...Well o.o It's been forever since I've updated this. I feel so baaaddd...

I swear, I'll be updating this much more frequently! :)

PhantomLover16: I did~ :P

Ember: yeahh, they (eventually) do :) I can't help it, I'm a sap when it comes to romances XD

Alah L Haru: thanks for the review~ *hugs*

KittyAttack: ahhh, yeah, I always mess conjunctions up. The most annoying thing is that I know the proper way to use them, but I get so caught up in writing the story that I screw them up O thanks for reviewing :D


Raven

"How's the girl doing?" Robin asked as he entered the room. Cyborg and Beastboy were close behind, looking serious and hard.

An hour had passed since the mysterious girl and I had returned to the tower. As soon as I was certain she wouldn't be waking up any time soon, I went to our private library and grabbed all of the books we had available on aliens and brought them to the living room. I was currently floating above the couch, using my magic to hold three books up in front of me.

I glanced up, annoyed that they had disturbed my studying. I closed all of them, directing them into a neat pile on the couch. I easily landed on the floor, pulling my hood back.

"She's unconscious," I responded, closing my book and standing on my feet. "She was up for a few seconds when we first arrived, but she was too weak. She's sleeping in the med bay, and I'm trying to find out what species she is. We can't give her the proper care she needs if we don't know what she is."

"She isn't just a human with magic?" Cyborg threw out. He and Beastboy were in the kitchen, searching for something to eat.

"She has two heartbeats," I supplied, picking the books up again and skimming through the information.

I had hoped they would take that as me telling them to leave me alone, but-like always-they continued talking to me. I can never catch a break, I thought to myself for the millionth time.

"Can you come with me to examine the girl?" Robin asked me.

I looked him straight in the eye. "No." I went back to the books.

"Uh, okay then," Robin said uncertainly, scratching the back of his head. "I guess...keep researching. See what you can find on her." I grunted in response, flipping the page of one of the books.

"I'll go with you," Cyborg said, words muffled by pizza. He wiped his hands off and started off towards the door.

I let out a minute sigh of relief at the silence that followed. Finally, I would be able to have solitude I needed to sift through all of this information. Since we knew veritably nothing about the little girl-besides that she had two heartbeats and could quickly learn languages, which actually wasn't much when you saw how common those types of things were-I had to simply search until I found something that was like her.

"Raaaveeennn, stop ignoring me!"

Okay, so in my eagerness I had forgotten all about a certain green pain-in-my-side.

I slammed one of the books closed with my hands when I reached the end of it, physically putting it down. As a new one rose up to take its place, I addressed Beastboy.

"Unless you want to sit here all day and look through old books-most of which, I might add, aren't in any earth languages-I suggest you allow me to study and go play video games by yourself."

"Geez, dude," he grumbled, moving out of the kitchen and standing in front of me. "What's gotten into you lately? I mean, no offense, you're not usually the nicest in the world, but you've been meaner lately. Did, like, something happen?"

I felt a pinch of guilt when I realized he was right. My thoughts towards Starfire had made me easier to irritate, thanks to the realization she probably doesn't feel the same. Even now did it make me feel a surge of anger.

"It's...not important," I ground out. The black magic around the books flared with my emotions, the edges becoming jagged and sharper. "...Sorry."

"'Sorry?'" Beastboy gaped at me, nearly dropping the slice of vegan pizza he was holding. "Oh man, now I know something's wrong. You never apologize!"

Damn it.

"C'mon, Raven," he tried, pushing the books aside to make room on the couch. "You can talk to me." His ears flattened against his head and he stared at me with wide, shining eyes, giving me his best puppy impersonation.

"It's a private issue that I don't wish to share," I responded as civilly as I could. I sighed in annoyance, closing another useless book. "This is getting us nowhere. If I don't find anything out by tomorrow, I'm calling J'onn J'onzz from Space HQ and having him examine her."

"Gah, that creepy Martian?!" BB said, morphing his face to match the stoic alien's.

"Yes, the creepy Martian," I relented, knowing it would be useless to tell him that it was rude to call him that.

"He's as serious as you," BB pouted. "Are you two somehow related?"

"I highly doubt that," I said coldly, poring over the newest book I had picked up.

After a few more minutes of reading, BB sighed. He sat down with his back to the couch and searched through the books I hadn't touched yet until he found one that was in English. He flipped it open to the first page and started reading it with a concentrated expression. I stared down at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you...reading?"

BB looked up at me, his eyes wide. "Yeah. I figured I got nothin' better to do, so I might as well help you out, ya know? What? Why are you giving me that look?"

"It's nothing," I said slowly. BB shrugged and went back to what he was doing.

Shaking off how odd it was to see BB doing something I would have never imagined him doing in a thousand years, I joined him in studying.

"Hey, Raven?"

"Hm."

"What does it mean for something to di-dicho-dichoto..."

"Dichotomize?"

"Yeah, that word."

"Divide into two."

His green face paled. "Oh." He quickly flipped to another page.

Starfire

I took a sip from the water bottle, staring at it intensely. It was so odd-the material that made it crinkled and moved when you squeezed it, completely different compared to the hard metal that the goblets on my home planet were made of. Humans can be such...inventive creatures, I mused to myself as I took another drink.

