008

— the blood of the gods —

THE NIGHT AIR FLOWED THROUGH HER HAIR, HER CURLS FALLING OVER HER EYES. Hazel and Cole walked through the doors of Wayne Manor, walking to the kitchen where Conner moved quickly around the stove. "Uh Hazel! Cole! Hi!" Conner yelled trying to use the tea towel to diffuse the dark smoke.

Cole cursed and rushed to Conner, taking the pan and adding a glass of water, saving whatever sauce Conner was making. "Thank you..." Conner mumbled, stepping back letting Cole take over. "I miss Gar."

"Where'd he go?" Hazel asked, moving beside Cole to help cook the steaks, making sure they didn't burn.

"He and Kory went-" Conner quickly cut himself off and shrugged. "I'm not sure. I kinda fought with Gar about... yesterday." Conner's words trailed off as he noticed Hazel's shoulders tense up. " I'm sorry I couldn't do more."

Hazel sighed and set the pan down, turning it to a simmer. She turned back to him and smiled. "It wasn't your fault, you did all that you could, everyone did." Hazel took a long breath and turned back to the pan. "Thank you for trying Conner."

Cole and Hazel were able to save dinner and by the time they finished plating Conner's head snapped up. "Kory's back," He announced and the pair looked up. "Gar too."

"Finally," Hazel sighed, throwing the hand towel high over her head into the sink. Conner walked out into the open living space, but Cole grabbed her arm.

"Do I look okay?" Cole asked, his voice nervous as he took his hand back to flatten out the thick, white cotton jumper.

"Why does it matter?" Hazel asked, her eyebrows creasing in confusion.

Cole threw his arms u as if what she had said was the most insane thing ever presented. "Kory's an alien queen!"

"So? You're a demi-god." Cole sighed through his nose and Hazel huffed. "Tuck the jumper in and fix your hair." Cole rolled his eyes and thanked her as he tucked the front of his jumper into his brown pants. 

Hazel shook her head and chuckled at him before they followed Conner out to the living space. Hazel went to rush down the stairs but stopped as she noticed the tall, dark-skinned woman with dark purple hair. "Uh, who is this?" Hazel questioned, her eyes moving from the woman in black leather and spiked jacket up to Kory.

"Kory's sister," Gar answered, making his way to the stairs. "Komand'r aka Blackfire."

Hazel turned to question him more, but her eyes widened. "What happened to your eye? You're bruised," Hazel said quickly, rushing down the stairs to meet him. Hazel carefully placed her hand on his face and tilted his head to see the corner of his eye. "Christ Gar." Her fingers traced along the bone, the bruise fading quickly.

"The green one belongs to this one, no?" Komand'r spoke up and Hazel and Gar snapped their heads up.

"What?"

Kory opened her mouth to answer but paused. "They're a little more complicated," Kory finally said.

"They're in a situationship," Cole muttered, leaning against the railing, sending a wink at Hazel.

Hazel glared at Cole before turning to Komand'r. "No, we're not," Hazel insisted, her eyes darting around the room, Gar nodding in agreement.

Blackfire tilted her head, "It seems like it."

"Upstairs. Pick a room," Kory ordered, diffusing the awkward tension. Komand'r walked past Cole and made her way upstairs. Kory sighed and sipped on the scotch she poured. "Wherever Blackfire goes, chaos always follows. Sleep with one eye open."

"That's ominous," Cole mumbled, his eyes watching the hall.

Kory smacked her lips together and her eyes narrowed in on the boy. "Who are you?" Kory asked, looking up at Cole.

"Cole Martin, my younger brother!" Hazel shouted and everyone's head snapped toward her. "Come on, we saved dinner for you."

25 March, 2021

COLE TAPPED HIS HANDS AGAINST HIS SIDES, TRYING TO KEEP HIS BREATHING STEADY BUT SO FAR, HE HAD BEEN FAILING. "I know you don't wanna do this," Hazel said as she led Cole onto the grass in the backyard. "But it'd make me feel better if you at least know how to defend yourself."

"I just-" Cole shrugged and his head rolled back. "I don't wanna hurt you."

Hazel tilted her head, raising an eyebrow. "You're aware I blew up like, 2 days ago. I'll be fine.'

