Little Flower

Five days have passed since Rose had the choking interaction with her father. Since then, she has only been in her room. She hasn't trained or talked to anyone. She has just been sitting on her bed doing nothing. Hopefully, that would stop anything bad from happening to her but today, she has to see the outside world. She hears a knock on her door but doesn't answer. The person keeps on knocking, but she still doesn't answer the door.

"Rose, are you still in there?" asked Jordan.

Rose still doesn't respond, but Jordan doesn't care. He wants to make sure that she is alright.

"Can I come in? I'm worried about you," said Jordan.

Rose doesn't respond once again and Jordan gets tired of just talking.

"I'm coming in. Just don't be naked or anything," said Jordan.

The door opens and Jordan steps into the room. Inside the room, he can smell nothing but tears and sweat. On the bed, Rose sits with her legs crossed criss-cross applesauce like she's meditating, but in reality, she's very scared.

"Are you ok?" asked Jordan.

"I'm fine," said Rose.

"No, you're not," said Jordan.

"How would you know? You know nothing about me," said Rose.

"He was here, wasn't he? Those weren't happy tears and I was alerted by the security system," said Jordan.

"Even if he was here, it wouldn't change anything. You wouldn't change anything," said Rose.

"Let me in. I want to make sure that you are ok," said Jordan.

"I don't want anyone in. You wouldn't make it through," said Rose.

"I have seen things. Things that a teen or anyone should have ever seen," said Jordan.

"Are you trying to say that we're the same?" asked Rose.

"Yeah," said Jordan.

"Don't do that. Just leave me alone," said Rose.

"Do you want to do something other than stay in this dark room," said Jordan.

"I would love to see Jericho again," said Rose.

"Then, let me set something up," said Jordan.

"He can't see me like this," said Rose.

"I'm pretty sure that he would just want to see you," said Jordan.

"Not like this. Never like this," said Rose.

"The team is going on a training mission in a couple hours a few miles away from the city. Wanna come?" said Jordan.

"I'll think about it," said Rose.

"It would be great to get some air and to blow off some steam," said Jordan.

"I said I'll think about it," said Rose.

"Make the right choice for your sake," said Jordan.

Rose doesn't respond and this tells Jordan that he needs to go. Jordan exits the room and the door quickly closes. Rose takes one more look at the door and then turns away. She needs to make the right decision for her sake.

Two hours pass. The Titans now stand outside of a national park. Jordan and Raven stand in front of all the Titans like they are their commanders.

"Why are we here?" asked Beast Boy.

"This is training. I know that you guys have gone on many missions together in the last year, but we have a new member. She needs to become accustomed to our tactics and her abilities," said Jordan.

"That's why we're here among the giant trees. The training mission will be very simple. There will be four teams. One will have flags the other will not. The goal of both teams is to either take the flag or defend their flag from being stolen," said Raven.

"Whoever does either one of those goals wins and is allowed to skip the next training session," said Jordan.

"Where's Rose? Isn't this supposed to be for her?" asked Jaime.

"She's still in her room. She may not come out, so we will adapt and-," said Jordan.

"Are you counting me out? I thought that I was important," interrupted Rose.

The Titans look up and see Rose sitting on one of the trees. She hops down and lands on her two feet like a gymnast.

"Rose, you came," said Jordan.

"Of course I did. Why would I miss some good ol' training," said Rose.

"Are you sure you're ready for this? You weren't in the best shape today," said Jordan.

"I'm ready," said Rose determinedly.

"Then, get in line. It's time to choose teams," said Jordan.

"There are nine of us, so there shall be four teams. I will sit this one out. Each team will have two members and there will be two matches. Team Alpha will be Connor and Gar. Team Beta will be Jordan and Kori. Team Charlie will be Donna and Vic. Team Delta will be Jaime and Rose. Team Alpha will face Team Delta and Team Beta will be facing Team Charlie. The matches start once you see a black raven appear in the sky. You shall enter the forest," said Raven.

The Titans enter the forest with their respective teammates. The two matches split up and walk into a different section of the forest. We cut to the perspective of Team Alpha and Team Beta. They walk away from each other to create some space.

"So, how are you?" asked Jaime.

"I'm fine," said Rose.

"You say that all the time," said Jaime.

"Truly, I'm fine. No more outbursts and no more crazy incidents," said Rose.

"I don't believe you, but I'll let that slide for now. How do we beat these guys?" said Jaime.

"Kryptonite and brute force," said Rose.

"I don't have any Kryptonite on me," said Jaime.

"But, I do. Took this from Jordan's preserves," said Rose as she pulls out some Kryptonite.

"You stole from Jordan? Won't he be pissed?" asked Jaime.

"Trust me. He won't care," said Rose.

"Use that conservatively. We don't want to kill Connor" said Jaime.

"What if he goes rogue during the session? We will have to put him down," said Rose.

"You're crazy," said Jaime.

"Isn't everyone?" asked Rose.