I was currently in the dining hall, which was filled with superheroes scarfing down their breakfasts to ready for the day ahead of them. I rarely ate regular human food, and the smells of it had my stomach doing uncomfortable lurches in my body. I opted to simply take a bottle of water and sit as far away from everyone as I could.

Sighing, I thought of my friends back at the Tower. Even though I had only been gone for I day, I missed them terribly. Especially Raven. Her quiet and calm demeanor that I loved so much always had a way of keeping me from losing control, or being overly obnoxious and idiotic.

"Thinking of a lover?"

I jumped in surprise, my face reddening. "It would be kind of you to not say such things," I flushed. Flash shrugged, devouring what was on his tray.

"Sorry," he apologized around the half-chewed Earth food in his mouth. "But I'm right, ain't I?"

"It-It is not something I am wishing to discuss at this moment," I said, angling my body away from him and hoping he would get the hint. "I would be happy if you would not bring it up anymore, please."

"Okay, whatevs," he said, eating some more.

"Really, Wally?" a strong, female voice sighed in annoyance. I sat up straighter as Wonder Woman to the empty spot next to me, elegantly brushing her hair over her shoulder. "I turn my back on you for one second and you're harassing the new girl again."

"What can I say?" Flash grinned mischievously, shrugging. "I gotta take advantage of opportunities when I see 'em up here."

"I truly apologize for his crude behavior," Wonder Woman said, rolling her eyes before smiling at me.

"You do not need to apologize, ma'am," I rushed to say. "Truly. Things of this nature do not bother me anymore." I gagged slightly on the last word when I caught sight of some unknown type of food stuck in between the Flash's teeth.

"Am I that bad looking?!" he asked in horror, not knowing what I was gagging at at the same time Wonder Woman told me not to call her 'ma'am.' "Geez! Rude much?"

I panicked. "No, no! It is just-I am not quite used to Earth food-and I saw some you were chewing-"

"Ah, I get it," Wonder Woman said in understanding. "Some of the other aliens had that problem when they came here, too. Is there anything that I can get for you that will agree with your stomach, sister?"

"I am fine, ma-" I stopped myself from calling her 'ma'am' again. "Water shall be fine for now."

"No, you need some kind of food in you," Wonder Woman argued. "You need energy for the day. Can you eat most other alien food?"

I nodded hesitantly. "For the most part, I believe the saying goes. It is mostly just Earthly foods that upset my Grexbla-I mean, stomach."

"Great," she said cheerily, standing up. She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of my seat, flying into the air. She smiled brightly at me. "J'onn has some food from the same galaxy that Tamaran is in. He won't mind sharing."

"Oi!" Flash whined after us. "I wasn't done hitting on the hottie!"

"Don't care," Wonder Woman huffed as she led us to where the Martian was reading a message on a large screen.

He turned his head slightly, fixing his red gaze on us. "Wally is harassing Miss Starfire," he stated.

"Of course he is," Wonder Woman sighed. "A new, pretty girl staying in the headquarters? He's obviously going to pounce and try to 'woo' her with his manly charms." She shuddered, grimacing distastefully. "Anyway, Starfire here isn't used to Earth food yet. I was wondering if you still had some food left over from that trip you took to that market?"

J'onn nodded, closing the message he had been reading. He bowed to me, startling me.

"I do not believe we have met yet," he said. "I am J'onn J'onzz, from the planet of Mars."

I bowed deeply, placing my hand over my chest as a sign of respect. "I am Starfire, from Tamaran. It is an honor to meet you."

J'onn straightens, nodding respectfully to Wonder Woman. "I will take care of Miss Starfire. If you do not go back to your things, Wally will eat all of your food."

Wonder Woman's eyes flashed, and within seconds she was back down on the main floor, berating the Flash loudly and violently. His muffled voice tried to defend himself, but that resulted with a loud bang and his yowl of pain.

"I will take you to get food now," J'onn said, turning away and calmly floating out of the room. "Do you mind explaining some Tamaranean traditions for me?"

I agreed and answered his questions to the best of my ability as he took me to the kitchen. It was a large space, with many stoves and a fridge that had a wormhole in it and a regular ones. There was a table on the far side, which had four chairs. Most of the cooks were out in the dining hall, serving the food, so there was only two or three other people in the kitchen with us.

J'onn set me down at the table and opened the wormhole fridge and summoned a sleek container and two plates. He put the contents of the container onto the plates and placed them in front of me.

I gaped at them. "Newblarf's Crenbuf and Florxar?" I squealed in delight, already drooling. "These are such delicacies!"

"Eat as much as you want," he said, sitting down across from me. "It's rare to find someone who can stomach these."

The flavor was impossible to describe with human words, and would most likely taste bitter and gross to them. To most species, though, these two dishes were some of the most desired and tasty things to come out of their galaxy. I moaned in happiness as the first mouthful of gooey, purple deliciousness touched my tongue, making me realize how hungry I was.

"I apologize," I blushed when I was done, swiping the back of my hand over my mouth. "I...was in a state of hunger. Did I say that right?" J'onn nodded, and I smiled in relief.

I washed off the dishes, returning them to their proper places. I turned to J'onn expectantly. "Is there any work I can do?" I asked eagerly, feeling my skin itch at the need to be busy.

J'onn nodded, leading me to where Batman was working on trying to figure out what the Tamaraneans were trying to say in their newest message.


That's all for now. The next chapter should be up in a few days. Until then, I love you all, and please review~