Hey! Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

Hannah looked across the table at the ominous character in black. He said nothing, but rather flagged down a waitress and ordered a cup of coffee. Fortunately, it was not the same waitress that he had scared to death (she was probably hiding behind the front counter). The waitress scrawled a quick note on her pad of paper, hurried away to the kitchen and promptly returned with a steaming cup of coffee. She placed it on the table so quickly that it made a small thud, which made her jump. Blushing, she hurriedly spun away and practically ran to the back room.

"...Soooo," Hannah said tentatively, "What… brings you to this.. side of ...town?" She made a wince as the awkward sentence stumbled out of her mouth.

Red X stared ahead silently. Hannah imagined that he was raising his eyebrows, or making the international "WTH" face.

"They have good coffee here." He said in a serious tone. He opened a plastic thing of cream and dumped it into the steaming mug, stirring it with a tiny plastic straw.

"Oh." Hannah said lamely. She scratched the back of her neck and looked at her left wrist. "…Well… thanks for paying my bill, but I've really gotta go now." she pasted a smile on her face and pushed her chair back.

"Going where?" Red X asked, "Back to Slade?" Hannah paused, then sat back down.

"How do you know about that?" She whispered.

"I have my sources." He shrugged.

"Well, they're wrong." She hissed, "I am not affiliated with Slade." Red X cocked his head to one side.

"Well, going back to the Teen Titans then?" He asked snidely. Hannah's face flushed.

"That's none of your business." She said a matter-of-factly. Red X chuckled. Hannah glared.

"Relax," he said casually, "I'm just making friendly conversation here."

"Yeah, and setting off my stalker alarm." Hannah muttered. "…Why do you even care about which side I'm on?"

"I've gotta know what I'm up against." He explained. "If you join the Teen Titans then I've got to be more careful about breaking the law; You join Slade, then I might have competition."

Hannah frowned, "So… you're not trying to recruit me for 'Team Slade'?" She said sarcastically, doing little air quotes around 'Team Slade'.

"Nope." He said simply, "I'm not on anyone's side."

"Oh." Hannah replied in a small voice.

- - Hmm…Not on anyone's side…. - -

Hannah was so busy thinking that she didn't see Red X stand up.

"Well," He interrupted her thoughts, "good luck with your decision." His cape swooshed as he turned toward the exit.

"Hey!" Hannah called. Red X stopped and swiftly turned around. "Why'd you really come here?" She asked. Red X crossed his arms and tilted his head.

"Well, after I saw what you could do, I wanted to make sure I never got on your bad side. In the future, think of me as the nice guy who bought your coffee." He gave an invisible smile and walked out of the small restaurant.

(later that day)

Hannah was in the park, sitting on a bench. It was late at night, and all the little kids who were usually there playing on the swings or chasing pigeons were at home asleep. It was very peaceful; the park was one of Hannah's favorite places. The moon was high up in the deep blue sky, full and shining. There had been a heavy rain-shower earlier that day, and the dark clouds had partially evaporated in the cool night atmosphere, leaving long wispy lines of dark purple streaked across the night sky. The wind was blowing peacefully. The trees were sighing in harmony. There were baby ducks asleep by the pond, making cute little snore-quacks.

Hannah was so stressed she felt like she was gonna puke.

In one hand, Hannah held the odd orb that Slade had given her. It shined curiously in the silver lighting.

In the other hand Hannah clutched the lifeline that the Titan's had given her, "in case she ever needed anything".

She looked back and forth at both of the objects, doubtful. At last, she put down the Titan's communicator and approached the pond. Standing at the edge of the murky black waters, she stretched her arm back as far as it would go and snapped it forward again, releasing the orb. It flashed in the moonlight then disappeared. She stood at the shore for a bit, heard the satisfying *plunk* of a heavy object hitting the water's surface, and then returned to the park bench. She picked up the communicator without hesitation and hit the large button. The antennae began to flash yellow lights, and then a loud, static voice came out of the speakers.

"Hannah! This is Robin, do you hear me?"

"Um, yes." Hannah replied quietly

"What is your emergency?"

"Uh, well, there's no emergency; I was just thinking I was going to head out. Uh, maybe we could stay in touch? And you guys could call me if you ever found anything out about Terra?"

"Of course," Robin's voice grew a little bit softer, "And you could always call us if you ever need any help."

"I know that. Thanks." Hannah pushed the button and the flashing lights went out.

For a moment, Hannah thought about throwing the communicator out in the pond, or crushing it in her hand.

"What if I'm wrong? What if I'm not like Red X? What if I can't find Terra by myself?" Hannah whispered softly.

- - Hey, we can do it! We're the perfect team!!! We can take on anyone!! Even that scary looking "X" guy seemed afraid of us! - -

"Really? I thought he was just being nice!"

- - Dude. He's a villain, and he paid for your coffee. - -

"….Wow! He was scared of us! That's AWESOME!!!!"

- - Sh-Yeah! And he was cute too!- -

"Uh, he was wearing a mask."

- Yeah, but still, very mysterious and debonair. - -

"…What does 'debonair' mean?"

- - ….I dunno, but I call dibs. - -

"What?"

- - That's right: ya snooze, ya loose. - -

"...Whatever."

- - Psh, acting like you don't care. Not very convincing if you ask me. - -

"If you don't be quiet, I'm going to find someone who will drill a hole into my skull and rid me of you forever!!!"

- - "Yeesh, touch-y. What, is it 'that time of the month'? - -

Hannah blushed. "...No... I'm just very frustrated." She crossed her arms and sighed. "Sorry."

- - Eh, it's okay. It's been a long day. - -

Hannah laughed. "Tell me about it. I'm exhausted!" She yawned, laid down on the park bench which creaked in reluctance, and curled up so that her feet didn't hang off the edge.

"Well," Hannah yawned again, "I'm gonna catch some 'Z's.... Will you wake me up if a hobo tries to steal my shoes again?"

- - Yea - -

"Okay," She said sleepily, "thanks..."

_ .........What about Slade?...What if he-- _

"...Hmm?"

- - ...Nevermind. Get some sleep. - -

"Ya..." Her voice grew smaller and smaller, "...ok then...... good....... night..............."

Hmmm... Red-X being nice? Hannah "leaving town"? Whatever could happen next? (lol, i wont tell u, mainly because i dunno either.) XD

...oh, if anyone's confused about the baby duck snore/quack thing i mentioned, check out *cough* you *cough* tube *cough* .com * cough cough cough* ... /watch?v=_vdYSZ4YGnU

lol, it makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time! so cuuute!!! X3

*coughs* anyways, be sure to review! thanks!

~Jade