of her face. "I know you like lemon. Don't deny it!" He arched his eyebrows and moved them up and down. I gawked at his actions.

"I don't eat cake Beast Boy." Raven commented to her book. She found my company boring and Beast Boy's unworthy so she brought the book along to keep herself occupied while I dragged her around the city. I knew she didn't hate it. She liked tea and ordered herself a Styrofoam cup at every bakery so far. But a cup of tea was not satisfying the changeling.

"That's a lie Rea." His little nickname for her did not go unnoticed by me either. As far as I could tell, he was the only one who called her that.

"What reason would I have to lie to you?" She question obviously uninterested in the conversation and the cake that still hovered around her face.

"I know you eat cake, and I know you like lemon." This amount of information seemed to please him greatly. I wanted to laugh, but I wanted to see how this would end more so. And since my presence was being ignored I figured I could witness the whole thing like a… fly on the wall..? Sure, that sounds about right…

"And what makes you think I want a piece of cake?" Raven was smirking at her book now. Something told me the book no longer held her attention, call it an inkling.

"Come on, everyone wants cake. It's like crack, but you know, legal." His impish grin was becoming rather appealing to me. The green human was an interesting specimen. He was fit and active and had a killer smile in his arsenal. What woman wouldn't be attracted to such a man? I glanced at Raven; she was trying oh-so hard to stifle her smile.

Finally, she looked up from her book. She had a finger to mark her place, so she meant to go back to it eventually, but for now all her attention was on Beast Boy. "Alright, I'll bite. Why are you giving me cake?"

"Because all you get is tea. And when you're at a bakery, you should sample the bakery's goods. It's only polite." The woman raised an eyebrow at him. "Plus I know you want some. Go ahead, this piece is all yours. I had to fight a crazy teenager to get you the last lemon cake, don't go and waste all my efforts." His silly grin spoke nothing of the trouble he received. Why did he lie to her?

When Raven smiled I think I knew.

Her smile really was beautiful. She seemed to have lightened the small and slightly crowded bakery with it. I felt my heart lift with a small sense of joy. I had never known joy before, but I imagined it was like this- but times by one hundred. And it affected Beast Boy, too. It was hard to tell but I saw a mild blush on his green cheeks. Interesting…

Raven took the slice off of the plate and bit into it. It was a small, modest bite, but she hummed happily nevertheless. "You're right, it is good. Thank you."

I suddenly felt like I was intruding on something now. The inner relationships of this team of heroes were beginning to confuse me. Starfire liked Robin- though I doubt I'll ever fathom why- and Robin… favored Raven to the princess. But Beast Boy obviously enjoyed Raven's company more so than any of the other Titans, though he did pick Cyborg's company over my sister's sometimes. Raven didn't select a favorite, as far as I could tell. At the moment, I figured I was her favorite. But that could because I'm her lost-sister that was once a super awful criminal and was here only because our mom said that the scariest thing to have every breathed is coming back to claim the Seventh Section in vengeance and I was necessary to stop the end of the world… Perhaps I'm biased…

I sighed and the two looked at me with mild alarm, I knew they had forgotten about me, which was fine. I got to see Raven's smile, so the day was a complete success in my log. "I don't think I can sample any more of Earth's greatest food." I commented as I stared at my empty plate, to my surprise even the crumbs were licked clean.

Beast boy grinned at me, but it did not hold so much lethal charm to it as the one he shot at Raven. Maybe it was for the best. The changeling was attractive, and I rarely ever find men that I could consider attractive. I did not need the confusing aspect of attraction and favoritism to cloud my judgment. "I figured sooner or later that would happen. You can't sample every one of Earth's breads in one day. That's utterly impossible."

"If you make it sound like that, I might think you were challenging me." I smirked. I grew up in the mindset that I was never allowed to have a favorite. The Mother was cold and hard, an unmovable and untouchable force. There was no place for a favorite; thus why Mothers took a girl-child within the clan, or bought one off of Azerath and caused the bloodiest battle ever off the records. No one cared enough of the Rokakas to record the Clan War.

