Cassie looked slightly awkward for just a second before Roxy laughed. ”Did you just say some people use wings as a disguise? Pretty rubbish disguise, right? There’s gonna be like 3 people in any city with wings that work, right?” Cassie had still gotten Roxy’s point, but she was still going to laugh at that.

”Oh? What’s that one guy like? And how much does that girlfriend suck?” Cassie would not have been expecting names anyway. She was really looking for some way to encourage Robin if she could, trying to scope out if there was a point in encouraging her to try for the guy anyway. Not that she knew a lot about that sort of thing.

””Most” of them.” More ammunition for teasing at home there. She had a feeling she knew one of the Titans who wasn’t pairing off.

”Can’t be worse than Middle School, at least. I swear average length of a relationship was a week at best then.” The optimistic view of it being better than it could be was maybe not going to achieve much with a Bat-family member, but it wasn’t going to hurt. ”My gran would say make a chart or something. There’s enough Titans you could make one out of who’s dating who I reckon. Too boring for me, but it could help, if you somehow like charts. Alternatively, just ask them when things seem to have changed and if you have to ask a lot maybe they’ll get the message about stopping being confusing.”

"Well in saying use wings I mean they'll have artificial yet realistic looking wings on their costume. That way when they take the costume off they can blend in with the average person."

She said with a shrug. But now Cassie was asking about Adam's girlfriend and Roxy couldn't help but sigh. She'd gone too far and revealed too much. She admitted she had a thing for Adam, a stupid move. She couldn't believe she'd actually done it. But now she needed to roll with it. If she got silent it'd make things awkward. Cassie was likely her closest shot to a real, non Titan, friend, let alone a girl friend.

"Oh she sucks alright..."

She found herself saying without really trying to. It's like her own desire for friendship and to talk shit about Mari took over.

"That's the thing. She's blinded him with her sluttiness. That's the thing, she really brings no other redeeming qualities I can see."

Of course she had to admit that she was likely blinded by jealousy. She hoped that Cassie didn't call her on it, even though she'd be right to. It was fair and accurate. She decided to silence any other comments on Mari by taking another bite of her burger, looking out the window briefly. As Cassie mentioned Middle school she simply shrugged. She wouldn't know about any of that. She'd never done a school. For her it was all tutors to help her get caught up. Helena and Vic had spared no expense but it still meant she didn't get the school experience like everyone else.

"Well likely one of the main reasons I can't keep track is because I keep to myself. I was just never the type who enjoys sitting around with a group of people and watching TV or playing video games I guess. I'm usually training, or working on something else."

She did like keeping to herself, with the exception of Adam. He was fun to hang out with, and not just because of her potential, maybe, barely there crush. She trusted him to help solve cases and that was what counted.

"I guess I'm just not a typical teenager."

”That does make more sense.”

Cassie tactically ignored the sigh. Or rather she took it more as a sign that Roxy was planning to be more open than usual, rather than being more open without meaning to be.

”Oooh, come on, tell me how. I mean, like, don’t share details if you don’t want to, but if you want to bitch about her to me, you’re welcome to.” Cassie nodded slightly at Roxy’s comment about her. She figured it sounded slightly jealous, but if that was all the girl brought, then it wasn’t so mean, really. ”The sort who goes around trying to shag everyone or the sort who does it all in how they go about shagging someone..? ‘Cos like, obviously you don’t want either around a nice guy, but the former’s worse, right?”

What Robin was saying sounded right. She couldn’t picture her as the sort to just sit around, but Cassie couldn’t see why that should have to make it hard for her socially. ”Don’t you guys train together ever? You could get to know people like that.” Cassie would be slightly concerned if the Titans’ didn’t, really.

”There’s such a thing as a typical teenager? But that implies that some of us are normal. You’re going to put us all to shame, saying that.” Cassie laughed. It was definitely unusual to be referring to teenagers as typical.

”Just… look at the Titans for a sec- obviously I don’t know everyone but, you’ve got a couple speedsters, a guy in a Halloween cat costume, a green lantern… I don’t think any of you guys are typical, and I sure as heck hope not, otherwise what are you doin’ going out fightin’ crime if you’re too “normal” to do anything about it?” Cassie realised she had probably been speaking a little too loudly when she reached the end of that and gave a slight awkward cough while looking around to check no one had been staring- not that there were many people around to be staring.

