The Next Generation

"Eh... not really," Rose responded, with a small shrug. "I mean... maybe there could have been, but nothing ever did. Eddie's a sweet guy and all, but I never ended up giving him a chance. I thought I might at one point, but he... well, he died before I could. But it's ancient history, anyway, doesn't matter."

And so, Cyborg spent the better part of the next seven hours running all the tests he could think of on each and every one of the heroes that had come back from the dead. During that time, he charged Rose and Neal with looking after the other three, mostly guiding them through more training and making sure they all got a good work out in the gym. There was even time later on to just relax and hang out by the pool up on the fifth floor. Of course, Rose made sure to wear her swimsuit, what with there being more than just Neal.

It was getting to be around bed time when Rose and Neal finally returned to the medical ward to check on progress. Upon entering, she noticed that the five returned heroes were all sedated and sleeping for the moment, while Cyborg was finishing up the last of his data analysis. The only sound breaking the otherwise silent room was Cyborg's fingers typing away at the computer console.

"Any progress?" Rose asked, folding her arms.

"Depends on what you mean by progress," Cyborg replied. "I've run all the tests I can think of, yeah, but I've picked up absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. As far as I can tell, they're all the real living, breathing, people that they were before they died. I sent word to the Justice League that we were in need of some magic assistance, though; they said they'd send someone over soon."

"I see, and for a moment I was worried that he was one of those bad boys you mentioned earlier," Neal said teasingly. He wasn't really sure if he was feeling jealous of not, but perhaps that's what it was. He knew that Rose teased, but he had never seen someone with that look in his eye that Kid Devil had. But, as long as Rose said that there was nothing to worry about, than Neal wasn't going to be concerned.

After that, Neal and Rose spent time with their new trainees, making sure that they weren't ignored despite what had taken place. It was crazy that this was all happening on the same day, but the three new recruits couldn't be ignored. They trained and worked out all day, even going to the pool. Neal was surprised that Rose could look so sexy in a swimsuit, he was just so used to her not bothering with one. The blue was definitely a good color for her, he couldn't deny that.

As the day finally came to a close, Neal and Rose looked back towards Cyborg and entered into the medical ward. After being updated, Neal could only nod his head. "Well, I guess we can't do anything but keep our eyes on them until the League sends someone over right?" Neal asked as he looked at the five in question. "Or did you have something else in mind?"

"Well, looks like we won't have to wait very long," Cyborg said, hitting a button on the screen. "Incoming teleport."

A few moments later, a hazy blue light appeared in front of them, revealing the magical person that the Justice League had sent over to assist them... and it wasn't who they thought. Instead of Zatanna, it was some guy... a guy that both Rose and Cyborg knew, but weren't exactly thrilled to see.

"You're not Zatanna..." Rose muttered. She just hoped he didn't give her a headache again.

"I most certainly am not," he replied, straightening out his magician's coat. "But my cousin is busy at the moment, so she sent me to fill in for her. That's not a problem, is it?"

"No, no, of course not," Cyborg replied, letting out a small breath. "We'll take whatever help we can get..."

The magician turned over to Neal, who he had not yet met, and folded his arms. "The name is Zachary Zatara, I'm sure you're delighted to meet me. Now then, what am I here for again?"

"We need you to run any magical tests you can on these five," Cyborg said, waving his hand over at the patients. "See if you can find traces of... anything, a spell, or something, that might have brought them back from the dead."

"Though we were kind of hoping for an expert..." Rose said, rolling her eye.

Zachary glared back at her. "I assure you, I'm perfectly capable. I'm only the best magician around. I'll have them all checked out in no time."

Neal turned his gaze as Cyborg let him know that someone was coming in through the teleport system. Of course, it wasn't exactly who they had been expecting. Neal raised an eyebrow as a man of all things appeared. Wow, Zatanna really knew how to cast spells didn't she? Of course, it was only a few minutes later that Neal realized that this wasn't Zatanna, but a cousin instead.

It only took about five seconds for Neal to realize that he didn't like the guy. Neal figured that the moment anyone assumed that people would be glad to see him, it defined him as arrogant. Saying that around friends was one thing, but this guy actually meant it when he said that he was certain Neal was pleased to meet him. If Neal wasn't so polite, he probably would have corrected the man on the spot.

"Well than, if you're the expert please feel free to perform. There's no hesitation in wasting time after all," Neal said before glancing over at Rose. "Did someone shove his magic wand up his ass or is that just how he is?"

