016

— actions have consequences —

March 28, 2019

HAZEL SHIFTED BENEATH THE QUILT, THE WEIGHTED BLANKET WRAPPING TIGHTER AROUND HER. She pushed herself to sit on the edge of the bed, her eyes focussing on Gar's neon lights and posters. She looked over the room, seeing no sign of the green haired boy. Hazel stood and walked down the hall, pulling Gar's green jacket tight around her shoulders. Gar was hunched over at the kitchen island, his computer open, the news report on yesterday's events playing loud and clear.

"Gar?" Hazel called, her voice still thick with sleep. He lifted his head, turning to Hazel barely offering her a smile before his head turned back to the computer. "How long have you been watching that?" Hazel asked, walking past him and squeezing his shoulder softly. "Morning, by the way."

"Morning," Gar mumbled, his focus still on the computer.

"Witnesses say that the young man was immune to police gunfire," The reporter relayed, her voice loud over the video recording of Conner and the police. "San Francisco PD has issued a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest-"

Hazel reached over and pushed the laptop closed. Gar looked up at her, his tired eyes meeting Hazel's. She sighed softly, tapping her fingers against the laptop. "Stop watching it," Hazel insisted, keeping her voice low.

"I'm calling Dick again," Gar announced, grabbing his phone and immediately punching in Dick's number. Gar paced slightly. "Voice message," Gar said, looking up at Hazel. "Dick, it's me again. I- I know I screwed things up really bad, man, but... And I get why maybe you don't want to talk to me. But please, call me back."

Gar sighed and locked his phone, tossing it on the counter. Hazel's eyes dropped, her stomach twisting in knots. "He'll answer," Hazel assured after a beat of silence.

"How do you know that?" Gar asked, shoving his hands in his pockets. Hazel tapped her knuckles against the countertop, uneasy rushing over her. Gar sat in the stool again, tapping his fingers in time with her. "What happened last night?"

"Um..." Hazel chewed on her lip, giving Gar a small shrug. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"Haze," Gar said quickly. "You're apologising again."

Hazel hung her head and huffed. "It was a nightmare. I didn't handle it very well." Hazel shook her head and shrugged softly. "Thank you for letting me stay."

"I'm sorry I wasn't better at helping you last night," Gar said, a sad turn in his lips.

"You did though. It helps, knowing that I'm not alone," Hazel said with a shrug.

Gar nodded, smiling, "You can sleep with me anytime then." Hazel raised her eyebrows in surprise, and Gar's cheeks burnt in embarrassment. "I just mean! We'll you know what I mean. I just-"

"Security alert, zone two. Downstairs entry," The automated voice announced, stopping Gar's ramblings.

Gar and Hazel stared at each other, their faces turned in confusion. Gar pulled the laptop open and Hazel rushed to his side, her arm resting against the chair. The security camera for the downstairs door connected, displaying a mostly empty street. Gar's eyebrows furrowing further in confusion and annoyance. "Hello. Who's there?" Gar called.

Krypto jumped up and down, his face flashing in the camera as he barked. Hazel laughed softly, shaking her head. "Krypto! Smart ass dog."

Hazel tried to rush for the door, but Gar shouted after her, "You're still wearing pyjamas!" Hazel rushed back to her room, throwing on whatever she found before running back to Gar. Gar grabbed his red and white jacket and Hazel grabbed their phones as they rushed downstairs.

Krypto barked as we saw them, his tail wagging harder. "Krypto! Good boy!" Hazel said, bending down and scratching behind his ears.

"Kyrpto, do you know where Conner is?" Gar asked as Hazel stood. Krypto barked and ran off, the pair chasing him.

Krypto led them through San Francisco's streets, then out of the block, and then halfway across the city, time flying by as they chased the dog. Krypto would sniff the air, occasionally barking to make sure Hazel and Gar had kept up with him. Krypto suddenly bounded off and down the street, jumping to knock against a man's hand. A few steps closer and they recognized it as Conner.

Conner turned and looked down at Krypto, sighing as Krypto barked at him. "Great. Dumbest dog ever," Conner complained.

"He rang the doorbell with his nose," Hazel shrugged, stopping in front of Conner.

"I've seen dumber," Gar agreed.

Conner's eyes darkened at them, his jaw clenching. "Stay away from me," Conner ordered, turning his back on the two and stepping away.

"Not gonna happen, man," Hazel refused, running to catch up to Conner.

"What you did to those cops... You messed things up for a lot of people, including us," Gar snapped, keeping up a fast pace with Conner. "I think we deserve an answer. What the hell happened?"

"When you invited me to be a Titan, I told you what I was," Conner reminded. "But you didn't listen 'cause that's not what you wanted to hear."