Cole nodded and readied himself to defend against whatever Hazel was going to throw at him. He questioned her at first, wondering why she didn't teach him how to defend himself from a punch, but Hazel pointed out that he's never actually fought anyone before so she had no idea if his first instinct was to freeze, kick or send a bolt of lightning at her.

Before Hazel could strike at him, Conner sped toward them, scaring Cole so bad he jumped. "I'm sorry but Dick and Kory need you downstairs," Conner said quickly pointing behind him. "It's bad, they need you now."

"Fuck me," Hazel cursed. "Con, can you teach him self-defence please!" Hazel begged as she walked past him and raced inside. Gar peeked out from behind the clock and Hazel rushed towards him. "What the fucks happening?"

"Dick got shot." Hazel cursed again and followed Gar downstairs to the Batcave where Dick was sitting on a medical bed, Kory desperately pressing a cloth to the bloody wound. "Christ," Gar mumbled.

"Haze," Kory said in relief. "I put pressure on it but-" Hazel pulled her jacket off and took over holding pressure on the wound, Kory stepping back. Hazel slowly peeled the cloth back, revealing the bullet had gone straight through his shoulder. Dick cursed, hissing through his teeth but Hazel shushed him. It had stopped bleeding, but all the blood had grown wet again after Kory attempted to clean it with a disinfectant.

Hazel tossed the cloth in a bin and Gar griminced, her eyes watching Hazel slowly work to piece the broken skin back together. "Dude, that looks horrible," Gar commented, him and Kory making sure they gave Hazel enough room to work.

Hazel's fingers pressed into the skin just above the wound and Dick winced. "Five inches over and we'd be planning another funeral," Hazel said, an edge to her tone.

"Barbara's responsible for this?" Kory asked, moving to get a better look at the wound.

"One of her snipers is. Yeah," Dick corrected.

"On her orders, I'm sure," Kory muttered. "Maybe I should go and have a word with her."

Hazel motioned Kory out of the way, shaking her head softly. "Don't do that," Hazel snapped, moving to stand behind Dick to pull the healing power through to his back. Dick straightened up; the feeling strange but he bit his tongue.

"Agreed," Gar spoke up. "That was way too close, man."

"I almost had him," Dick said and Hazel's stomach twisted.

She dropped a clean cloth of his now healed shoulder, and she shook her head. "Yes, because going out on your own, again, worked so well the last time," Hazel snapped. She chuckled, her tone void of any humour as she moved to stand beside Gar. "You got yourself fucking shot! You could have died!"

"I didn't want to put you guys at risk," Dick mumbled, his eyes darting away. Hazel rolled her eyes, cursing at him

"Oh, bullshit, Grayson," Gar snapped.

"Excuse me?" Dick huffed, his eyes shooting up to stare at Gar.

Gar scoffed and shook his head. "Dude, Hank blew up! Dawn left us forever, and Jason went dark!" Gar shouted, his tone growing darker and darker with every word. "This family is dying and you go out alone and get yourself shot?" Gar's skin went green, his eyes slit to mirror the tigers and fangs protruded from his mouth. Growls tore from Gar's throat and Dick stood, moving behind Kory. "Do you even hear the words coming out of your mouth?"

"Gar!" Kory snapped. Gar looked up at her, the green leaving his skin. "Take ten."

"Oh don't start Kory, he has every right to say it," Hazel hissed, stepping forward. "Don't get mad 'cause someone was finally done with this shit. Gar's right, this family is fucking unstable enough and everyone is trying their hardest but that doesnt give you the right to run off and try and fix it to make you feel better about daddy leaving the mantle for you."

Hazel shook her head and looked at Gar, "Let's go." Gar followed after Hazel, leaving Dick and Kory in silence.

Cole spun around in the stool, his eyes looking over Conner each time he did a full rotation. It was long passed noon, Cole exhausted, remnants of sweat still visible on his forehead. Conner had given Cole a very simple defence course, too scared to actually attack Cole after he accidently started a fire with a burst of lightning. Eventually Dick had come to them with a job, leading to Cole's endless spinning. "Are you sure this is what Dick wants us doing?" Cole asked, continuing to spin.

Conner sighed and nodded. "It was in Crane's personal files," Conner explained, his hands moving faster as he worked to hack past the security.

"Cole!" Kory shouted, rushing into the room. Cole abruptly stopped his spinning to stare up at Kory. "Have you seen Hazel?"