"I've never bothered to go and actually check up there..." Rose whispered back. "So I'm going to say that's just how he is. And yeah, I know." She already preempted Neal saying that Zachary was terrible. She knew, very well.

The other three sat back and waited, as Zachary went and did his thing. He inspected each of the sleeping heroes, speaking backwards and investigating any possible magical properties that might be lingering around them. It didn't take very long, and soon enough he walked away from the row of beds and folded his arms again.

"There's nothing there," he said. "No residual magical energies, or any present magic within them."

"Is it possible that, you know... you missed something?" Rose asked. "Something that maybe someone like your cousin could pick up on?"

Zachary glared at her. "I assure you, I've missed nothing. Now, if you've no more need for me, I'll be on my way. I have a show in an hour, and I still haven't had my pre-performance massage."

Cyborg rubbed his forehead, groaning as he activated the teleporter and sent the young magician on his way. "Well that was... ugh."

"Fascinating, and to think that those two could possibly be related," Neal said as he shook his head. Zatanna was so calm and cool and this guy was so.......not. How on earth could they share the same blood and same last name? They would take what help they could get at this point, but Neal would prefer working with Zatanna a thousand times over.

As the tests were finished, Neal was stunned to hear that he couldn't find anything. How was that possible! Neal was so tired of not having any answers. The moment that the magician left, Neal turned towards the others. "He MUST have missed something," Neal said with a serious look on his face. "People don't just come back from the dead, no villain has that sort of power, and yet here they are. This has to be the work of some kind of magic," Neal insisted. "I believe in God and all, but this is too convenient and too good to be true"

"I know, I agree with you on that," Cyborg said, rubbing his human eye. "But I'm all out of ideas. I'm out of tests to run, I'm out of theories, out of options. I know something more has to be going on here, but nothing we have is going to determine just what that is."

Rose looked over at the sleeping heroes. "So what do we do with them? I mean... you can't really think they're safe, can you?"

Cyborg shrugged. "I don't know. They haven't given any reason for us to doubt them yet, as unbelievable as this whole thing is. If they really are back, and it really is them, then we can't just turn them away. If they want to stay and help out... then we let them."

"But we keep a close eye on them, of course," Rose responded, narrowing her gaze slightly.

"The closest we possibly can," Cyborg acknowledged, with a nod.

"I suppose that you have a point, we don't have anything to say against them. We can't all them guilty before they're innocent," Neal admitted as he looked over at the sleeping heroes. They were going to have to be watched, that part wasn't going to be negotiable. Neal almost felt bad about it, but they had no other choice at this point.

Neal turned over to Rose and smiled at her. "Well, no point in just hanging around here. Shall we head up and get some rest?" he asked Rose curiously. Before Neal forgot, he quickly looked over to Cyborg. "So, other than just watching them do you have any specific instructions, I mean like what do we do?"

"Nothing specific," Cyborg replied with a shake of his head. "Just get ready for tomorrow so we can keep training the new guys, and be sure to keep a closes watch on these ones. And if you guys see anything, and I mean anything, strange regarding them, don't hesitate to come tell me. There's always the possibility that we've missed something so far."

"Right, we'll keep that in mind," Rose responded, giving the sleeping heroes a long look. Anything strange... like other than the fact that they're alive at all? That was kind of broad. "Anyway, time for bed, I think. Or a least, time to use our bed. Not necessarily for sleeping." She gave Cyborg a small wave, then took Neal's hand with her own, starting to walk out of the room. She only took one more glance back, hoping that they wouldn't come to regret allowing all those dead heroes to come back... she could feel that something wasn't right, it was in her gut. But there was nothing else they could do about it, not yet. Only time would tell.

"Alright, I'll do what I can to keep an eye on them," Neal said as he looked back at the heroes. It might be worth asking Tracie and the others to do the same, their fresh eyes might notice something that even Cyborg, Rose, and Neal wouldn't see. At the very least it couldn't hurt to ask them to keep an eye out. The more that they had the better, as far as Neal was concerned at least.

As Rose said that it was time for bed Neal couldn't help but smile and glance once at cyborg before giving a wink. He remembered all those times in the security room still, and Neal had to admit that he might be a little prideful considering how beautiful his girlfriend was. Neal still wasn't sure what was going on, but he just knew that something bad was going to happen. At the same time though, what if this really was some kind of a gift? A return to the way things should be. These heroes all died before their time after all.

Maybe it really was a miracle.