"No. No. Not a challenge, it's advice! You know the saying about slow and steady?" Beast Boy laughed somewhat nervously, but now I knew it was an act. The man didn't think I would hurt him. Or maybe he knew deep down that I wouldn't. I didn't want to hurt him perhaps that was enough.

"No. I am not familiar with that one." I frowned. Was there really so much to learn about Earth?

"They say that slow and steady will win the race." Raven answered good-naturedly enough. She was back into her book but seemed to be more involved with the two of us. Tactical decision, thy name is Maeve. Bringing Beast Boy along proved to be more successful than I had hoped.

"That doesn't make sense." I countered.

"Frankly, it doesn't to me either." Beast Boy shrugged. "So would you like to try another bakery? Or would you like to call it a day?"

"Please tell me you've had your full." Raven exaggerated her exasperation.

I faked nonchalance. "We could go to a grocery store and buy some bread." I offered.

Beast Boy chuckled, "Bingo! Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you don't think, remember? We've had this conversation." Raven said casually as Beast Boy narrowed his eyes at her and his ears drooped.

"That's not nice." He muttered in a sulking manner.

"To the grocery store it is!" I announced and began to exit the establishment. As I moved to stand on the sidewalk and wait for my escorts, I felt the obvious censor in my fight-or-flight mode kicking into high gear. Someone was watching me.

I didn't want the others to know, they didn't seem to have sense anything as we all moved up the walkway. They were arguing agreeably and were caught in their own world again, a world I had no part in. Cautiously and without sudden movements I scanned the area. I saw him across the street, the sunset shading the alleyway in between a florist's and a small electronic store. Although his mask was different, thanks to the damage it took from when I sliced it with my dark matter blade, I immediately recognized the man staring right at me as Red-X. I narrowed my eyes at him to subtly let him know I saw him. That brought a sly smile across his lips, which I could now see. The refinished mask reminded me of a saber-tooth tiger that I read about in Earth's history. His mouth and chin and part of his jaw were visible, they were framed by two sharp points from the original mask that still mirrored a skull.

Why was he following me? Was he insulted because I fought him and won? Was this about the flash drive I stole back? Did this guy purely looking for revenge because I bested him? I remember his stunned body language when I fought him hand-to-hand. I surprised him with my skills. Was this because I had intrigued him somehow? I understood that he was an accomplished fighter as well. He was amazing, if I spoke in light terms.

He had a cuff on him so he might be able to track me; the general had been fuzzy on the details of how the contraption worked. But out of all the people that he could stalk, I became worthy of his attentions, I never believed in coincidences. This fact almost gave me great excitement. Back in the old days, I would have sought this man out and tested his skills till one of us submitted or died. I more often-than-not ever found an opponent who submitted, but they weren't rare. Usually they wound up swearing their undying loyalty to me… But that had been back then. I was no longer that person… I was trying really hard not to be.

As we stared at each other from across the street, I felt like I connected with this shadow-man. He was a temptation, nothing more and nothing less. The dark desires deep inside me called out to Red-X and I wanted him to answer that call. I wanted to fight with him one more time, to feel his blades against my own, to know shocked silence as we awed one another's footwork, to have this man at my mercy. The sudden and furious sensations gripped my breath from me. I would have nothing to do with him. I should have nothing to do with he who wore my temptations on his sleeve.

So I turned very carefully away from the shadow-man. I know the saying about temptation: to avoid it at all cost, or something leading to that conclusion. And that would be my code of will now. Red-X brought to light certain parts of me that I could never be rid of; he dragged them to the surface with brutal force and cold calculated efficiency. And he didn't even know he was doing it. A cold shiver raced done my spine. He was still watching me, Raven and Beast Boy never even faltered. They could not sense the danger the shadow-man wielded. They did not understand the lethal dose of chaos he could control. They probably would not be able to do anything if he came like the shadow he was and unleashed that destructive force without a care to his name.