"Uhh, upstairs library room," Cole said, his eyes flashing red for a moment. "Why what's up? You're all... frazzled."

Kory took a breath, turning back to glance at Blackfire who had followed her. "Don't worry about it," Kory waved off, stepping closer to the boys. "What are you two doing?"

"Looking into a piece of equipment, Dick said Crane was doing research on it," Cole explained, starting to spin again. "But currently Conner is working on breaking the super, duper firewall protecting any information behind it."

Kory furrowed her eyebrows and rested a hand on her hip. "Why is a piece of medical equipment behind a massive government firewall?"

"'Cause it's not just a piece of medical equipment, it's a shortwave positron multiplier," Conner corrected, still reading.

"Which is what?" Kory questioned.

"I think it's a replicator of some kind," Cole murmured and Conner glanced at him, his eyebrow's furrowed. "Well shortwave is a kind of transmission, positron is an election and multiplier. It's probably an electron multiplier. But don't quote me on that so we should probably figure out what he wants it for."

Blackfire groaned and Kory turned her head to look at her. "Something to add?" Kory questioned.

"Yes, sister," Komand'r nodded, spinning something metal between her fingers. "Look at the way you're going about this. This is clearly an expensive piece of machinery. He may be trying to sell it on the black market."

"Crane doesn't work for cash, he's an egotistical prick," Cole said, not looking up at Komand'r as he kept spinning.

Komand'r looked down at the boy for a moment before shrugging softly. "Then find out what the rats are up to on the ground level, the sources on the street," Blackfire suggested. When Kory didn't even turn back to her, Komand'r counited, "...Or maybe you're more comfortable taking orders from others rather than taking the initiative yourself."

Kory's eyes flickered to life with green power at her sister's words and Cole stopped. "Kory," Cole called, gently tapping her leg with his shoe. Kory blinked the power away and Cole glanced at Conner, the computer screen loading quickly. "Conner's in."

Kory let out a breath and read from the screen, reading the headline, "The inventor. Doctor Christine Vo."

"Map says she's deep in Gotham," Conner read. "If Crane wants this she might be in danger, or under his protection."

"Probably in danger," Cole suggested, leaning closer to look at the map. "That street, Whitman, it's a town road but..." Cole quickly typed in the woman's name, looking into the hospitals she supplied too. "There's an off-site medical bay called Whitman, she works out of there."

Kory nodded and looked up at Cole. "Can you fight?" Kory questioned.

"God no," Conner huffed, continuing to read.

"I'm getting there," Cole scoffed. "But no."

Kory sighed but nodded softly, "Can you stay on the computer, keep in contact with us?"

Cole nodded quickly, "Yeah, yeah, I can do that."

Blackfire looked over the group and set down whatever she had been toying with. "I'll go get Hazel then," Komand'r said before slipping away, making her way upstairs. Hazel walked into the living room just as Komand'r did. "There you are."

Hazel stopped and turned to the liquor tray next to the large leather couch. She looked up at Komand'r her eyebrows creasing in confusion. "Did you need something?" Hazel asked, turning back to look through the different alcohols.

"My sister requested your assistance," Komand'r explained, shrugging her shoulders as she walked toward her. 

Haze chuckled, shaking her head, "Course she did."

"You get very angry very easily, don't you?" Komand'r questioned, leaning closer to Hazel.

"Only when people get on my nerves," Hazel snarked.

"And my sister gets on your nerves?"

Hazel kept her gaze on the whiskey she poured. "I wouldn't take it personally. The past few days have been more than chaotic," Hazel muttered, "Everyone's been getting on my nerves."

Komand'r laughed, "Well, if you listened to my sister at all I should already be on your nerves, Hazel."

Hazel rolled her eyes, but she used the glass of liquor to hide her amused smile. "Fantastic. Just what I needed."

Kory walked into the living space taking a long breath. Kory cleared her throat and the girls looked up at her and Hazel sipped on her drink as Kory began speaking, "I know I'm not your favourite person right now, but I need your help." Hazel glanced up at Kory and nodded softly, dowing the last of intensely flavoured whisky.

The girls and Conner took one of the fancy sports cars, Kory driving them to the address Cole gave them. They stopped in front of a large warehouse but Cole told them it was a front for a non government run hospital for less fortunate people. Kory stopped the radio and stepped out of the car, the others doing the same.

"Worst taste in music ever," Blackfire commented, crossing her arms, "I see some things never change."