Two days went by without anything out of the ordinary happening. Life continued around the tower much as it always had; training, hanging out, getting to know each other. The older Titans were spending a lot of time with the newer Titans as well, to better get acquainted so they would be able to work together more efficiently. As shocking as it was, everyone seemed to be getting along pretty well, which was odd, considering that most times that a new Titans team was put together, things started off rocky at best. The worst interactions that occurred were some snide remarks by Wonder Girl and Rose toward each other, but someone was usually there to break things up before it got out of hand.

Currently, the entire team was busy working out in the large gym. Kid Flash was tearing it up on the treadmill, trying not to go too fast or else he'd probably break it, while Wonder Girl and Cyborg were busy lifting weights. Traci meditated calmly in the corner, Hot Spot beat up one of the heavy bags, and Solstice was working on some ab exercises. Kid Devil hung upside from a pull up bar, doing upside down sit ups. Terra, Batgirl, and Rose were side by side on the row of bicycle machines, though Terra was taking it easy, while the other two were peddling as fast as they could.

"Come on, is that the best you got?" Rose asked, glancing over at Batgirl. The screen in front of her own machine read 55 miles per hour, while Batgirl's only read 35 miles per hour. "I'm not even trying!"

Batgirl glared back, trying to pick up the pace. "Not all of us can having genetic enhancements."

"Funny, you've never used that as an excuse before," Rose remarked with a smirk, peddling faster now. She was up to 60 miles per hour.

"You mean like the time I cut your neck?" Batgirl asked, giving her own smirk now. "You know, back when you were working for Daddy?"

Rose's expression grew cross. Her legs peddled into overtime now, reaching 70 miles per hour. Her machine was starting to shake. "Sure, brag about beating a fifteen year old rookie, that'll get you street cred. If I recall, you were in your prime back then."

"Nobody likes excuses," Batgirl responded, a bead of sweat dripping from her brow. "We could always settle things right now, if you like."

Rose suddenly stopped peddling and jumped off her bike, landing in front of Batgirl's. "Yeah, well maybe we should! Come on, Bat-bitch, you wanna go? Let's go!"

So much for getting along.

Neal was surprised by how well things seemed to go. He was hoping for the best, but things were actually beginning to work out far better than he expected. The new and old Titans seemed to be getting along well, and Neal thought that there was going to have to be an adjustment period. It seemed like there wasn't going to be though, and that made things only easier for Neal, Rose, and Cyborg. Hopefully things would stay this good, but of course it would only be a few days before an incident got out of hand.

While most were working out, Neal decided that he would train his mind a bit more today. His body was in excellent shape, and he believed that he needed to give more attention to his illusions in order to become a truly unique hero. He had done well against Traci, but that was only because she was a complete rookie. Neal needed to work on the detail and complexity of his illusions if he was going to fool anyone else. And so, he allowed himself to meditate and allowed his mind to slip back into the unconscious state. He created illusions upon himself, observing it and working on the detail as much as he could. Things were peaceful.

Of course, the term "Bat-bitch" caused Neal's eyes to open as he recognized the voice of his girlfriend. He glanced over and frowned as it appeared that Batgirl and Rose were about to tear each other's throats out. Neal let out a tiny sigh before standing up and running over, he'd have to stop this before it even started. "Okay you two, let's calm down here for a minute. We're all on the same team remember?"

"Hey, she started it," Rose muttered, folding her arms across her chest. Leave it to Batgirl to rile her up. She was just surprised it wasn't Wonder Girl this time.

"I'm not the one with the temper," Batgirl responded, bringing her bike to a stop and staring up at her. "You always did have a short fuse."

Rose reached forward and grabbed the collar of Batgirl's shirt. "Maybe I should show you just how short!"

"Alright, knock it off!" Cyborg commanded, walking over from the weight machine. "Rose, let her go. And both of you stop acting like a couple of children. You're both adults. If you have a problem, settle it in the sparring room. Otherwise, just stay away from each other. Don't make me put you in time out."

Rose's gaze slowly shifted over to Cyborg, as she released her grip. "You know, that's not a bad idea. I'll be waiting for you there, Bat-bitch, unless you're scared."

Batgirl was off her bike now. "Oh, I'll be right there. Nothing would make me happier than beating your skinny ass around."

"Hey, my ass is perfect!" Rose growled, marching out of the gym.

"Hey, Eddie, cat fight," Kid Flash said, slowing down on the treadmill.

Kid Devil was already heading out the door. "Grab the video camera!"

