CHAPTER SEVEN
and when i call, you come home
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𝐀urora walked down the hallway, on her way to the security room where the CCTVs were to find a certain someone. As she turned into a corner, she heard the sound of some other's footsteps and she immediately plastered a neutral expression on her face than her frustrated one. She didn't want to worry anyone just because she was an enigma that couldn't be fixed.
"Hey." Dick slightly smiled at her as he walked passed her.
"Is Gar still there?" She asked.
He nodded. "Yeah. You can go in."
Without any other words, she continued her way to the control room. A weak smile appeared on her face at the sight of the back of his head. He seemed to be very focused on what he was doing. All scrunched up in his spinning chair, Even in the dim light of the panel screens, his green hair stood out the most.
"Hey," Aurora said quietly.
Gar almost fell off the swivel chair when he abruptly spun around and faced her with a lollipop hanging from the corner of his mouth. His words came out a little muffled when he greeted her. "H-Hi!"
The redhead slightly chuckled at his antics and stood behind him as she turned his chair around so he could face the screens again. She put her arms behind him on the headrest of the chair and looked up at the screens with a furrow between her brows. "What are you up to?"
He paused for a moment before he composed himself, biting his lips from thinking. He cleared his throat, continuing to press on the keyboard at a fast pace. "Uh, just something that Dick told me to do."
Aurora hummed slightly in response before she stood up straight again, letting out a short sigh of breath. The green-haired boy heard it and quickly looked at her like he assumed he had done something wrong. His nose wrinkled ever so slightly, confusion and a little worry clouding his hazel eyes.
"Are you..." He cleared his throat. "Are you okay?"
She could only let a fake smile slip on her lips with a small nod. "Never better."
He didn't seem very satisfied with her answer but he didn't press on any further. Little did she know, Gar was more worried than ever. But he didn't know what to do. How do you help someone who doesn't want to be helped? Gar didn't say anything. He was afraid to hurt her or something if he decided to bring it up.
Aurora didn't stick around for long. She decided to leave him alone to his whatever he was supposed to do, knowing he wasn't going to start if she was still there. Dick seemed to trust him with it so she had no problem. As long as he doesn't get into trouble, she'd give the man the benefit of the doubt.
Not even a few moments later, all the lights inside the building suddenly shut down and left them with darkness although not entirely because of the emergency lights. Aurora felt her heart race a bit faster upon not having a clue to what was happening. As much as she hated the dark, sometimes all she could do was endure it.
She looked out the windows of her to see that the whole city was affected. Everything was engulfed in pure darkness, and she feared for what was about to come. Knowing the impossible that lurks around them, she expects something worse. And the darkness had always been a great ally for the bad things people do.
The first person that came to his mind when the blackout happened was Aurora despite being with Dick in the control room. After he settled everything with the old Robin, his nimble feet immediately led him to her bedroom. He found her sitting on the bed, her knees to her chest with her arms wrapped around them and her face buried.
The sound of his footsteps made her look up from her position and a relieved expression washed over her face although it couldn't quite be seen in the darkness of the room. The boy crawled onto the bed and sat next to her, curling one leg up on the mattress with the other touching the floor.
Her first instinct was to scoot closer and Gar immediately wrapped his arm around her shoulders, letting her bury her face in his chest. He placed his chin above her head and closed his eyes. In each other's arms, it felt more like they were trying to desperately tell each other that everything was going to be fine.
Aurora could only hope so. But right now, fine was not what she felt.
It didn't take long before the old Titans finally came back after checking out the cause of the blackout. Turned out, they didn't catch Dr. Light━which kind of amused Jason because he thought he could've done it without blinking. That part didn't even concern Aurora. All she cared about was that they were fine and nobody got hurt. They can always find the villain another time.
Aurora frowned when Jason came up close to Dick's face from anger. She stood between Gar━who took off his jacket and now left with a striped green and white shirt━and Rachel who looked a little frustrated. She was startled when Jason slapped a hand on the older man's chest to make him stop walking away, which made the teenagers tense up.
