33 Titans and Acclimatisation

"Sorry for pulling a gun on you folks," I said as I took a seat in the Titans' common room, it was completely open, and the walls were made from reinforced glass, glass that could take a .50 to the face and only bend. 

"It is fine Mira," Starfire assured, "We understood what you did," She was the leader but really with how they were, she was more, 'First among friends,' than anything.  

Still, there is a reason I pulled the gun, I needed everyone to think I cared for Damien a lot. That I was a legit little sister so to say. 

Blue Beetle did not respond, merely keeping his face buried away in his laptop. 

"You care about him don't you?" Raven asked, she was a healing-based Empath, uncontrolled too. She was an annoyance that I had to avoid, so getting hurt is a no-no.

I shrugged, "I care about everyone in the Bat-family, they are my family," I slid down next to BB's Jenga tower, he looked surprised for a moment and then the lizard did what an imitation of a smile it could and gestured for me to try. 

I pulled a piece from the very bottom, my hands were steady as I started to drag, "You should pick an upper piece, the lower ones will make the tower fall," Raven gave advice. 

I shook my head as I felt the weight of the whole tower on the piece, I was careful, gripping an edge, and pulling it slowly, the tower shook ever so slightly, I stopped, let it stabilize, and then hooked my nail to the edge and pulled. 

It came out perfectly. 

I took the piece in my hand and tossed it in the air, "I know," I said with a smirk as I tossed the thing in the air before catching me in my hand and putting it next to the pile that BB had already made. 

It was animated how the green animal became human, expanding like a balloon as his head smashed into the tower making the whole thing drop, "You are good," He splendidly ignored it and complimented me. I shrugged as Jamie pulled himself from his laptop in an angry growl, "Can you do this anywhere else?" 

I let a small smile show, "I don't think he can," Blue looked at me like I was crazy and I shrugged, "He wanted to pull you guys in it too, like a team project, that's why it is here instead of his room." 

He snapped, "And what do you know about him? One day, that's how long you have been here, know it all!" And what was his problem? An angsty teen that is afraid of me after I pulled guns on his friends when he nearly murdered my big brother? 

"It was a bluff, the gun was a bluff, I did not have live ammunition on me, I bluffed to keep you guys away from him," I lied to him straight up as I stood up to move to the kitchen area's fridge.

"You were?" Beetel finally dropped his tone, his edge was not there, and his teeth were not clenched. 

"I don't want to bloody my hands again, once is more than enough," I said as I pulled the handle. There was a stack of soda bottles and some other simple supplies. Some baking stuff too. 

I pulled it out. Let's make something to eat. 

"You have killed someone?" Raven asked a bit taken aback, I mean if a girl like me who was not even ten said, 'I have murdered someone in cold blood,' I would be stunned for a moment too before euthanizing her. Can't have someone else like me after all. 

"Harley Quin, I am pretty sure it made the headlines on every cover in the country," I pulled the stuff atop a granite counter and started working my way through it. 

"Oh right, you were that girl?" Beetle asked and I nodded, "The papers left out my name after a bit of…persuasion." 

"So how did it feel?" I pulled my dough-laden hands to my lips, "Want the real version of the fake version?" 

Raven eyes me I could not see her eyes as she had pulled her hood to shadow them, "Both," she said. Could she tell lies with magic? I doubted that. 

"Fake is: I felt terrible all the way through," I answered as I started kneading the batter, "Real: It felt good and then it felt terrible." 

"It felt good?" My eyes went to the door, Damien was standing there, and I rolled my eyes, "You know exactly why, her men had nearly made me a Swiss cheese with those AKs. I was dragged around as a hostage by her men and then again by her. It felt good for it all to end," I paused for dramatic effect, "And then it felt fucking terrible that I had just taken a life. Imagine if you do it often enough the latter feeling will go away." 

He sighed and nodded as he walked in, "That's how killers are made, it's called desensitization," He walked near me as I started cutting the batter into shapes. 

"That was an…interesting conversation, do you feel okay talking about it?" Raven asked as she stepped next to me too. 

"You can only cry over it so many nights before you get over it," I said as I started washing my hands and putting the things away. 

"I did not know," Our team leader said and I raised a brow at her, "I am sorry that a child like you had to go through that," I ignored her sentiment and went to the more concerning matter, "You did not read my file?" 

She looked taken aback, "All of us have…" I shot her my most surprised expression possible, "Look, I know about being kind and all I like you guys very much for it but seriously? You did not read my data?" 

"Dick vouched for you…" I cut her off, "It is called dotting your 'i's and crossing your 't's. It is a chore that leaders have to do. It is not optional." 

"I have faith in my teammates…" I cut her off again as I opened the oven and slid in the tray, "Your current mates? Sure. Us? While we come from the Bat-family, do read up. As I understand you are the eldest one here, the most experienced one, how will you know how to help us improve if you don't know our mistakes?" 

She pulled her head down, "I will do it today," I smiled at her, "Thank you. I will be waiting for your instructions regarding where I should improve." 

"Doesn't your brother have you covered?" Raven asked as she eyed the oven. I shook my head, "He teaches me how to hone my skill with the blade, not teamwork he is here to learn about it himself." 

Damien grunted but did not disagree, and then he turned to Blue Beetle, "Jaime," He said and BlueBerry's eyes widened a bit, "Yeah?" 

Damien started completely straight-faced, "Perhaps it was a mistake to challenge you this morning without knowing the full capabilities of your…alien attachment. Rest assured, it will not happen again," he started towards the door before sharing an eye with Raven. I wonder if they get together like in the dark universe? Meh, not my problem. 