"You're right. We-we didn't listen," Gar agreed, stepping out in front of Conner and stopping him from walking any further.

"Conner, being a Titan isn't about being perfect," Hazel spoke up, looking up at Conner. Hazel sighed, and her eyes jumped around, refusing to meet Conner's. "Listen... I can't- I can't count the number of people I've killed on two hands, and I have no idea the number of people I've hurt."

"Well, maybe we should both be locked up," Conner jabbed harshly, trying to step past her but she stopped him quickly.

"But," Hazel insisted, meeting Conner's glare. "What we do isn't about focusing on what we've done and what we used to be, it's about helping people. You do a shitty thing and make up for it. People count on us, Conner."

"Well, they shouldn't," Conner snapped.

Krypto barked, drawing their attention away. Krypto barked at a large armoured truck screeching to a stop a few streets over. "You gotta get out of here. Now!" Conner ordered, shoving Gar back and starting to walk forward.

"Don't! No, no, no!" Gar raced ahead of Conner again, pushing back against his chest and holding Conner back. "Do you really want to hurt somebody else?" Conner clenched his jaw, hesitating.

Krypto continued barking and soldiers started to jump from the car. A taller man jumped from the front seat, grabbing a gun half the size of him, shouting orders at his men, "Move, move! Come on, now!"

Conner looked down at Gar, still not answering him. "Hazel cover us, come on." Gar pushed Conner around, starting to run. Hazel flashed her eyes gold and the truck's lights started to flash, the glass shattering and exploding. Hazel flicked her hands and the foliage jumping from the ground, twisting through the tires of the truck. Haze dropped her hands and ran after Gar and Conner.

❁

THE TIME HAD RUSHED BY THEM, THE SUN SET AND DARK CLOUDS COVERED THE NIGHT SKY. Hazel walked through the elevator doors to the tower first, rubbing her eyes as she stepped inside. "Are you hungry? You want something to eat?" Gar asked as they stepped into the tower's main floors.

"Yeah," Conner nodded, taking the large overcoat off and tossing it on the table. Gar undid his bag and threw it on the counter, Hazel did the same with Gar's jacket she still wore. Conner stepped closer, standing beside Hazel. "Hey... You know they're gonna keep coming after me, right?"

Gar sighed and pulled three Pops from the fridge, setting them on the counter. "Let them try," Gar said with a smile.

"This is my mess, not yours," Conner reiterated.

"Conner, it's what we do," Hazel assured, taking the Pop and popping it open.

"I should have listened to you," Conner said, shaking his head.

Hazel shrugged softly, sipping the pop. "You make mistakes and you learn. We're Titans, we look after each other."

"So, where are they? The other Titans," Conner questioned. Gar walked to the fridge, pulling out a bunch of fruit.

"You know what... maybe I should do what Dick wanted me to do in the first place," Gar mumbled, pulling out his phone. "Call in the big guns."

"We're gonna use guns?" Conner asked, his eyes going wide.

"Uh, no, no, it's a metaphor. It's something you use to describe something else, like a hyperbole," Hazel explained, leaning against the counter.

"Hyperbole?" Conner repeated.

Hazel stammered slightly, "Uh..."

"Haze, sorry, be quiet for a sec," Gar ordered in a quiet voice. "I'm calling Bruce Wayne."

"Zone six, unauthorised access," The automatic voice announced, making the three jump slightly.

"What's that?" Conner asked, his eyes looking around.

Gar's eyebrows furrowed as he glanced at Hazel, "Zone six is the roof."

Not even a second later the windows shattered with an explosion and six soldiers slid down ropes and stepped into the tower. Hazel and Gar jumped at the sound, jumping back in shock, trying to avoid the falling glass. They raised their guns at the three and Gar raised his hands immediately. "Freeze, now!" A soldier shouted.

Three more came from the hall, their heavy boots thudding against the wood floors. "Everybody down on the floor!"

"Stay where you are! Hands, let me see your hands!" The soldiers stepped forward, their guns trained on the three. Hazel raised her hands and Conner clenched his fists. "Don't move!" Krypto raced down the opposite hall, barking as he ran to Conner.

"Target ID'd," A soldier announced.

Krypto continued to bark and Hazel turned to Gar, his body too nervous to move to meet her eyes. "Shut that damn dog up!" A soldier ordered. Krypto raced forward, tackling the soldier and sending him to the ground.

"Bag him!" Another yelled. A soldier lined up a shot and a large kryptonite net shot out at Krypto. It wrapped around the dog, pinning him to the ground, Krypto whimpering in pain.