"Get out of my way," Dick said calmly.
"I think you got it all wrong." Jason pushed him by the chest but the man didn't even budge. "You're in my way."
At this point, Aurora felt like someone needed to intervene. She looked around, only to find the others looking away, crossing their arms or looking completely unsure. Her jaw clenched ever so slightly. They should've known by now that Jason has a terrible temper but they just fail to understand why and how to deal with it the right way.
"Maybe you need to see a retirement package, huh?" Jason spat, his words filled with sarcasm and malice. He slowly glanced black at them, his eyes briefly making eye contact with hers.
Aurora knew what was about to happen as her eyes landed on his clenched fist. Even Dick knew. She pursed her lips and slightly shook her head at Jason to warn him. The boy gritted his teeth. At that moment, she knew he had made up his stubborn mind.
"Don't," Dick muttered.
Jason did anyway. He didn't listen to him and tried to punch his face, which was a huge failure. Dick was quick, stronger, and more experienced, and he didn't deflect him instead he grabbed the boy by the back of his head and slammed his body over the floor without even crouching.
Aurora cursed, looking at them like they were crazy. "Guys!"
Then again, Jason should've known better than to make Dick snap that it comes to this point. Dick cursed under his breath after he realized what he did. He quickly offered him a hand to help him stand back up, but Jason only glared at him and slapped his hand away as he stood up by himself.
Jason didn't say anything further to the older man but she could feel his seething anger from where she stood. The tension was thick in the kitchen. Nobody spoke a word. With one last glare, he purposely bumped against his shoulder and marched away from them, burning with humiliation and fury.
Maybe sometimes, it was better to have a little reminder of who they really are and the place they have in this world. They can't always have what they want and that was the hard truth. But it was something that needed to be accepted. Because the world is a tough place and sometimes they need a little reminder that they can't always face it head-on.
Aurora found herself on the rooftop which she found on the second week of staying at the tower. The city lights were bright in the night, stars scattered across the galaxy giving the darkness of the sky a freckled preface. Everything looked peaceful from where she stood with the cold air blowing in the wind.
Then she heard footsteps from behind. She didn't turn around. She merely pulled on the sleeves of her jacket and looked across the horizon. From her peripheral vision, she saw familiar green hair and the smell of his cologne wafted through her nose.
"Jason told me I'd find you here," Gar muttered. He was wearing his favorite jacket, looking like he had somewhere else to be.
"He probably saw me walk up the stairs," Aurora shrugged. She briefly glanced at him, studying him from head to toe. Her brows furrowed slightly. "You're going somewhere."
Gar pursed his lips. He opened his mouth to say a lie or something else but then he made eye contact with her and changed his mind. A sigh left his lips and he stuffed his cold hands inside the pockets of his jacket. "We're going to check out the train tunnels. We think that's where Dr. Light's been hiding out."
"Are you insane? No!" Aurora looked at him in disbelief. She finally turned around and stepped away closer to the edge. "That's stupid and dangerous. You have to tell Dick."
He sighed slightly, giving her a defeated look. "I was going to, but Jason..."
"God, where is that guy...?" Aurora suddenly marched off, looking extremely frustrated which took him by surprise. Confusingly, he followed her like a lost puppy as they made their way back inside the tower.
"Rory━" Gar tried to stop her.
"Don't." She put a finger up between them and he shut his mouth, clasping his hands behind his back like he'd been scolded by his mother. "If he goes, I know you'll go too. I'm not letting you both get into trouble."
"Gar!" Speaking of the devil. Jason sauntered towards them in his Robin suit, which only made the frown on her face grow deeper. He slowed down, looking unsure at the sight of the redhead. He looked at Gar. "Did you tell her?"
"Of course, I did!" Gar scoffed at him.
Instead of getting mad, Jason smiled. "Well, Rory, before you start━I don't give a shit. I'm still going whether you like it or not, but... I wouldn't mind the company. We're safer with larger numbers, right?"
