Through the doors, Apollo followed Robin back into the main room where the others had already begun to eat breakfast and converse amongst one another. Casually, Robin strode towards the table to join his team; as he sat down in his usual seat between Cyborg and Starfire, he and the others all paused and looked up at Apollo in confusion. "Come and join us friend," said Starfire cheerfully as she slid over and invited a still shy Apollo to sit next to her at the table. Cautious, Apollo looked around at the friendly faces, then slowly walked over to the table and took a seat. Once at the table, Apollo tried her best to keep her composure, but with all the staring eyes surrounding her and analyzing her every move, it was almost impossible.
Finally, with a discreet clearing of his throat, Robin managed to subdue the curious, yet piercing, glares. While the others resumed their dining and picked up on their previous conversations, Apollo continued to sit in silence- looking forward in deep thought; then suddenly, a small plate began to slowly inch its way toward her on the table. She looked down at the small plate and studied its contents before hearing a voice beside her, "Hey," shouted Beast Boy excitedly, startling Apollo and drawing her attention away from the plate. "I thought you might want some breakfast. Here's some waffles and eggs; freshly baked!" the green boy smiled eagerly as Apollo stared down at the breakfast banquet prepared for her. Though such things weren't exactly common in her past, Apollo did know what waffles looked like (and the last time she checked, they weren't white). Skeptically, she continued to look at the waffle, then up at its eagerly smiling cook; reluctantly, she raised her fork and directed it toward the pale confection; suddenly, she was interrupted by a commanding scream from across the table.
"YO!" shouted Cyborg as he dove across the table and snatched the plate away from Apollo before she could eat anything. "You can't be sneaking her that!" yelled Cyborg as he hurled the white waffle into the trash and continued shouting at Beast Boy.
"Yeah, I wasn't going to eat that at all," mumbled Apollo, rolling her eyes as she placed her fork back on the table.
"You're darn right you weren't," continued Cyborg, staring at Beast Boy. "That's that nasty tofu mess! I can't believe you'd try to sneak her that! You trying to kill the girl on her FIRST DAY!"
"I wasn't sneaking her anything!" yelled Beast Boy in response. "She was about to eat it willingly until you snatched it away and trashed her breakfast!" The two boys continued to argue across the table- much to the agitation of the others. However, while Starfire and Robin attempted to keep the peace, and Raven irritably shook her head, Apollo couldn't help but watch and force back a smile. Finally the commotion died down and everyone departed from the table; as everyone returned to their usual activities, Apollo began to head towards the main doors and retreat to her room, only to be called by an eager Starfire.
"New friend," she began sweetly. "Would you like to participate in the 'hanging out'?" At first Apollo stared at the Tamaranean in confusion. "We could commence in the painting of the toenails or perform braiding maneuvers on each other's hair. We might even-"
"Uh, sorry Starfire," interrupted Apollo. "But I'm going to have to take a rain check."
Perplexed, Starfire stared out the window and looked at the clear skies and shining sun, "But there is no rain?" Softly, Apollo chuckled at the statement and began to explain the meaning of her words.
"No," she said shaking her head at the innocent observation. "A 'rain check' is a reservation for a future date; another time?" Starfire smiled shyly, signaling her understanding. "I'm sorry, but I have some business I have to take care of. If we're going to beat Slade, we need to know what to expect… I need to know what to expect."
Intrigued by her statement, Robin looked away from the television and stood up, "We can help you," he said. "We're doing this together remember?" he continued as he watched Apollo walk away, returning to her room.
"Yeah, but this is something I need to take care of. The one thing I'm sure of is that Slade knows it's not over. He's expecting me to find him; might as well give him what he wants now before we really hit him off guard. Besides, in order to get the job done, we have to know where Slade is; and I'm the one who knows how to find him," Apollo continued in a distant, yet arrogant tone. "I'll be in… my room; I'll let you know when I find him." She looked around at the others, then turned away and walked through the doors.
Confused, the titans all stood and stared at the closed doors, even after Apollo had left. Clearly she wasn't the only one who had to adapt to a new lifestyle. "Dude, a simple 'no thank you' would've worked," commented Beast Boy sarcastically. "What's her deal anyway? All we want to do is help."
"Well you gotta cut the girl some slack," said Cyborg. "I mean considering the circumstances, if I were in her shoes, I'd be focused on taking the man down too." He continued in a calm, brotherly tone.
"Cyborg's right," added Robin. "She's been through a lot and obviously she's not used to this many people-"
"Obviously," groaned Beast Boy.
Irritably, Robin shook his head and continued, "We just need to give her some time; she'll come around." He said calmly, as he turned back to the television and continued to flip through the channels.
Hours passed and the day continued without err; everything remained routine in the tower- all except for Apollo; while the others tried their best to ignore it, but it was a fact that she had yet to leave her room since breakfast- several hours ago! While walking towards his own room, Cyborg crept up to her still closed door and leaned against it in an attempt to listen in on the new girl. Even through the thick steel door, he could hear the relentless clicking and tapping of a keyboard. 'She's still working?' though Cyborg in disbelief, 'Wow she's worse than-' his train of thought was quickly cut short as he saw Robin turning the corner and coming down the hall. Quickly he jumped back from the door and casually walked passed his friend as if nothing had happened.
'Even he's not that driven,' thought Cyborg as he watched Robin enter his room across the hall and shut the door. 'Something's not right.' He thought skeptically. 'Something's doesn't seem right; she has to be up to-' he paused and turned back at her room. As he looked back at the tightly closed door, he thought back to Robin's words. Realizing the credibility behind his reasoning, Cyborg shrugged of his suspicions and walked through the hall to the main room. Shortly after his departure, the once closed door cracked open, allowing a glowing amethyst eye to peek through the cracked opening and watch the bionic snoop walk away…
Back in the main room, the once suspicious Cyborg enthusiastically engaged in a dual in the latest videogame with Beast Boy. Raven sat in front of the main window meditating, while Starfire unknowingly overused her newest set of hair ornaments. Everything was as it always had been, when suddenly the main doors slid open revealing the once reclusive Apollo confidently standing in the doorway. "Is everyone here?" she asked anxiously. "Robin!" she called out to her absent friend. Once he had entered the room in response, Apollo stood before her new team and with a devilish grin, declared the news, "I've got him…"