I fucking suck. I know, I'm as good at updating frequently as… somebody who's really bad at updating frequently. Like seriously, what has it been, 2 months? When I'm in the mood and have the time I can update twice a day. Other times it takes months. I'm so sorry ya'll, but I finally got it all out.

**Maxine**

Nervousness overtook my body as soon as I woke up. My first mission without him and I had failed. What would he think of me now? Would he think I'm a fail? Would he be just like the Roy Harper who had broken my headstrong spirit yesterday, the one who had told me to die? Would he be the cold mentor that was disappointed in my failure to cooperate with others on a team? Would he still be the warm, loving father I'd come to love? I didn't know.

I crawled out of bed, feeling helpless. I threw on my Gotham Academy combined with my trademark combat boots. I looked powerful, ready for anything, my usual H.B.I.C look, but on the inside I felt weak and small. Not that I'd ever admit to such feelings. I do not want to go to school today.

Right now I just really need a dose of best friend-ness. I picked up my iPhone 4ios (perk of being a hero is that we're normally crazy loaded) and dial L.J's number. I waited and waited for her to pick up. She never traveled without her phone on her. The girl couldn't survive without technology. Literally, that's what her entire superhero idea is based off of, hi-tech technology. So when she didn't take my call, I know it's because she doesn't want to.

Feeling really distressed knowing one of my best friends didn't want me I call Becca. Thankfully she picks up on the second ring. "Hey Bex," I said.

"Hey Maxine," she replied, trying to sound cool and collected. I could hear straight through the façade, she was my best friend after all, I should know this kind of thing.

"I see your not doing so well either," I said into the phone.

"Not really," she sighed. "That was… taxing."

"Yeah," I replied, biting nervously on my fingernails. Damn. I hadn't done that in years.

"Do you think L.J's okay?" She asked worridley.

Of course, even after all she's been through she cared about L.J. I mean, don't get me wrong, what L.J said has me concerned for sure, but I know what Becca went through, and it wasn't pretty. "I'm not sure," I answered honestly. "I called her, but she didn't pick up."

"Same here," said Becca. An awkward silence ensued between us. Neither knowing anything comforting to say.

"Are you coming to school today?" I asked, trying to change the subject from awkward to silence to anything else.

"No. That was… a lot to think about. My parents understand. They even recommended a week, but that would be so damaging to my grades I just decided to stay home for today." I laughed a light laugh into the phone. Becca and I were complete opposites. She was nice, she cared, she did everything she could to be the perfect daughter, student, and overall person. I was mean, I didn't give a crud about most of the stuff in life, I did everything to piss teachers off and graffiti illegally. We balanced each other out nicely.

"I wish I could get Roy and Jade to let me do that," I said.

"Did something happen between you guys?" Becca asked, concern blatanty sticking out in her tone.

"I haven't even spoken to them yet, why?" I kicked my heels up on my desk as I spun 'round in my rolling chair.

"You called them Roy and Jade, not mom and dad," she said.

I didn't even notice.

"Maybe you should go out and talk to them," said Becca. "You didn't tell me what happened to you yesterday, but I'm sure it had something to do with them. You need to go talk."

I sighed. "Why do you always have to be right?"

"It's my 4.0 IQ," joked Becca. Together the two of us laughed, and for just a moment things seemed normal again. Like we all hadn't just experienced one of the most traumatic things in our lives yesterday. "See you later alligator," she said.

"Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock," I responded, thinking I was rather clever.

She scoffed, "Dork." Then the line went dead and I was left all by my lonesome once again.

Quietly, I walked out of the room and into the kitchen. I expected Roy and Jade—I mean dad and mom—to be up and baking breakfast, making sure 6-year old Lian was up and ready. The only one up was Roy. The semi-mellow ginger sat at the counter, sipping freshly brewed coffee as he read the morning newspaper. The word 'Hallucination' sticks out on the front page.