"Already got it!" Kid Flash responded, after taking less than a second to disappear and reappear.

Neal continued to watch as the fight between Batgirl and Rose continued to get heated. It was clear that they weren't going to back off, and so Cyborg motioned for them to take it to the gym and spar it out. Neal was hoping that Rose would just back off but he knew that it wasn't going to happen. As Rose marched off Neal turned around and quickly followed her.

"Rose, I don't think that this is a great idea," he said as he glanced back at Batgirl. "She's trying to rile you up, you don't need to do this" he whispered as he leaned in towards her. "We all know that you're the better fighter. You don't have to prove it"

"Like hell I don't," Rose shot back, in an equal whisper. "She thinks she's better than me just because she beat me once. Once! And back when I was still a rookie under my father's control. I mean fuck, I was like fifteen and barely knew what I was doing then, not to mention I was all drugged up on that serum. Yet, she likes to think that makes her the better fighter. Well I almost cut her damn neck wide open the last time we fought, and I would have if there hadn't been outside interference. Not this time, though, this time I show just how wrong she is."

Yeah, there was nothing that was going to stop her from doing this. It was time she got some sweet payback. Within a few minutes, the entire group of Titans had gathered in the combat room, all pretty eager to see the fight take place, some for different reasons than others. id Flash already had the video camera on, on the off chance it would degrade into an actual cat fight, with hair pulling and clothes tearing and all that good stuff. Not likely, but you never know!

The two women took took a few moments to get dressed in their gear, wanting to be completely ready, so there were no excuses this time. It didn't matter how prepared Batgirl was, though, Rose would make sure to dent that pretty little face of hers regardless. After making sure her swords were in place, she turned to face her opponent, already feeling the adrenaline pumping.

"Still dressing like Daddy, I see," Batgirl said, taking a fighting stance. "Guess you'll always be a little like him no matter how hard you try not to be."

Rose's brow twitched at the comment. Yeah, that had hit a nerve. Without another moment's hesitation, she sprinted in and flipped forward with a sweeping kick. "You don't know anything about me, you dirty c-ugh!"

Her attack had missed wide, allowing Batgirl to counter with a knee to her gut that knocked the wind out of her in a hurry. Before Rose could recover from the shock, she received a hard elbow to the face that sent her reeling backwards. Okay, that was not supposed to happen!

"Always with the temper," Batgirl said, shifting her stance. "Always losing control, coming at me like a wild bull. Makes your body language stupidly easy to read, no matter how enhanced you are. It's like dodging a blind, three-legged dog."

"I understand that, I just don't feel like this is the right thing to do," Neal insisted as they kept walking. "She beat you when you were fifteen, I'm sure you've grown ten times as strong since," Neal spoke as they walked. Of course he didn't want to say the real reason that he believed Rose was stronger. Batgirl had been killed by Deathstroke, and Rose was the one responsible for taking Slade down. Neal honestly believed that Rose was going to defeat Batgirl easily, so long as she stayed in control.

They all stood around as the fight began, listening as Batgirl made the first verbal jab at Rose's honor. "Hey! Can it Batgirl!," Neal shouted in anger. He knew how sensitive of a subject that was for Rose, and he wasn't going to just stand there while Cassandra insulted his girlfriend like that. Batgirl had no idea what kind of work Rose had to go through in order to prove to herself that she wasn't like Slade. Only capturing and defeating him had allowed her to finally believe that she could be a full time hero, and finally earn the respect that she deserved.

As Cassandra countered Rose's attack, he could see what she was trying to do. "Stay calm Rose, don't let her get to you. Just focus your mind on beating her and nothing else. Toss her ass across the gym floor and prove that you're not who she thinks you are!" Neal shouted.

It was pretty obvious who Neal wanted to have win.

"Well, I guess we know who he's rooting for," Wonder Girl commented, glancing at Neal out of the corner of her eyes. "Though why anyone would want her to-"

"They're kind of dating," Cyborg cut in.

Wonder Girl gave him a blank stare. "...oh. I guess that explains it. Though it raises even more questions."

"Rose isn't the same person that you guys remember," Cyborg responded. "She's come a long way."

"Funny, because she still looks like the same arrogant hot head that she always was," Wonder Girl said, turning her attention back to the fight.

Rose lunged in with another attack, a series of punches this time. "Take it back!" she yelled.

Batgirl ducked and sidestepped, making it look almost easy. Her body reading ability was top notch, far better than the little that Neal had learned, and with Rose being so wild and brash, dancing around her assault was simple. She countered with another spinning kick, this one square a Rose's chest.