Red-X's prey had been targeted, and he wanted to give it a fighting chance. Because that was all this was about: a fight between two very deadly and very experienced fighters. The game was set: the pieces were about to move. Soon, I knew no amount of evasion would save me from the temptation he offered. Soon, I would feel that man's weapons against my own. And soon, very soon, the two of us would be locked in this seriously deadly game and one of us would be the winner and one of us would either be submit or dead.

"Don't touch that!" Raven cried as she grabbed the white text book from me and threw it back into the chest it had been sealed away in. I stared at her in shock. "You are to never touch this chest, Maeve. You understand?"

"Yeah. I got it. Never, ever." I held my hands in a defensive maneuver. Had my little sister just lost her mind? "Though, you know no harm ever came from reading a book." I said.

She glared at me. "There is a very pissed off dragon that I sealed away into this book a long time ago. Don't touch this book."

"Oh. That bad, huh? Ok. I'm sorry Raven."

"How did you even open the chest? I know I locked it tight."

I laughed nervously, she would not like this one, "I sorta picked the lock."

"Sorta?" What do you mean 'sorta'?" she questioned.

"Well, I heard this voice, which the 'pissed off sealed away dragon' explains," by the anger radiating off her I knew I was seriously busted.

"And you figured it would be ok to listen to voices in your head?" She was going to start screaming now, I could feel it.

"I didn't know it was a dragon." I snapped. "Before I knew what I was doing I was opening the chest and when I found the book I figured you wouldn't mind if I read it."

"You thought opening a sealed away book was ok? You didn't think I would mind if you broke into my chest- which is a crime- and read my book?" Oh yes, she was fuming now. I took several steps back; the door was close within my range.

"I know what it looks like Raven, but I didn't mean any harm. I wouldn't have been able to even summon the dragon anyway, I can't do stuff like that."

She narrowed her eyes at me accusingly, which kind of set me off. Did she think I could summon a dragon from a cursed book? "As far as I know, you could." Oh Siber! She did! She totally thought I was a crazed mage!

"Well, that's just freakin' great." I snarled at her. "You don't think I have any self-control, but you think I could summon a great and scary dragon, something I've only heard done by highly skilled magicians. I fling knives and I wield blades. I am not into majicks. What happened against Red-X was an accident. It isn't like I'll become a sorceress like you." I didn't realize that I scared her until I took a step toward her the heat of emotion while raising my voice and I saw her flinch an inch away. I stopped and stared at her. I couldn't do anything else. I couldn't even fight with her. I had nothing left in me to say anything. My own blood didn't even trust me.

"You're afraid of me." Solid fact. Nothing more.

She squared her shoulders- which isn't an accurate description, but the metaphorical sense applies. "You have great potential to do harm."

"Without proper guidance, your right, I do. But even Beast Boy trusts me."

She nodded and sighed, "Beast Boy can be a fool." After a beat she continued as if she only then realized what she had said. "I am sorry, Maeve. I haven't been treating you very sisterly, much less civilly. You deserve the benefit of the doubt." She gave me a reassuring smile, not the joyous one in the bakery, but it was enough to let her think I was fine.

"That saying doesn't sound very reassuring," I said. The saying sounded more like she doubted me even more and that I deserved it. Her smile grew a little more real. "I'm sorry I went through your stuff. And for almost allowing a 'pissed off sealed dragon' to be let loose." She actually let out a small chuckle.

"Tomorrow we'll start your training. You may even like it. I think I might be able to understand your dark matter by then. I'll need to think about some things though." She frowned, all serious and no more jokes. "You'll need plenty of rest; I suggest you do that right away."