"Well all I'm saying is she just uses her flagrant sexuality to win him over. From what I can tell they have NOTHING in common. But she wears slutty clothing and acts all sexual and he's a dumb male teenager so he looks right past it and just sees....boobs."

She said shaking her head. She had spent a long time trying to figure out how Adam, someone with his obvious intelligence and knack of noticing minute points couldn't look past the fact Mari was a terrible choice. Of course Roxy herself was also quickly ignoring the fact she wanted what Mari had. Roxy was adamant that she was asexual, despite the fact she is clearly not. If anything she was simply unsure about sex and if she even wanted to have it again.

"Of course we train together, and deal with threats together. Hell most of us live together. But a lot of people keep others at arm's length. Plus the Titans works just like a school."

Not that she knew anything about a normal school. She lived on the streets and then also got tutors. She had issues with people, always had and likely always would.

"Namely there's groups and cliques. Regardless of where they are teenagers behave like teenagers."

She did have a really good point about how none of them were normal. They were a very odd group of people, well except the three speedsters. But there were some very good points. Roxy kept focusing on the fact that she had no powers and was just human while hanging out with the others. But she still had solid training, definitely not, your average type of training.

"Well three speedsters, a Lantern, a vampire and some aliens and what not. But either way, yeah, we're weird."

She had noticed Cass was talking kind of loud, but still, not terribly bad.

"Relax, this is the kind of late night diner no one asks questions. It's a sort of...neutral territory. Hell I've heard a few crimes discussed openly."

Cassie nodded with what Robin was saying. She knew the type, and there was never a shortage of them, it seemed. Cassie tutted slightly at that. ”Boobs are the magic tool in getting a boy’s attention.”

She’d never been in the situation herself, but she knew enough people who had been. She still hadn’t worked out any proper system to work things out the right way. She certainly hadn’t had to work anything out with the sort of issues that Robin had.

”Your schools must be way more interesting. You’ve probably got superheroes and crap visiting your base all the time, and let’s not forget, most schools have to deal with homework and exams and that lot.” It seemed, to Cassie’s eyes, that that had to be one of the least school-like activities it was publicly acceptable to do in a large group. Cassie was suspecting a little bit that Robin was probably home schooled if that was what she thought a normal school was like.

”Well… cliques seem to just fizzle away as you get further through high school. Maybe the Titans will do something like that, where the groups just stop being separate at some point?” Cassie wasn’t going to question the prior assertion though. It did seem very accurate.

”Yeah, you guys fall square within the bracket of “weird”.” Three speedsters? That seemed like a lot. And that group was pretty diverse and bizarre even without comparing to the rest of the population.

Cassie still continued in a bit more of a controlled tone. ”Really? Must be a really good spot for one of the Bat-men to be in then.” That would be pretty underhanded, but it sounded the sort of thing some people would try in the name of heroics.

"Well if it takes boobs to get some guy's attention and that's the only way then he's not worth it. I've seen too many guys who only focus on the physical aspect of women as opposed to what's underneath."

Of course she had no intention of going into that deeper matter with her, or really anyone. She refused to open up that can of worms with anyone. But she knew all too well just how shallow and disgusting men could really be. Part of her knew that it wasn't all men, she was smart enough to realize that. But the problem was she'd seen enough of men to make her question. Now the last guy she actually trusted was falling for all the same crap. It bothered her more than she'd ever actually let on.

She sat there silently just eating. She finished her mac and cheese and sighed. By now her shake was partially melted but she didn't care. She knew if she kept talking it'd get worse and she'd begin saying things that she would regret forever. It was way too close to basically causing her to end a potential friendship right away.

"Yeah...interesting schools...."

She said glancing to the side. Of course she had no concept of real schools. She may do her best to mimic what being a real teenager was like but most people had no real idea exactly how often she was winging it. It was why she kept people away, primarily because that way it allowed her to go ahead with little chance of making a mistake.