Noticing my presence he looks up, startled. "Maxine, I didn't know you were up."

"Yeah, I've got school today," I said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. I hated the snarky sound in my voice.

"I didn't think you were going today," he replied.

"I thought it'd be suspicious if I didn't," I said, pouring myself a mug of coffee. As I took a sip, the buzz it brought tingled through me body, thoroughly waking me up.

"It's okay Max, I think you should stay home today. Failing a mission the first time is rough, I don't think you should be doing anything but hanging at home with family today," said Roy kindly.

Of course, the sympathy and love I normally craved from Roy just made me blow up in his face today, "I'm not fragile. I'm not a piece of glass," I yelled. "I don't need a day to rest. I just need to keep going. Life's short. A day wasted is another day I don't live."

"Usually your complaining about how school is a waste," Roy joked, trying to lighten the mood. I just glared at him. "You're not Superman."

He approached me slowly. Hesitantly, he wrapped both his arms around me. The warmth of his body made me melt as I fell into him. Unshed tears appeared in my eyes, but I didn't let them fall. Instead, I hung onto Roy for dear life, refusing to let go ever again.

**Kiara**

"Drystan," I muttered, nudging the sleepy boy in the shoulder.

"Liv?" He muttered groggily, groping for my hand.

"Drystan, wake up," I said again. "It's Kiara." Slowly the brown haired boy woke up.

"Where am I?"

"Um… Marriot Hotel," I replied.

"Why am I sleeping on a highly uncomfortable couch?" He asked, sitting up.

"I could only afford a one bedroom hotel room," I shrugged shyly.

"Then why didn't we just sleep in the same bed? They're big enough, are they not?" He asked. I blushed at the comment.

"Well um…"

"I would do this all the time with my best friends back on Eden," he said. His voice suddenly became sadder, more solemn as he mentioned his home world.

"Would you like some tea I grabbed from downstairs?" I asked, grabbing the Styrofoam cup of tea from the nearby coffee table.

"Sure," he said. "I've never had tea before." I watched as he puckered his lips towards the tea and took a giant gulp. He instantly dropped it on the floor, staining the white carpets an unattractive light brown tea color. "Γαμημένη κόλαση που ήταν ζεστό

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked, confused. I hated it when he'd randomly start talking in… whatever his native language was.

"I'm sorry. That was very hot. I've read about tea before, and I didn't expect it to be so hot," he said apologetically.

"I should've warned you," I said sheepishly.

"Perhaps you should've," he replied, sounding rather annoying, even though I knew he didn't mean it.

"Aweee neeeee closssir to aa deswination?" Drystan asked.

"I don't know," I answered. "God is leading me right now. We must have faith that we are on our way."

"Have you ever met this God before?" He asked curiously.

"Not in person," I responded with furrowed eyebrows. "Why?"

"It's just… I've read of so many Lords and Ladies much like your 'God' throughout different universes. I simply wish to determine if he is real."

"Of course he's real," I said. "I wouldn't be here if he weren't."

"Indeed."

Suddenly my head started to throb. Speak of the guy himself, "Kiara Shade, half-angel."

"Yes," I responded, looking straight to the sky.

"In order to heal Drystan you must go back."

**Lila-Jean**

I sighed. Memory after memory crashed through my head as I ran my hand against the familiar, silky smooth fabric. The face of the Joker as I destroyed his fear-gas bomb, me taunting Mr. Freeze, distracting him as Batman appeared behind him with his killer right hook, and even just a normal day of training with Batman resurfaced behind my closed eyelids. I brought the suit up to nose, inhaling the scent of bleach. Each mark, each almost imperceptible rip represented a time where I had helped someone, a time when I had been a hero. Now, the idea of me being a hero seemed like a joke.

I owed Bruce Wayne everything. He saw something in me, something I wasn't even sure I saw in myself. Whatever that something was, it was the reason I wasn't bouncing back and forth between foster care homes right now.

