007

— unknown shared history —

17 July, 2019

THE ROOM WAS DARK, HANK AND HAZEL'S FACES ONLY ILLUMINATED BY THE TV SCREEN. The credits of the movie started to roll, and Hank groaned, mumbling something about how stupid the movie was. He flipped his phone over to check the time, but a message chimed. Hank sighed and Hazel turned to him. Hazel pulled herself to sit up right, "Gar?"

Hank shook his head. "Dick actually, Has Hazel come by? Still no sign of her."

Hazel lifted her hands to massage the back of her neck. "I was trying to get back to Michigan, back to my old house," Hazel started, and Hank turned to her, tossing his phone aside. She took a deep breath and pulled her knees to her chest. "I wanted to go home. I know someone's living in my old house, my rooms not mine anymore, but I never went back for my stuff. And my mom..." Hazel swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to keep her voice steady. "My mom's buried there, and I haven't been able to see her."

Hank sighed and turned his head away, "Dick would have flown you over in minutes. Why are you really out here?"

"Before I decided to take a bus trip across America... I- I did something bad, like really, really bad. I couldn't stop the nightmares; I couldn't handle how sick I felt. So, I did- I did the only thing I could think of to stop it." Hazel wound her hands together, the sound of her heart pounding in her skull. "I got rid of CADMUS."

March 24, 2021

A low burning sensation ran over Hazel's bones, but it left no pain in its wake, just fuelled by emptiness. Hazel opened her eyes, the rays of the sun lightening her eyes. She pushed herself up, all of the pain rushing at her at once. "Hey, hey, hey..." Cole said quickly, rushing to her side to help her sit properly. The moment his hands grabbed her arms, the pain left in an instance.

Hazel rubbed her eyes and turned to Cole, her eyebrows furrowing. "Cole?" Hazel questioned; her voice still hoarse. "How- How long was I out?"

Cole sat beside Hazel and ran his hands over his jeans. "Barely a minute, but I sent you to sleep," Cole explained, keeping his voice low. "Gar said you still feel it after, so I let you sleep for a whole night." Cole raised his eyebrows teasingly at Haze making her laugh. Their laughs settled and Cole took a breath. "I'm sorry about Hank."

Hazel nodded softly and looked down at her hands. Cole reached over and put his arm around her shoulders, rubbing circles with his thumb against her shoulder. Hazel shook her head and pressed the heel of her palm against her forehead. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this," Hazel mumbled. "I can have a car come 'round and take you back home."

"I was actually hoping to stick around for a while," Cole said, shrugging softly. "I know I don't really know you, but something inside me feels... correct. Like I'm where I'm meant to be."

Hazel nodded softly, "I know the feeling."

"We could go out, I'll talk to my mom, and you can get an extra few hours to think about nothing," Cole offered, knocking his knee against Hazel's. "Just a chill time."

Hazel nodded and forced herself to stand. "Give me ten minutes."

"I'll wait in the kitchen," Cole said and gave her a nod before standing, walking out the room.

Hazel walked to the large vanity mirror, looking over her ashy skin. Someone had changed her shirt and thrown her jacket in the trash, she didn't know exactly who, but her best guess was Kory. She wiped her hands down her face before checking her phone she had dumped in the room before she helped Conner the second time.

She tossed it aside before showing and changing into something more suitable for riding, dark jeans and sheer top. She searched for a moment before remembering she had left her riding jacket downstairs. Her memory had been all over the place since arriving in Gotham, the stress and pressure making her more disordered than usual. And dying didn't help.

She wandered down the hall, her red converse's thudding against the rich wood floors as she quickly tied her hair back. The sound of rushing footsteps made her turn just in time to catch sight of Gar running down the hall. She turned quickly and called after him, "Gar! Hey."

Gar turned to her and dropped his arm, hoping his smile covered up the pain the fresh burn was currently causing. "Hazel, hi... where are you going?" Gar asked, trying his hardest to keep his voice steady, but Hazel caught the jump in his tone and her eyes narrowed.

"What happened to your arm?"

"Oh, uh, burnt it," Gar mumbled. Hazel stepped closer and took Gar's hand, his palm warming hers as she carefully moved his arm to see the burn. His skin was burnt a bright red, the centre of the burn already beginning to blister. "Haze, it's okay, I'll heal."

A green power moved to her fingertips, and she slowly healed the wound. "Yeah, yeah, you always say that, but you never do," Hazel chastised, fixing up the last of the burnt skin. "You stress too much about everything, then you get distracted and then you feel bad. And then when someone points it out and you feel worse so I should stop talking." Hazel took a sharp breath. "I'm sorry, I just woke up and-"

Gar cut her off as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug. Her head fell into his shoulder, her body feeling lighter as if Gar was the only thing keeping her standing. He probably was. "I thought we agreed you'd stop apologising," Gar mumbled, and Hazel chuckled softly, her soft laughter making him smile.

Hazel stepped back, her hands pressing to her face as she tried to settle her breathing and Gar kept his hands on her arms, squeezing softly. Hazel took a breath, "Thank you."

He nodded before dropping his hands. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, I've gotta help Cole with a few things. I'll explain everything when I get back," Hazel replied, motioning behind her.

"You're taking the bike?" Hazel nodded and Gar rolled his eyes. "Okay, don't go too fast." She laughed at him and shook her head before quickly stepping around him and rushing to the kitchen.

Cole kicked himself off the counter when he noticed her and smiled, "You all good?"

Hazel nodded and the pair stepped outside, "Yeah, just ready to get out of here." Hazel smiled and Cole nodded softly. They raced to their bikes, quickly speeding down the hill. Cole laughed before pulling the handles of the bike up, his lighter dirt bike popping up into a wheelie with ease. Hazel shook her head and revved the engine, her sports bike speeding ahead.