"See I thought the groups would fizzle too, but let's look at the evidence. One group was close and they moved on to the Avengers and another group ended up with the Justice League. I mean being who I am one would assume I end up with the Justice League but I don't know. I kind of like the idea of going solo, or perhaps a new Birds of Prey. Every now and then I hear a rumble of some people talking about it but nothing comes from it."

”Not met many of them, but I know they’re out there. Best way to deal with it is to try to get them to appreciate that girls are actually people too. Either that or stop them talking if you really can’t change their minds by just a casual little shift. I mean, most guys change up their behaviour when they’re faced with a giant green dude over an awesome not-green girl.” Although with Cassie, there really wasn’t a change of voice, she was joking about the second half. ”I’d recommend the “proving you’re more than just boobs” route.”

Cassie had very rarely had any issues anything like along the lines she felt Robin was referring to, and certainly nothing to the extent. But her advice at least seemed reasonable. At the very least, being a close friend to someone you had a crush on was a good way to make sure you could get noticed.

(Unlike Robin, Cassie never stopped to think about when she was giving too much away, so she kept talking even when it was clear Robin felt she’d said enough.)

”Well, at my school, it’s an interesting day when the dinner ladies serve something decently cooked for lunch. Pretty sure you guys have it more interesting.” Cassie was, of course, oblivious to Robin winging her side of the conversation. Furthermore, with the amount of talking she was doing, she was noticeably behind on the amount she’d eaten.

”Doesn’t mean the current Titans have to do that. It’s not like the guys who made the titans in the first place wrote in some special rule book “Thou shalt not just go where you like when you graduate or whatever”.” Cassie’s pseudo-pompous voice was really not good. The trouble with normally shapeshifting into someone to do imitations was that when you had no idea who would have said that, the act always turned out awfully.

”Oh! A new birds of prey would be awesome. You should so do that.”

They spent quite a little bit of time just talking and having fun. Roxy was happy to have another, non-Titan friend to get along with. They rarely spoke in person but would usually speak through Text or other messenger. Yes Roxy hid her number as it just showed up as [phone]. The weird thing was she set it up so Cassie could actually talk to her using that number. They kept trying to set up something to get together again but something seemed to always come up. It was pretty much her work as Robin, and later Scarlette or of course the simple fact that she was afraid of the fact that they'd realize they have nothing in common and she was out a friend.

After everything happened with Adam, Chari and the torture and Roxy finally decided to come out of her room and cocoon. It was rough but she was beginning to come around. They seemed to not want her in the search for Adam, always making excuses about her injuries and so forth. Roxy needed to get away, get anywhere she could and knew she needed a friend. Armed with a notebook and pencil she sent a text to Cassie.

'I'm hungry for a burger and some girl time. Meet me at the diner in Hub at 10, if you're interesting.'

She debated the text for awhile, staring at it for a few minutes before pressing SEND. Roxy was wondering if Cassie would even show, she couldn't blame her really. But Roxy needed a good friend thing and was in the diner early complete with the red wig and sunglasses from before. She knew it was the only way Cassie would recognize her, if she showed. The blond mohawk was new, and throwing everyone off it seemed. She sat there sipping her water and waiting, hoping Cassie would show. She also was debating on telling her everything. They had gotten somewhat close in the few months and Roxy needed friends.

It had been far too long since they’d actually met face to face. Just a few weeks ago they’d been meant to meet up again and it had fallen through again. It all seemed like reasonable hero stuff, so Cassie wasn’t annoyed at Robin. Just at the timing of the various things that stopped them from meeting.

Cassie didn’t hesitate when she got the text from Robin. She had to ask her brother to get her to Hub City on time (having magic in the family was nice even if it meant having an older brother making you swear you weren’t going to see “That trickster jerk”), but the text got sent almost as soon as she got it.

”Since when wouldn’t I be interested? C U then!”

Who cares if she seemed over keen? It had been ages since they’d last met up, and she was glad to take the chance. Her brother’s spell dropped her off a few hundred metres away, and Cassie mostly followed her nose to the place.

She came in through the door, and stood just within for a few seconds before looking around and seeing a familiar red head.