I nodded and left her room. The sting of her earlier words stabbed at my heart the second I was clear of her vision. She didn't trust me. My own blood couldn't trust me. How much did that bite? Oh Siber, this was a horrible feeling. There were other experiences that were a thousand times worst, though. I could- would get over this. Raven didn't think I could do it. Robin probably had more hope than she did, but he was supposed to. If I failed at becoming a law-abiding citizen then it was his ass on the line. I would become his problem, and the First and the Second would absolutely love that.

The roof was empty and I took refuge there to sort out my thoughts, too many problems and too many new emotions getting in the way. When I was at the bakery things felt nice. Normal wasn't an appropriate description for the way I felt today. Normal for me consisted of someone picking a fight with me and blood being spilt. Normal was like when Red-X silently stalked me.

But before that, before I found Red-X, the time with Raven and Beast Boy felt like a world where I had never been a Rokakas. It must have been the kind of feelings that I would have encountered had I not been brought up into a world where crime was the way of life and death was the next door neighbor.

The metal door to the roof creaked open. I winced internally. Why me?

"Oh. I did not know you were up here." Great. And it had to be the princess, too. Fabulous.

"I'll leave if you need the space." I muttered.

"No. I have been meaning to speak with you." Starfire said in a haughty voice that sent my skin itching. "I want to apologize for my behavior to you. Ever since the 'Tin-man' came to arrest you, I have been an unfit ambassador of my planet to this one. My hosting was been poor." I raised my eyebrows and almost scoffed at her. She sounded like this was physically painful to be apologizing to the likes of me.

"You see, I too have an older sister. She came to Earth claiming to be visiting me. But that had been a lie she told me. She came to Earth hoping to frame me for a crime I did not commit and one that she had. Robin allowed for the authorities to take my older sister away. He never gave her the second chance he has given you. For that I became unreasonably jealous. My sister does not wish to become a good person. She enjoys inflicting pain and suffering wherever she goes. Because she is royalty your… people would not allow her to join." She toned down her arrogant tone and sounded truthfully mournful of her sister's fate. I didn't miss the pause before she decided to call the Rokakas "people" of course. "You must understand, what I feel for you is irrational. For this I am apologizing."

"You were upset that Robin gave me the chance your sister never got, that's not irrational. You favor your sister. She is special to you. It only makes sense that you want what's best for her." I felt Raven's accusing words stab at my insides again. I couldn't believe I was trying to encourage this girl with words I didn't even buy.

"As Tamera's future leader I cannot be making such judgments. It is unacceptable." She bowed her head then turned to leave me. I never accepted her apology but that was not the Tameranean way. Even apologizes were made with dignity, Tamera's royalty could not be soiled with a humble attitude. There was something we could relate to.

So I let her go and wondered if she was going to try and force her experimental cooking concoctions down my throat in a "friendly" manner, and if I would be able to survive them.

TheNewAbomination

The training room was my sanctuary. There was little peace when it came to being a leader. There was little space in the Tower for me to have my own space. But the training room? This was my spot. This or my… office, where the walls were covered with the Titan's failures and success stories. Most of which were of Slade and the terror he caused and I couldn't stop. However, for this one moment in my crazy life I was accompanied by only the punching bags full of sand and the wooden and metal dummies.

Tonight though, my sanctuary was violated by the bane of my recent headache. Nervously I noticed her watching me at the threshold, but she never moved into the room. She never commented on my movements or when I missed my targets. She must have been there much longer than I knew too, that was the most unsettling part about her. She crept up like a shadow and no one knew otherwise.

"How long till you grow bored and leave?" I asked as I grabbed a wooden bo staff from the far wall and began settling into my exercises.

"It is difficult to grow bored when I find something that captures my attention so unconditionally." She didn't have an ounce of embarrassment to confessing she was "captured" by my body. I was glad I wasn't looking at her. I'm not a prune, no matter what Beast Boy thinks, but a deadly woman who never once showed she could be trusted openly declaring her interest in me was still not something I would grow accustomed to.