Kory took a deep breath and turned back to Komand'r, "You stay in the car, Hazel watch her please."

"You brought me here to babysit?" Hazel scoffed.

Komand'r looked at Hazel before turning back to Kory. "Why did you even bring me to your home if you don't want my help?" Blackfire questioned.

"Just because I didn't let you die doesn't mean you're part of the team," Kory said, shaking her head.

"Then what are you even doing with me?"

"I have no fucking idea, Blackfire," Kory snapped, throwing her arms up. "I can't leave you alone at Wayne Manor. I can't send you back to Tamaran, you blew up my spaceship. And I can't kill you. So that leaves us here. Stay in the car, you watch her." Kory pointed to Hazel who rolled her eyes. "Conner." Kory started to walk away and Conner quickly chased her.

Hazel shook her head and tapped her pockets, fumbling in her pockets. "Do you mind if I smoke?" Hazel asked and Komand'r looked up at her. "Do you know what smoking is?"

"There's a root royals had at special events, I only indulged a few times," Komand'r explained.

Hazel hummed and pulled herself onto the bonnet, twisting the joint between her fingers. "What's Tamaran like?" Hazel asked, looking up at Komand'r.

"Not like Earth," Blackfire stated and a small smile grew on her face. She moved to sit beside Hazel, leaning next to her as she looked out at nothing. "There's no open skies, no flowing water. The very air burns your skin. I miss that burn."

Hazel used her light to ignite the cigarette, "You miss feeling like you're burning?"

Blackfire smiled properly and glanced over at Hazel. "We made life prosper from nothing but dust. Kory never appreciated Tamaran when she had it." Komand'r smiled dropped but she lifted her head to look at Hazel. "Have you heard stories of your planet?"

Hazel's hands stammered, "This-This is my planet."

"I can see the blood of a god flowing through your veins," Blackfire started, "I saw it the first night I met you. No God like that comes from Earth."

Hazel took a long drag of the smoke and leaned back against the window, staring at the cloudy grey sky. "My mother's human, my fathers the god," Hazel explained, tapping the ash away. "From what I've been told, his name is Valli Videl."

"Videl is your father?" Blackfire questioned, her eyes widening slightly.

Hazel pulled the polaroid photo from her pocket. She had taken it from Nina's as she left, Cole knew, or at least she thought he knew. She handed it to Komand'r who carefully took the photo, spinning it between her fingers. "That's a few years old now, but it's something."

Blackfire's eyes scanned Hazel and she smiled. "Do you know anything about him?" Hazel shook her head, keeping her eyes on the clouds. "He is a God, to all races. Find someone who barely believes, and they'll tell you he's a manipulator of matter. Find some of his people and they'll tell you he created everything. But, without a doubt, he is a King of the Gods, leading all planets together from his throne. My parents used to speak about him."

Komand'r held the photo out and Hazel took it back. Hazel glanced at Komand'r and took a shaky breath, "That's a lot to live up to."

Komand'r hummed in agreement, crossing her arms over her chest. "Expectations are the hardest to meet. I have empathy for that struggle," Komand'r started and Hazel turned her attention to her, silently urging her to continue. "I was an alien, even on my own home planet."

"That must have been lonely," Hazel murmured.

"It was," Blackfire nodded. "All I ever wanted was the power that Koriand'r wielded. Fire. Every royal is born with it except me. The cursed child. I was treated as less than a worm." Komand'r eyes drifted away and Hazel pushed herself up. "Now I know it wasn't power I coveted. It was acceptance."

Hazel looked up at the building before turning back to Komand'r. "If you're looking for acceptance, the Titans can give that, but it has to be earned," Hazel stated and Blackfire met her eyes. "We are a family bound by trust and love, not by blood. When someone's happy, we're happy."

"Even my sister?" Blackfire questioned making Hazel laugh.

"Yeah, even Kory. She's gotten on my nerves recently, but I still care for her," Hazel nodded. Hazel suddenly kicked herself off the car, stamping out the cigarette. "Come with me," Hazel ordered.

"Why?"

"Conner said you wanted to check streets, let's check the streets, hit up the dealers," Hazel said shrugged, starting to walk back towards the road. "Say it's my idea if Kory loses her shit."

"You would lie to your family?" Blackfire questioned.

Hazel shrugged, "Lied before."

— rage —