Cham's POV

It's been four hours since Timberwolf came back from his dad's trial. When they came back to HQ, Bouncing Boy came out first. I tried to ask how he was, but Bouncy just shook his head. "See for yourself."

Timberwolf came out like he was the one in trouble. Head hung, he power-walked past everyone in the room like there was no one there. He locked himself in his room and he's been in there since. Lightning Lad and some of the others tried to get him to come out, but the closest they got was LL hearing something on in there. But he couldn't tell was it was. He said it sounded like he was saying something, but he couldn't make it out. I'm glad he didn't-I caught a glimpse of his face as he was running away from us, and-I thought I saw tears? If watching anyone else cry makes my skin crawl, watching him would kill me.

So I'm in my room, watching TV, and he comes to the door. I didn't notice him at first, but I had that feeling, you know? Like I was being watched. I turned around and he was watching me. There were tears in his eyes, but his face was totally blank. No emotion of any kind showed in his face-and it scared the crap out of me.

But I tried not to show it. "Umm…do you need something?"

He just stared at me. Movies are made of this stuff. We just looked at each other for what was like, forever. Then he just walked away. Maybe I was supposed to hug him or something? The thought immediately made me feel bad, but then I don't know what he would have done. Maybe he'd have killed me. Maybe he would have started crying again. Either way, I would have died.

Lightning Lad's POV

I hate doing the late shift. I would rather be asleep, or at least getting some chill time, but no, they've got to stick me with the late shift. By 'they', I mean CB. He's my friend-well, sometimes-you'd think he'd know me better.

But there's one thing I like about it. That's when all the drama happens. Not crime drama, 'we' drama. Like, every night there's somebody getting caught doing whatever. And I get to know about it. Just because the 'keep secrets safe' thing is part of our oath doesn't mean most of us follow it. Believe me. I was just sitting there twiddling my thumbs, when Cos walked into the control room and asked me where Timberwolf was. He'd locked himself in his room once he got home and I think he might've been crying. But I didn't tell anyone-I do try not to gossip, after all. I wanted to tell him he was probably still locked in his room, but something told me that wasn't the answer. Cos must've read the look on my face, because he said, "Cham told me he left his room 3 hours ago. Nobody's seen him since. I would just leave him alone, but he looks like he might need somebody to talk to." I don't know, after what he's just been through, if I were him I wouldn't want to talk to anybody. Not immediately, anyway. But I didn't say anything, I just shook my head. "Well," he said, "we've got to go find him. I don't want him to do anything stupid."

"Like?"

"Use your imagination." I didn't want to. There were too many possibilities, too many stupid things anybody in a state of mental chaos could do, even more for someone like him.

"Let's go, then."

Cosmic Boy's POV

Timberwolf's gone missing. Everyone available fanned out in New Metro to look for him. Usually it's not a big deal when someone decides to go AWOL, if they don't have anything to do, but I'm worried about him. This is different from when he ran when he was framed for murder. He was a fugitive then. We went after him because he hurt someone. Now I'm afraid he's going to hurt himself. It's funny, usually I'm not too worried about others' welfare. All I know is that if it were me, I don't what I'd do. He just seems so…lost. That's understandable. That's what I was thinking about when I got a call from Cham. He said that he'd just seen Timberwolf going east, away from HQ, He'd lost sight of him after that, but presumed that he was heading toward the bridge. We headed in that general direction, hoping he wasn't going to prove me right.

Timberwolf's POV

I've never in my life felt so numb. It's as if I somehow pinched a nerve and can still move but I can't feel anything. I don't even know where I'm going; I just started walking. I think I might be heading toward the bridge, from what I can hear, but that wasn't my intention; just aimless walking. I thought the cold outside would shock some feeling back into me. I was wrong. This fur, another wonderful gift that my father gave me. Awesome.

I must have a pretty ugly look on my face. I passed some guy on the bridge and it looked like it was all he could do not to run. There's a strong wind blowing up here. I can barely see for my hair that keeps blowing in my face. I jumped as thunder rumbled overhead. Great. I hate getting caught in the rain. Soon it arrived, heavy, cold drops that instantly soaked everything, including me. It achieved what I had been trying to do all along-I was cold now. It did bring the feeling back, but it wasn't the one I was hoping for. Hopefully no one could tell from the rain. I realized that I'd been gone for awhile. Somebody should have tried to contact me by now, or try to find me, but I don't hear anything but the rain…

…it's almost like I'm alone.