Aurora narrowed her eyes at him. If this was before, Jason wouldn't even dare to go around her. That look in her eyes never changed but she seemed to be more in control now. At least she didn't accidentally kill him with a look. That would be disastrous and Aurora quite liked the boy when he wasn't busy picking fights with everybody else.
"You're insane," She deadpanned.
Jason grinned. "Glad we have that covered."
Aurora grabbed a random black coat slung over a chair and put it over her. Then she began to walk toward the elevator. She sighed. "Let's go. Idiots."
She never liked public train stations. Other than the fact that most of them looked like a hideout for drug addicts and perverts and criminals, it just wasn't the most ideal place in the world. Besides, she had a bad memory of trains and the tracks that make the long transport go everywhere.
When she was thirteen she witnessed someone jump in front of a train and get crushed to death. The most messed up thing about it was nobody even seemed to care that someone had died. They were more worried about the fact that they were late for their work and friend gatherings. They didn't feel remorse or sadness or horrified. They were just annoyed that someone killed themselves again.
That messed her up for a long time. It made her realize how cruel everyone really was. Aurora was just glad she was no longer in Gotham City because that's where most gruesome and inhuman deaths happened the most.
She walked down a set of stone steps, the hood of her jacket covering her head and shielding her from whatever. Behind her, Jason and Gar followed. The sound of the train going by could be heard from where they descended further into another part of the tunnel hidden from the rest of the people.
"I thought this was reconnaissance only," Gar said uneasily, looking at the older male. "You're overdressed."
Jason chuckled. "Exactly. Reconnaissance on a homicidal psychopath. Safety first."
Aurora looked back, only to find them hanging about the stairs. She threw her arms up and gave them a look. Jason merely smirked at her. Gar stared at him for a few seconds and then shook his head, walking back up the stairs. "I'm calling Dick."
"Come on, man," Jason groaned. He looked at him like he was actually pleading. "Okay, you agreed to help me out. Please?"
Aurora scoffed. "Nobody agreed, Jason. We're just here so you won't do anything stupid."
"God, I missed when you didn't talk," He said sarcastically. Then he smiled fakely at Gar and gestured toward the tunnel. "Let's go." They stopped at the end of the stairs, looking into the darkness. "All right. Let's, uh... let's split up."
Gar looked at him like he was crazy. "Huh?"
"This is what I'm talking about," She muttered.
"Dude," Jason laughed at the terrified look on Gar's face.
He placed a hand on his padded shoulder. "No, no, no. Have you ever seen a horror movie before?"
"You want to get out of here fast, right?" Jason questioned. "The three of us will get the job done in half the time."
Oh, how wrong he was.
Aurora glanced at Gar as soon as Jason left. The boy looked more nervous than usual. He barely looked at her, still watching the darkness like something━a bigger, dangerous, monster would suddenly pop out and drag him away. His grip on the flashlight he held tightened. Then he finally looked at her and she gave a tight-lipped smile.
"Just start screaming if you're in danger," Aurora told him.
Gar gulped slightly, turning on his flashlight. "Oh, I will."
She really wasn't expecting to hear a scream when she said that but for some reason, someone else had taken her advice. It wasn't Gar. At least that's what she was sure of. It was this loud muffled scream that echoed throughout the tunnel and she only had one person in mind. Then she began to run.
"Jason!" She heard Gar yell from somewhere around her, which only urged her to run faster. She ended up in another tunnel where you could see the train passing. Gar was crouched down on the ground in front of something.
"Gar," Aurora breathed. Her eyes were wide in worry.
He slowly turned his head at her, her flashlight pointed at the floor illuminating his terrified face. Aurora frowned and walked up to him. She wished she hadn't, because when she looked down on the concrete floor━she found a thick blood trail that looked like someone had been dragged.
So much for laying low. Now they'd just added another problem to their countless stacks of problems. And Aurora wished she had been more stubborn and maybe Jason would still be right there.