"You know what you remind me of right now?" Batgirl responded, ducking and sweeping her leg beneath Rose's legs, tripping her up. "A fifteen year old rookie whose throat I once cut open."

Rose fell back but caught herself with her hands, then flipped back up, leading with her feet. She grazed Batgirl's shoulder, but caught an elbow in the back of the head before she recovered. It wasn't looking so good for her right now. As long as she let her temper control her, she was going to get her ass handed to her.

Neal didn't hear the conversation that was taking place between Cyborg and Wonder Girl, and that was probably for the best. He had been with Rose for close to a year now, and he liked to think that he knew her pretty well. That almost made what was happening worse, watching a "hero" like Batgirl tearing a teammate down so far because of something that happened in the past. If someone threw the League of Assassins thing in Neal's face he would have been reacting just like Rose was. He just wished that he could help her, but if he interfered with an illusion he knew that Rose wouldn't forgive him for it. She wanted to do this on her own.

As the fight continued, it was becoming more and more clear that Batgirl was dancing around Rose. Ravager wasn't winning like she should be, and that worried Neal. "Come on Rose, you can beat her," Neal whispered to himself. As Batgirl kept taunting her, Neal came to one conclusion:

If Batgirl some how won this fight, Neal was going to challenge her. And he would NOT be merciful to her.

This shouldn't be happening. Rose knew this shouldn't be happening. She was stronger than Batgirl. She was faster. Her reflexes were better. She was smarter. She was all around better. So then why, when every time she went in for an attack, did she end up looking like an amateur? Even her precog ability wasn't turning on, and that was a big part of her skill. What was going on?

As another kick landed on her jaw, Rose stumbled back and fell to one knee. Her bottom lip was split wide open and bleeding now. She glanced over at the others, all watching her, watching her fail. She could see it in their eyes, especially Wonder Girl's. To them, she hadn't changed. To them, she was still the same, temperamental, brash, hot headed bitch that she'd always been, and her current actions weren't helping. If she kept falling for Batgirl's taunts like some kind of rookie, they'd never see her for what she was now. A better fighter. A better hero. A better person.

"Okay, that's it," Rose muttered, as she ducked below one of Batgirl's kicks. "I have so had enough of this."

She let her mind clear, let her body calm. No more rage. No more hate. Just pure, calm, fluid thoughts. She didn't charge in like a wild boar anymore. She didn't overreach. She didn't make anymore mistakes. And with her adrenaline kicking in now, and her head clear, she could start to see it. She was seeing the attacks before they happened, like she should be. Her precog was on.

A flash of a punch. She turned away from it, countered with her own to Batgirl's jaw. A flash of a kick. She caught it and swung the bitch around. A flash of a double elbow. She caught both her arms and headbutted Batgirl in the face. Now this was more like it. This was how she should have started. And it was how it was going to end.

"At least you're finally starting to put up a fight," Batgirl remarked, taking a couple breaths. "But I'm still better. I've always been better. A few lucky shots won't change that."

Rose charged in, but not wildly like before. Every one of her movements had purpose, meaning. There were no excess actions for Batgirl to read, not this time. "That was a long time ago!" she yelled, bringing down a chop on Batgirl's shoulder, while evading an incoming palm. "And in case you haven't noticed-!" A knee to Batgirl's gut. "-I-" An elbow to her nose. "-got-" A double palm strike to the sternum. "-BETTER!" And then a spinning roundhouse to the stomach that sent Batgirl flying backwards, landing hard on her back.

In an instant, Rose was mounted on top of her, her swords drawn and brought down across Batgirl's neck, in a scissor-like position. "Who's better now, Bat-bitch? Who's better now?!"

Neal's eyes held firm as he watched Rose. It was clear that she was upset, much like Neal she was probably terribly confused about what was happening. However, Neal also noticed that Rose stopped and began to calm her mind. She was trying to find peace, to not let her rage overtake her. She was going to need to remain calm if she was to advance against Batgirl. Her enemy was good, but Neal knew that Rose was better.

At what happened next, Neal only smiled as Rose completely began to overpower and destroy Batgirl. With every blow, Rose began to take ground and show just how far she had come. It was only when Rose jumped on top of Batgirl and placed the swords to her neck that the fight would end. At least, Neal hoped so. It was very clear that if this was a real fight Rose would have won.

"That's my girl!" Neal shouted proudly.

