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SITTING ON HER BED, ALL ALONE IN HER ROOM, AUTUMN TRIES TO THINK. A piece of tarp has been put up to block the hole in the wall, offering her some minor privacy to try and sort through the scrambled mess that is her mind. It hides the way yellow dances between her fingers, hides the flickering red glowing beneath her skin.
She's been like this the entire night, waiting for news on Dick, waiting for the numbness to recede. She can't be around other people, not like this; not with the light about to break free.
So far, Autumn is safe, her secret tucked away, but it's getting harder and harder not to let it out. All this power inside her... it aches for an escape, for the chance to impact the reality around it.
And maybe if she'd been a little more forthcoming with her abilities all those years ago, she would have found out about Dick Grayson. That could've changed her entire world; she could have worked alongside Robin, could've had somehow who understood all aspects of her life.
Instead, she sits alone, feeling betrayed and hypocritical. Dick is not the only one who chose not to tell. She kept her own secret identity away from him, burying that secret far away whenever they were together.
She wonders what his reasons were.
She knows that her reason, her sole reason, was Sinestro. He knew her name, knew where she lived, knew far too much about her. Being in Autumn Alita's orbit was dangerous, but being around Aura ━━ she thought that would get him killed. She knew it could, knew that it would be a devastating blow and that Sinestro would take it the first chance he got.
That was a risk she could never take and by the time it was gone, by the time Sinestro was dead, it was far too late for her.
She thinks she regrets it, not telling him about everything.
"Grace?" Kory calls from beyond the tarp. "I'm coming in."
The light in her hands dies down and she steps inside, a spot of blood on her otherwise perfect fur coat, the sun from outside making her hair seem like a fiery halo. "The family's dead."
"Kory!"
She raises her hands in surrender. "I didn't kill them! Their heads were blown off when I went in!"
"Blown off...?"
Kory nods, sitting next to her. "Completely gone. Exploded. Very messy."
"I would imagine so."
"Dick gave me an address", she says. "Somewhere to meet him."
"Did he sound okay?"
"A little annoyed", she admits. "But fine."
"Oh. That's... that's good", she says. "Where does he want us to go?"