Cassie walked over the rest of the way to the table within just a few strides, it seemed, and slipped in quickly onto the other side of the table. Robin somehow seemed a little different than the last time they met, now that Cassie could see her properly. She couldn’t put a finger on quite what, but there was something there. Something Cassie was going to not mention at first if she could avoid it.

”How’s things? I hope it’s just your night job that’s been stopping our meet ups.” Cassie tried to put on a tone of annoyance but really couldn’t manage it for long. She was finally meeting back up with Robin, and that was good, even if it had been ages. ”Anything bighappened?"

Roxy was excited when Cassie agreed to the meeting. Yes Roxy also knew that she could always back out. It would only be fitting that Cassie would bale out on her instead. Of course Cassie didn't seem like the petty type, well at least not over things like this. If it were something else than that may be an entirely different story. But when she showed up Roxy couldn't help but perk up. She smiled a bit, still careful about opening her mouth. She was paranoid about the lack of a tongue, only opening her mouth for a few things. She simply nodded her head at Cassie's question. It was her night stuff that kept her busy, but it wasn't just her work as Robin, it was also her work as Scarlette.

She looked at her and her smile faded slightly. She might as well just get this over with. She reached up and pulled her sunglasses off revealing the one black eye and the a scratch near the other one. She then pulled her wig off, fluffing up her mohawk a bit before setting her hands on the table which had been mostly in her lap showing the bruises on her wrists from the restraints. She sat there in silence before smiling again and grabbing her notebook.

'A lot has happened. I met true Evil.'

She wrote before holding the notebook up for her to see. Roxy did think Chari was honestly evil, nothing more. She'd spent time on the streets of Gotham and would happily do so again then spend another minute with Chari. She grabbed the notebook again and began writing once more.

'How have you been? Anything interesting with you?'

Roxy didn't want to talk, or write about what had happened but she knew it would happen eventually. They wanted her to talk to a professional, or at least another hero. Apparently Spider-Girl was therapist or some nonsense. She didn't like this but she needed to talk, or write.

Cassie would rarely turn down an opportunity to go meet a friend, especially one she hadn’t met in months.

Cassie watched cautiously as Roxy’s smile weakened. Her eyes slowly widened and her chin started dropping at the changes. It was almost as an effective transformation as her own. Robin looked so different in just a few seconds. She’d changed from keeping up her image as Cass had remembered- a confident, powerful girl who just generally kicked ass- to someone entirely different. It was the sort of sight that most people would only see on child helpline adverts. Not a sight that belonged on Robin, or any of the Bat-men, for that matter.

She sniffed and forced her jaw closed, but her shock was still blatant. She could never convincingly hide her feelings. Cass waited as Robin wrote. She wasn’t sure what to say, probably for the first time, that would be helpful at all at least. She leaned forward in her seat as she took in a big breath and going on: ”What does evil look like then?”

It was a cheesy attempt to lighten her mood at best. It wasn’t very helpful. ”What exactly happened, then? How, how does anyone, anyone manage to do that sort of thing to someone?”

Her asking questions while Robin was already handing back the notebook wouldn’t be too useful.

”I’ve been okay, yeah. Got a boyfriend. He’s got a really big talent for making a disaster out of nothing, it’s sort of impressive really.” By “sort of impressive” she meant “really cool” but heroes (as far as she was aware) didn’t have to know that. But by Cassie’s tone it was clear she wasn’t so interested in talking about her own experiences recently, as much as to why her friend was refusing to talk.

”What happened to your voice, then?” Tact really was one of her talents.

She couldn't help but smile lightly at Cassie's question about what True Evil looked like. It was EXACTLY what she'd been hoping for. SOmething to take her mind of this and help her lighten up. Cassie was always good at making a joke, something she often needed badly, now especially. Adam had been good for that at one point, but if he was lucky he was dead, but no one was lucky with Her. All Roxy could hope for was they found him soon, or at least put his body to rest. She quickly began to jot something down.

'Evil is a five foot Asian girl who gets off on blood.'

She seemed to be likely a bit taller than five but was also probably close. She wasn't that tall, but was close. She liked the idea of talking about something else. Of course Cassie not dropping it didn't surprise her. It was one of the things she liked about her. They were actually quite similar, aside from the pasts and powers.