"Rose, are you crazy?!" Wonder Girl shouted, flying over and ripping the swords away from her grasp. "You're not supposed to be trying to kill each other!"

Rose glared back at her. "Would you relax, Wonder Wench? I wasn't going to kill her. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not the same person I used to be. I know that might be hard for you to accept, but I am not a killer. Not anymore."

"Then why do you still carry those swords, huh?" Wonder Girl asked. "The only thing that they're good for is killing!"

"Would everyone just knock it off?!" Cyborg shouted, getting in between them. "We're supposed to be a team here, but you three girls are doing nothing but fighting with each other. This is not how a team is supposed to act!"

"Well we were fine until they got here," Rose growled, walking away from the group. "Who asked them to come back from the dead anyway?"

Wonder Girl flinched, tightening her hands into fists. As much as the comment made her mad, it also stung on a deeper level, and suddenly she didn't want to be around anyone right now. "I'll be in my room," she said, disappearing from the room.

"Damn..." Kid Devil said, looking over at Bart. "Tell me you got that."

Kid Flash nodded, still recording. "Oh yeah."

As Wonder Girl flew forward and began to accuse Rose of trying to kill Batgirl, Neal knew that he wasn't going to just stand by while those girls accused Rose of still being a monster and a tool of her father. She had changed, and he was tired of no one giving her the benefit of the doubt. Would she really be here if she was just another servant of Deathstroke? As Wonder Girl accused Rose, Neal walked over behind her; trying to show support to the woman that he loved.

As Wonder Girl eventually left, Neal couldn't help but feel like this wasn't over. Why did those two hate Rose so much? Was her past really that bad to the point that they wouldn't even give her a little bit of room for trust? Neal reached up and gripped Rose's shoulder. "They'll come around Rose. It's just going to take them some time I guess, but they'll see that you've changed" Neal said in a hopefully comforting way. He wasn't even sure if Rose cared that much, but he still wanted her to know it.

"Does this mean training is over for the day?" Neal asked as he looked at Cyborg.

"Whatever," Rose muttered, walking out of the combat room. "It doesn't mater how much I've changed, because they never will. They'll never think of me as anything but what I used to be, because that's how they remember me." Reaching up, she removed her mask and took a good long look at it. This also happened to be at the same time they were walking by a trash bin. Without a second thought, she tossed the mask in the trash. "I need to be alone for a little while. I'll... see you later."

While the others were starting to file out of the room as well, Cyborg walked up next to Neal and folded his arms. "Uh... yeah, I'd say that training is over for the day. Good call. everyone go ahead and have yourselves some free time... See you all again same time tomorrow."

Batgirl stumbled out of the room, removing her cowl and holding a hand to her broken nose, which leaked out blood all down the front of her face. "Goddamn," she muttered, as she walked by Neal. "I guess she did get better."

Neal continued to walk with Rose, hoping that the victory would have put her in a better mood. It didn't by much unfortunately, if anything it almost seemed to worsen her mood. Neal watched as she threw the mask in the trash bin, as if it was the source of all of her pain. "Yeah....okay, just give me a call if you need me Rose," Neal said as he watched her walk away. She needed to be alone, and he was going to respect that. He reached in though and removed the mask, staring at it for several moments before pocketing it. She was acting in anger, he'd return it to her later.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," Neal said as he only gave a small glance at Cyborg. When Rose was sad, it only served to make Neal sad. He hated it especially when he couldn't even think of what to do in order to help her.

Neal's gaze sharply turned towards Batgirl, the one that had started this entire mess in the first place. He stared at her for several moments, having so many questions to ask her. "Do you truly believe that Rose hasn't changed from who she used to be?" he finally asked as he just glared at her through his helmet.

Batgirl wiped her nose clean with a cloth and glanced up at Neal. "How should I know? I haven't heard anything about her in the past several years, and I was dead for a while, remember? But it would be hard to believe. There was a time when we'd settled our differences, you know, were even sort of friends. But while I've never been a Titan before, I heard about all the times she constantly left, betrayed them, came back, went out of control, all that. Back when I knew her, she was unstable, a total psychotic sociopath. Why should I think any different now?"

"Uh... if I might say something?" Hot Spot said, walking up to the two. "I know I haven't been here very long, but from what I've seen, Rose has been pretty... well, pretty cool actually. Mellow, too, for the most part... well, except for today."

Solstice popped out from behind him, looking over his shoulder at them. "I agree, she has been a good friend and mentor so far."