"I capture your attention, eh?" I'd never let her know she caught me off guard of course. I had a reputation to uphold and all. When her soft chuckle reached my ears, I faltered in my exercise. I had forgotten the next step…

"You do. It is not something that happens often." She was coming closer. "Do you mind?" She had her hand on another staff but she was not gripping it. I nodded without really thinking. Maybe I wanted to learn more about her. Maybe I needed her to quell the upset she had started since she arrived. Or maybe I was itching for a much needed fight.

Maeve picked one up and spun it with professionalism as she tested if the staff would do her well. When she deemed it satisfactorily she stepped onto the padded floor of the half of the training room where I was. She slid in front of me with lithe grace. Oh, yeah, this was going to be a helluva fight.

"Lady's pick." I offered and she tilted her head.

"You may proceed. I would rather not attack you with something that would threaten you because you were unprepared for it." And as her cat-like grin spread I felt the headache make an encore presentation. I rushed her with quick steps and I reveled in the shock that caused her eyes to widen. She underestimated me… Why?

There were blows dealt and evaded and absorbed and traded. By half an hour we had bruises on our bruises and I was thoroughly enjoying the whole mess. Maeve was having fun too. Her grin appeared and disappeared, depending on where she stood in the fight at the time, but as the longer the fight drew out, the looser her attacks became. She wasn't any slower or anything, but she put less impact into her attacks. She was trying not to get caught up in the fight.

"Tell me about yourself." She almost demanded after she landed her aerial evasion of my downward thrust. "Who were you before you came to Jump City, before you met any of you teammates? What were you like?" She ducked from my sideswipe, "Who were your parents?"

"I was a member of the Flying Graysons." I answered and wonder why I did so after the words slipped out. I flipped onto my left hand and landed in a crouch to swipe at her ankles. She mimicked my flip and stared at me with her head tilted again. "I was in the circus." I clarified.

"Ah." Her eyes light up. Obviously she knew what a circus was, "What did you do?"

"I, and my family were trapezes artiest." And I soaked in the awe in her face. I jumped high and threw my staff at her from the air. She dodged it but I grabbed the wooden beams near the ceiling and I began to make my way to the staff by using my own momentum to travel from beam to beam. I landed next to the training staff, gripped it, and turned to gauge her reaction. Was I really showing off for this woman?

She rushed me and we went into a series of blocks and jabs. "That must have been wonderful. The circus has a tight networking, like a family."

"Yeah."

"How did you end up leaving it?"

I bought time by focusing on the movements of our bo staffs clashing and the placements of our footing. Finally I said, "My parents and my brother died." Her facial features never even twitched. "I eventually found a mentor who I look up to as a sort of father." I pushed her back and wished for a subject change, or for this woman to suddenly disappear.

"And why did you come here?" She gave me the subject change and didn't even question me about the vagueness of my mentor or my family's death.

"We stopped agreeing on most things, my honor couldn't handle some of his teachings. I couldn't live in his shadow." I realized we were circling each other. Looking for openings and spotting weaknesses.

"So you put together your own team that can live in your shadow?" She was frowning now. I could tell we would eventually come to a conflict.

"No. I don't force my thoughts and beliefs on my team, so long as they understand I am the leader there isn't a problem. There is honor to be said about being a Hero, Maeve."

"You know," She almost snarled the words at me, "there are some born to be leaders. Then there are those who should lead only themselves."

We charged each other simultaneously. There were no more words for another half hour or so, but now our breathing was rough and our actions were growing sloppy and slow. My legs ached and my arms were seriously covered in contusions. My ribs pulsed where she had hit me hard and my headache was thinking about inviting friends over. She looked as beat up. Her hood had been shoved off a while ago and her wild sliver hair flared about her determined face. A mark on her neck was changing colors so fast it was nauseating but it wasn't serious.