When he was out the door Blue turned to me, "Did he just say he was sorry?" I smiled at him, "Yes, he did."

———

——

—

It had been three months since I arrived. I was walking up to the common room.

Training did not take up much time of my day anymore. Not when most of it went to quiet drilling of how to swing the rapier and how to do—what amounted to—trick shots. Why was that the case? Well unlike the Batcave we did not have four rings, here we only had one. And by decree of the leader, I only got half an hour because a child should not be training that hard.

I had bought this in casual conversation with Bruce once and he said and I quote, "Good, you will actually do something else." Well, that was annoying. I had fun learning how to move my body and manipulate it like a piece of paper. 

That left me with course books for my education. I was done with cramming high school back into my head but I was not willing to take the advancement tests. Why would I? 

Then what else? Yes, my power, I left it up to pure instinct at this point, I did what felt was right. But really because it all had to be done out of sight, I was essentially on tight surveillance with four teenage heroes and an alien fuck mucking about.

Well, at least my two foragers provided me with very good spatial awareness. 

Not that it mattered now with how utterly fucking boarded I was every day. And today I was going to change that. 

The common room had three members of the team when I walked in, Beast Boy was drinking his food and watching the TV, Blue Beetle was watching something on his laptop, earbuds in his ears, and Starfire was cooking some sludge by the kitchen area. 

"Starfire," I said in the most monotone voice possible, my lips drawing a hard line. I was going to get my way today. 

Her eyes moved to me and so did Beast Boy's. I ignored the latter and tilted my head up to match gazes with the former, "I am taking the training rig for the whole day tomorrow. Key it open please." 

She smiled at me, I don't know why "We have already talked about this…" I cut her off, "I was to be done with my Rapier training a week ago." 

Not taking me seriously she moved back to her sludge, "Mira, you are a child I can not allow and someone so young to strain their body this much."

If this is how this was going to go, I will pull a Damine, "So that is your problem? I'm a child? Not fit to be a hero? I have been asking you to let me train to be fit then." 

She bit her lip and nodded, "While I respect your…" My eyes narrowed at her, she came from a barbaric planet that still had kings—the abhorrent institution—right? She came from a warrior culture, right? "Then prove it, prove it that I am not fit. A spar. You. Me. Tomorrow," She opened her mouth, her eyes widened at the sudden challenge, but I cut her off, "Be ready."  

"Wow! What's going on?" Blue Beetle had finally looked up I did not wait for a response from the exile and walked out.

I was not one to go and pick a fight with an alien that could break me like a toothpick. But today? I had been forced to shun my learning, and my improvement because some orange bimbo who was thrown out by her people said so.

I don't listen to tripe, not unless that tripe has a solid line of reasoning behind it. But this bitch had decided that I had to fuck my growth over. 

Power, I wanted power and I would not have it if I stopped. Moreover, those Trigon shadow things? They had started to appear in mass all over the globe. If I was weak would I even survive that? No. No way. 

And that I hated. I hated even the thought of being helpless to some demon and only because some goth bitch had daddy issues that she was refusing to tell anyone about. 

Today I was going to ensure that this alien backed out of my way. 

—————————————————————

"I don't know Dick," Starfire rattled as she tossed herself onto the sofa, her fiery orange hair flying after her. 

She was fresh off the bath as the video call went on with Dick who was sitting in his apartment. 

"I did not think Mira was going to be trouble," He shrugged his shoulders as he watched his girlfriend's body with unhidden glee. 

Starfire nodded off, her eyes staring at the ceiling as her bathrobes crumpled up against the sofa skin. This was becoming a problem, "I did not anticipate it either. A sweet girl, I know that. But the way her eyes glared at me. It was not anger but…" The word was at the tip of her tongue, envy? No, she had been a target of envy before and it was not that. Then malice? No, that was not someone wishing for your downfall. It was, it was…

"It was annoyance," Supplied Dick, he leaned back into his sofa, "Jason told me," He went into thought for a second, letting his mind compile all he knew about the girl, "She loves to learn, you limiting her to an hour…" Starfire's lips turned to a frown, "I can not. She is about to turn ten. Even in Tamaran, children don't learn to fight before their teens." 

"Well, you are dealing with a girl who is out to avenge her parents' murder…" The jade green of her pupils widened, "What?" 

Dick sighed and said, "Sounds similar?" Star looked to the man, "Your story." 

"Yeah. How is Damien nowadays?" She smiled at him, though, that was the word that flashed in her mind. He was tough like a rock or maybe it is steel? Human idioms were still a problem. 

"Good, his conversations though…limited to Raven and Mira. No fights." 

"Really now?" Star nodded, "He goes out on those patrols every day though." 

"What about the rest?" Dick asked, his head tilted to one side, his eyes sticking with Star as his face melted into a loose smile. 

"We are keyed into the police communications, besides crimes in Jump are uncommon," She slipped out that last part with upturned lips.

Uncommon, that was a line of thought Dick wanted to laugh at. Of course, it was uncommon. Not rare, not a daily occurrence, not once in a while but uncommon. It was after all the reason that it was chosen as the pad for the Teen Titans program. 

"Regardless, Star, the new apartment looks good, how about we have some fun—" He was cut off as Starfire jumped from the sofa, "Fun! Dick, you are a genius!" 

"I am? Yes! Yes." he did not get to continue as the laptop slammed shut with a "Bye Dick, I need to go!"