Instead I had the sweetest guy in the world, waiting on me hand and foot. Instead I had the nicest, funniest adopted brother in the world. Instead I had a father who actually cared about me. Instead I was given a life of privilege. Instead I was given a chance to help those who couldn't help themselves.

That's why doing this was so hard. I felt like I was betraying Bruce. He'd given me the world, he'd given me the means to do what every child dreams of, and I was throwing it all away. I couldn't handle it anymore. I felt like a failure, quitting the team the first chance I got. But they don't know what I went through. They don't know what I saw when Mona got to me. They have no right to judge me. If they only knew…

That is what led me Bruce Wayne's study door at exactly two 'o clock pm Saturday afternoon. I tapped it lightly before opening the door. The knock was just a courtesy. Bruce Wayne, with his heavy-set jaw and everyday grimace, looked up from his highly important work and stared straight at me. Suddenly, my hands went so clammy I was afraid I'd drop the costume before I even got halfway across the room and beaded my forehead more and more by the second, all because of his eyes. His stare wasn't full of anger. I could handle anger. I had handled it daily after my mom died. I could handle sadness. Sadness meant tears and weeping, sadness used to be the only emotion I knew. Sadness meant there was something there that I could comfort, something I could try to fix with a selfless gesture. Disappointment, however, was something I could not handle. Disappointment was what made me feel so guilty I'd walk to the ends of the earth just to stop it. This time, the cost was too high for me to meet though.

"I know why you're here," he said. I didn't expect any less. I softly bit down on my lip as I walked towards him and laid my costume down on his dark-oak paneled desk, nice and neat.

"I can't do it anymore," I whispered.

"Yes you can." He said it with so much conviction I almost believed him. But that's the thing about almost… it's never quite enough.

"It's too much." Tears openly fell from my eyes. "I can't do this anymore Bruce. I'm so sorry. I owe you everything and I feel like I'm letting you down, but I just… can't do this anymore." I breathed in. "If I keep doing this, it'll kill me."

"I know," Bruce said. My eyes bulged out of my head and I shot back up like someone had just slapped me across the face. He knew? I felt like someone had just cut me loose from the rope holding me together. I had just fallen, and there was no safety net there to catch me. "I know all about it. I have known all about it before I even adopted you."

"And you put me at that kind of risk?" I asked in utter disbelief. My tears flowed like a never-ending river. He knew.

"Of course I knew," he said.

"You were willing to let me die?" He was the only person willing to love a piece of broken crud like me back then, or so I thought. Now that I know this, it was all a lie. He never loved me. "You were willing to let me kill millions of people?"

"No," he said tersely. That's what completely threw me.

"What?" I stuttered. "I saw the prophecy, I saw what I was meant to do."

"I saw it too," he replied grimly. "I watched you everyday of your life, wondering if today would be the day I'd have to exterminate you, an innocent child."

"Has it come yet?" I asked spitefully.

"No it hasn't, and I don't think it ever will," he replied honestly. I stared at him, confused as heck. "Each day I'd watch you. You wouldn't hurt a soul and you're a fighter. I believed you could fight this, and with the proper training I still think you can."

That's what he saw in me. A fighter.

I turned my head to the conveniently placed glass mirror to my left. I didn't like what I saw. I didn't see a fighter. I saw a murderer.

"I'm sorry Bruce." With that I walked out of his office, refusing to look back. When I arrived back in my room I dug deep down into my closet and pulled out my suitcase. I had to go, before I hurt someone.

Hey guys. I'm unhappy about my Kiara section, but hey. It's 2:30 in the morning, I have school in a few hours, and ya'll wanted a chapter. Since Kiara and Drystan weren't in the last chapter I was like, "I should probably put them in, huh?" I have no idea what I'm doing with L.J, but your interested aren't you? Sorry about this and I'll keep trying to update. No guarentee's, but this was really fun and easy. I might be getting back into the groove of this story.