They raced through the streets of Gotham, weaving through the lines of traffic to the coffee shop. Cole led Hazel around the alley and to the private garage, the rolling door covered in a spray painting of Batman. They parked their bikes and locked the roller door before racing up the stairs to the small apartment built atop the cafe.

Cole unlocked the door and pushed it open, letting Hazel walk in first. "Welcome to my humble Gotham City apartment," Cole hummed with a smile. Hazel looked over the warm cosy living space, the walls adorned with art and Cole's accomplishments. It was large enough that the dark blue furniture didn't clash with the dining room and kitchen in the same space. "I'm gonna grab my stuff, I'll be right back."

Hazel nodded and Cole ducked off to the room at the end of the short hall to the right. Hazel wandered to a pair of display cupboards, her fingers tracing the wooden top as she looked at the pictures of a very young Cole. He had the same large smile, slightly wonky teeth but his jaw was completely aligned. Cole wandered out the hall, zipping his bag up. "I didn't wanna grab too much so... Maybe after I meet Terran we could all go shopping."

Hazel hummed and walked over to Hazel who picked up a picture of Cole, holding a trophy high over his head. Hazel laughed softly and flipped it her hands so Cole could see what she was looking at. "Yeah, uh... I was 14 and won the medical research award for young folk. I said I could prove you could predict people's thoughts by shaking their hands. I just used my powers to see what they thought of me."

"Smart, but cheating," Hazel laughed, placing the picture back.

"Come on! You're telling me you're this good with your powers but didn't use them to win?" Cole scoffed, moving to the dining table to dump his bag.

"Well, I didn't really do a lot that involved using my powers like that," Hazel corrected, leaning against the table as she watched Cole dig through the fridge.

"Cheer captain?"

Hazel pursed her lips and shrugged, "Basketball captain, dated the cheer captain."

"I swear that's a movie," Cole mumbled.

"Uh yeah, every ninety's movie."

Cole laughed at her, shaking his head, "You want a drink? My mom should be up soon."

They sat around for a few more minutes, Cole explaining the pictures that Hazel had continued to look through. The door handle rattled, and Cole set his drink down, smiling at his mother as she opened the door. "Hey Cole! Oh- sorry dear I didn't know you brought a guest!" Cole's mother smiled but pressed her hand to her chest in shock.

"Sorry Ma," Cole said, standing from the dark blue plush couch. Hazel stood as well and smiled. "This is Hazel, Hazel this is my mom, Nina."

"You're the Titan girl I saw on the news," Nina recognised. Hazel greeted her before Nina stepped forward and shook Hazel's hand. "While I thank your service to the city, might I ask what my son is doing with a Titan?"

"He's certainly not in trouble, or anything like that but... It's a bit of a long story," Hazel said, whipping her hands on her pants. "I uh, I learnt some time ago about my family, more specifically my father. After some research and accidentally clashing our powers-"

"Your Valli's daughter?" Nina interrupted.

Hazel's eyebrows shot up, "That's- That's his name?" Hazel glanced back at Cole who looked just as confused as she did. Nina turned quickly, digging through an ornate box displayed high on the shelf and Cole walked to Hazel's side. Nina pulled out a few polaroid pictures, handing them to Hazel.

They consisted of a younger Nina and a tan man that matched the photos Hazel had been shown at CADMUS, however he had no special piercings or pointed ears, just a simple man with dark curly hair. Him and Nina sat together on a bench, the polaroids giving it an old eighties feel but it was only the early 2000's. They looked happy.

"You never told me about him," Cole said, taking a photo from Hazel. He looked at the picture for a moment longer before his mother's words fully registered with him, "Wait, you knew I had sister?"

"Valli was a very secretive man, he was kind and sweet but there was always something he wasn't telling me," Nina started, sitting at the brown vintage table. "It was the reason we fell apart. But he did tell me of a daughter he had, a very, very long time ago though."

Hazel looked over the pictures once more before handing them back to the woman. She took a breath and sat across from Nina. "Well, I'm not Cole's only sister," Hazel said, forcing a sweet smile as she tried to keep the conversation focused, although she had a thousand questions. "The Titans I'm with, were more than just a team, we look after each other. And with your permission, I was hoping Cole could stay with us for a while."

"Stay- Stay with you?" Nina repeated, her eyes widening.

"Ma," Cole called, and pulled a seat out to sit beside his mother. He grabbed her hand and smiled softly.

Hazel stood and pet Cole's shoulder softly, "I'll go get the bikes."

Once the door closed Cole looked up at his mother and smiled. "I've met them, they're nice people," Cole insisted. "I'll call you every day, and I'm not up and leaving just yet. I'll still be around for a few days."

Nina smiled and brought her hand up to caress Cole's face. "Oh honey, you're so..."

"Grown up? Responsible? Intelligent?"

"Old." Cole laughed at his mother, shaking his head. "You're old enough to make your own decisions, you're a responsible, kind, handsome young man, any boy would be lucky to have you." Cole whined softly as Nina pinched his cheek. "If you're going to go though, young man, you have to call me every couple of days, facetime at least once a month and if you don't answer my texts within the hour, I'm going to assume you're dead."

"You do anyway!"

Nina laughed at him before pressing a kiss to his forehead. "I love you pumpkin."

"I love you too, Ma."

Cole grabbed his bag and raced back downstairs, slipping under the roller door just before Hazel slammed it shut. "You know, you don't have to come," Hazel said as she watched Cole slide the padlock in place. "It's your decision, but I don't wanna-"

"Hazel, shut up for once," Cole huffed, throwing his arms up. "You wanna kill a few more hours? There're more spots like that bridge." Hazel nodded and the pair sped off once again, weaving through traffic.

— rage —