Conner sped into action, using his super speed to throw two to the ground just by knocking against them. Hazel and Gar quickly ran back, diving behind the kitchen island. As another solider approached Conner, Gar stepped out, quickly delivering a kick to the soldier's arm, disarming the soldier and leaving him vulnerable. Gar seized the solider by the neck, spinning him around and slamming him against the edge of the counter. Gar followed up with a swift kick to the soldier's side, delivering a final a powerful spin-kick squarely aimed at the chest, knocking the solider off his feet.

A pair shifted their attention to Gar, barrels of their guns aimed in his direction. Before they could fire, Hazel vaulted over the counter, tackling one to the ground. With a glare, vines sprouted from the wood and ensnared the second opponent. Hazel kicked the first man's head, his head knocking back, unconscious. She summoned a flare, momentarily blinding the nearby soldiers giving her time to dive back behind the counter with Gar.

"There's more coming," Hazel mumbled, peeking around the counter, seeing more come down the far hall. "With all respect Gar- please get naked." Gar nodded and Hazel slid out from behind the counter. She shot another sun flare before sending a vine through a soldier and pinning him against the wall. He screamed and one man turned to help him but Hazel knocked him aside. Gar's growls echoed through the room and the green tiger pounced on a soilder, sending him to the ground and he bit into the soldier's side growling softly.

Hazel grabbed one man by his arm, spinning him into a wall, her vines growing to pin him down. A soldier clicked his gun, pointing it at Hazel and he ordered her to get on the ground. "Haze!" Conner shouted, knocking another aside.

Hazel met the mans eyes, slowly raising her hands. Hazel's eyes went green and the soldier's hands started to shake. He dropped his gun and pulled his mask off. He coughed harshly, petals and small leaves started to grow through his insides and poured from his mouth. He clawed at the flowers for another minute before falling to the floor in a mess of flowers and blood.

Another four rushed in. "Freeze! Tranqs!" Three shots went off and Gar groaned as the tranqs lodged in his side.

"Gar!" Hazel shouted and Gar fell to the floor, his bones shifting as he started to untransformed, the tips of the needles shifting and cutting into his skin making him bleed.

A surge of rage filled her bones as she watched Gar's blood stained the island as he pulled himself to sit. A solider stepped close enough to grab Hazel's shoulder and she whipped around, stabbing the man through the leg with a sharp thorn. Vines burst through the floor, skewing through a solider. Another tried to run forward to shoot at Hazel, but she grabbed the gun, her light heating the metal up until the man was forced to let go. She slammed the gun across his forehead before turning and using the same power to burn a man's face.

"Shoot her!" One of the final men said. Two shots rang through the air. A bullet lodged below Hazel's knee and another in her shoulder. Hazel screamed as the pain burned through her and she fell against the floor. A man raced towards her, pressing his boot into the wound on her shoulder. A stabbing pain raced through her body and Hazel's hand scrambled to push his foot off, but to no success.

"No," Conner said in defeat, looking over the pair. Conner sneered and his eyes burning red hot.

"Stop!" A woman shouted, stepping through the lines of soldiers. She was dressed in all black, her hair tied tight atop her head. She raised her hands and smiled softly, trying to calm Conner as if he were a wild animal, "It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you."

"Who are you?" Conner question in a demanding voice.

"My name is Mercy Graves, I work with Eve Watson."

"Eve?" Conner muttered. "Is she here?"

Mercy shook her head softly, "No, she... sent me instead." Gar's pained wheezing brought their attention away. He had pulled himself to rest against the island, the blood from where the tranqs peirced his skin, dripped over his bare skin. "It's okay," Mercy assured and Conner turned to her. "It's just tranquillizers to calm him."

Conner paused, his eyes moving to Hazel, whose had blood starting to pool around her body. Her hands still trying to push the man away. "And her?" Conner questioned.

"She's healing," Mercy confirmed. "We have scans showing she is. We will deal with the shooter appropriately." Mercy nodded and the man stepped away from Hazel, keeping his gun trained on her as she rolled onto her side, gripping her shoulder in pain. "Conner," Mercy called. "I'm here to help you."

"That's not what it feels like," Conner shot back.

"Do you want to hurt me?" Mercy questioned.

"I'm not sure," Conner admitted.

"Did you want to hurt those police officers?"

"I don't know. I don't think so."

"These are not easy questions, Conner," Mercy said softly, taking a small step closer. "Let us help you. After all, we created you. We can fix you."

"Fix?" Conner repeated.

"What's happening to you, it's our fault," Mercy admitted. "An imbalance we didn't consider, but now that we understand it, we can stop it. All you have to do... is come home."

— pain —