'Which one? The abs or the other?'

She wrote with a laugh. Or more like a stifled chuckle than anything. But then Cassie asked the question she knew would get asked. It only made sense given the circumstance. Roxy sat there quietly, holding her notebook. She wasn't sure entirely how to answer the question but also knew it needed to be answered. She leaned back and quickly began writing. When she was finished she slid the notebook across the table to her and looked away, crossing her arms, hugging herself.

'She wanted me to record a message for Adam. She wanted him all along. I refused so (at this point it gets shaky) she felt I no longer had need for a tongue and cut it out. I'm currently learning sign language.'

She expected this not to go over well. Roxy was a freak with no tongue now. She wouldn't blame Cassie for getting freaked out and running. She didn't know why the Titans kept her on, likely out of pity. She hadn't patrolled since she got back, hell she'd barely trained.

”Huh. So a really dodgy porn star?” It did fit the description. Cassie could see that Robin did genuinely need her attempts at humour at least.

”The other. He’s a maniac, it’s great.” Her grin was clearly confirming that was sincere.

Cassie nodded to the first sentence at least, thinking her depiction of evil was probably the sort of level shown on family shows- a corrupt politician, dodgy lawyer, that sort of thing. Her expression fell pretty quickly, and she genuinely yelped at the “no longer had need for a tongue” comment. She felt almost queasy. She stared at the note for about 15 seconds, occasionally glancing up as if to try to force the writing to tell the truth by force of will.

”Yeah, I’d say that’s pure evil.” Cassie stared at the note a few seconds longer, taking in a huge lungful of air, and closed her eyes. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. ”Jeez that sucks. I… I don’t know what to say for that. H-how could, how could anyone do that?” Cass pushed herself back in her seat. ”You tell me where she took you and we’ll get, like, a hit squad or something. Eye for an eye. We go too, so you can… stab the f*** out of her or whatever you decide s’appropriate.” Cassie said it calmly but her body language, most notably the look in her eye, made it pretty clear what she thought of anyone going around maiming her friends.

Roxy was probably going to respond with something about that getting people killed, but wasn’t that rather the point? But it didn’t matter if she got criticised. Heck, she was probably going to get judo tossed for what she was about to do.

”Please don’t hurt me for this.” She was joking- hopefully it wouldn’t be an actual consideration. Cass lunged across the table and drew Roxy into the best hug she could given the situation. It wasn’t much but it was something. Something to show she wasn’t judging her for anything, or going to reject her or anything.

When she thought about the description Cassie wasn't wrong. No doubt she had just described a crazed porn star. She knew first hand just how many people were into weird things. Of course that was a part of her life that she had no intention of sharing with Cassie. Yes she felt Cassie was her best friend but she wanted to keep some things to her self for now. He smiled a bit at Cassie's happiness. She was glad her friend had found someone. Of course once she learned his identity she'd need to look into him. She wanted to make sure her friend was taken care of and not at risk.

However then the conversation turned to seriousness. She was used to the plans for vengeance and honestly was used to it. Her mom and dad, whom she now called mom and dad were calling in numerous favors and swearing death. Her mom had to be talked down from killing JJ on a regular basis. The fact he had a daughter seemed to be the only saving grace. She wasn't sure about that oddly enough. Yes she wanted revenge but wasn't sure if she could even handle herself in front of Chari. She was fairly certain she might just collapse in front of her and be stuck in the fetal position. She had just begun to write something when she was taken by surprise. Cassie wrapped her in a hug, something that not many actually had done. People seemed so afraid of her, as if she would shatter if she was touched. Before she even knew what was happening she wrapped her own arms around Cassie and had to do her best to not cry. She hadn't realized until now how much she really needed someone. SHe'd always been so adamant that she only needed herself and Chari had now proven her wrong.

'Umm, should I give ya two a minute?'

The server said walking to the table. She looked between them and shook her head. Roxy seemed to push herself away from Cassie's grip before quickly writing down what she wanted and holding it up. A new server apparently, Roxy would need to train this one too.