I took two steps back and tossed the staff to the wall where all the others were. It clattered loudly on the ground. Maeve did the same and her limbs flowed into a defensive crouch. Dear God! Did this girl ever stop?

"No more. I'm done." I said as I sat down on the weight lifting bench. Probably because she didn't know what else to do, Maeve sat down on the bench across from me. The silence could've been worst. I guess we were now aware of each other, whereas before I guess I forced myself to tolerate her. I gulped the water from my water bottle.

"I was born in a world where the only honor was given to the one with the most kills." Her voice was ragged and she was trying hard to catch her breath. "I was not allowed to know Love or Joy. Any emotion that impaired my judgment was taboo. I was trained to become the Mother of hundreds of individuals who grew up with the same upbringings like my own. I had to be better than all of them. I had to gain more honor than all of them."

I stared at her. After a long pause I handed her my water bottle. She eyed it, "According to my kind that is a symbol of trust." I shoved the bottle into her hand. She gulped eagerly before continuing. "I watched my, family die too. During the war, my clan and the other clans came to destroy me because they believed I was soiling eons of tradition. I am all that is left of a feared and dark way of life. But they were my clan. I… favored them." Her brow furrowed in frustration. She handed the bottle back and I took another gulp from it. Her eyes grew wide.

"That was another time. Another place. The point isn't to erase the memories you hold dear of that time. The point is to move forward from that place." I said as I twisted the empty bottle in my hands. "I know it is hard to become a better person. But you want to become better and that is the first step. The next is to act on that want."

She seemed to be contemplating his words. "I don't want to kill anymore. But this hero thing may not be for me."

"We'll see." I gave her a reassuring smile and a pat on her shoulder.

"You are not to give up on me, then." She said, her violet eyes burning into mine.

"Alright, I'll put more faith into you." I answered. It's what I should have done from the very beginning, but my own arrogance was blocking my vision. He gave me the benefit of a second chance, why couldn't I do the same for her?

We stood together and she nodded once. "We should…" She gestured to the staffs lying dejectedly on the floor, "Do this again."

I grinned and felt the laugh reach all the way to my toes. "Yeah. We should." I agreed. My laughter must have put her off guard because she was looking at me like I was about to lose it. "Good night." I offered as I tried to hold in my control.

"Good night." Maeve copied and escorted herself out of the room. When the door slipped closed behind her I felt like I could run a marathon. Then pass out and die. I couldn't believe how happy I was now that I was actually acting like her leader and not some insensitive ass-hole. At the same time I felt God-awful about that ass-hole part. How could I leave her alone in the chaos she lived through?

I raked a hand through my shaggy hair. It needed a cut, but I didn't want to deal with Starfire's grooming anymore. I sighed; I should've apologized to Maeve, at least. Of course, there was the outcome that she might not have accepted it. She wanted oaths, they seemed more important to her. I gave her my word to give her more faith, the benefit of the doubt… And I'd make good on my words.

TheNewAbomination

It was like saying your prayers before going to bed, or drinking a cup of warm milk. Since I didn't do those things anymore, this was my routine before shutting down and charging my systems. I checked the weather forecast. Yup, that was my secret relaxing technique I used to calm myself into sleep. I did it every night and by now, I could tell you the exact position of absolutely every weather station in the continental US. But, I didn't want to count stations to lull into sleep, tonight I merely check the activity of a selected few places.

There were mild tremors in Lower California, and a serious snowstorm in the east coast. The temperature drop in mid-Texas and Oklahoma was not uncommon this time of year. A low front was covering parts of North and South Dakota and some of Nebraska. Nothing to worry about. Nothing to alarm anyone about.

I turned off my monitors and began to power down, although it took some time before I actually went to sleep. It was nice to know I didn't immediately shut down when my main power source was off, I pretended that I was an exhausted human, a simple and uninteresting human. As I drifted in between consciousness I wondered why one of my monitors turned itself back on and why it was flashing ominously.