"Only the crazy ones," said Jaime.

Three minutes pass. After creating enough space, the session is about to begin. Raven creates a black raven and it appears above the large trees. It is time to begin. Team Alpha charges in the direction of Team Delta while Team Delta jumps through the trees. They reach each other in less than a minute and the fight begins. Jaime lands the first hit by sending a blast from his sonic cannon towards Beast Boy. It hits him and sends him flying into a tree. Connor notices this and speed blitzes Jaime, slamming him onto the forest floor. Rose pulls out one of her pistols and fires at Connor, but the bullets bounce right off him.

"I'm bulletproof. Your bullets won't kill me," said Connor.

"I'm not aiming for your head, Kryptonian," said Rose.

"I'm aiming for yours!" exclaimed Connor.

Connor darts at Rose and tries to grab her face, but she barely dodges. She then tries to spin kick him in the back of the head, but she just hurts her leg and foot. Connor turns around and grabs her and then spears her into a tree. He then wraps her into a bear hug and squeezes hard. Her bones start to feel bad and she starts to lose air until she dumps her hand into the utility belt and pulls out the Kryptonite. This immediately affects the Kryptonian. He releases his grip and starts to float backward.

"Where did you get that?" asked Connor.

"Don't ask questions and fight me, Connor. Aren't you supposed to be strong?" said Rose.

"Put that away," said Connor.

"No," said Rose.

Rose runs across the branch and leaps into the air. She grabs onto Connor and stabs it onto his side. He immediately falls out of the sky and lands on the ground. Rose then hits him with a hard punch to knock him out.

"Sleep tight, Connor," said Rose.

"Sneak attack!" exclaimed Beast Boy.

This wasn't a sneak attack because he had stated it before he even got close. Rose then turns around and kicks him in the face, sending him flying back. He then transforms into a rhino and charges at Rose. Rose grabs his horn and mouth and lifts him. She then slams him on the ground and he transforms back. Beast Boy tries to kick her off, but she is too strong and holds him down.

"Give me the flag and this will end now," said Rose.

"I can't do that, babygirl. It wouldn't be fair to my ally," said Beast Boy.

"What did you say?" asked Rose.

"Can't you hear, babygirl? It wouldn't be fair," said Beast Boy.

Rose blinks a few times and she doesn't see Beast Boy's face anymore. She sees her father's. She starts to breathe hard and sweat because of this.

"Rose, are you ok?" asked Beast Boy.

"How did you get here?" asked Rose.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" asked Beast Boy.

"Why can't you leave me alone?" asked Rose.

"It's me," said Beast Boy.

"I know that it's you and now I have the upper hand. You won't hurt me or my friends anymore," said Rose.

"What?" asked Beast Boy.

"This is your deathbed," said Rose.

"Are you-," said Beast Boy.

Beast Boy is stopped from talking with one fist. Then, another. And once again, another. She continues to punch this man over and over and over again. She may think that it is her father, but Beast Boy is receiving all of the damage. Garfield is punched over and over and over again. His face becomes extremely bloodied and he can barely speak. This unnecessary beating goes on for a little while until Jaime comes to the scene. He is horrified by Garfield's face.

"Rose, what are you doing!" exclaimed Jaime as he pulls her off of Beast Boy.

"Get off me. We need to kill him," said Rose.

"You're going loco again, Rose. Snap out of it," said Jaime.

"I'm not. It's him," said Rose.

"Snap out of it!" exclaimed Jaime as the scarab electrocutes his friend.

Rose is electrocuted and starts to rapidly blink. She sees that her father is not there and stops sweating and breathing so hard. She puts her hands over her head and starts to panic.

"What is happening?" asked Rose.

"You were beating Gar to a pulp," said Jaime.

"I thought that he was an enemy. I overreacted," said Rose.

"You did more than that. You could have killed him," said Jaime.

"I didn't want to," said Rose.

"You said that you were fine. Stop doing that. You're going to get someone killed," said Jaime.

"I need to go. I need air," said Rose.

"We're outside," said Jaime.

"I need to get out of this forest," said Rose.

"You can't leave. We need to report this to Jordan or Raven," said Jaime.

"They wouldn't want to see me like this. I don't even want to see myself like this. I'll see you later," said Rose.

Rose walks away from the scene of the crime and Jaime just watches. He wants to stop her, but he has to get Beast Boy to his leader. He has to save his friend.

Five hours pass. After deserting the training session, Rose has just been scrawling the city. Looking for something or someone to flush out her anger. She runs across the rooftops and reaches a warehouse. She looks through a window and sees one person on a big computer. She pulls out binoculars to see further and she sees a design of a machine on the screen.

"Whatever that thing is, it isn't good. Finally, there's something to do," said Rose.

Rose hops off the warehouse wall and lands on the ground. She then walks towards the door and places a gadget on it. It melts the hinges off the door and Rose opens it. She then quickly and quietly runs towards the man. She then places her bicep around his throat and holds him.

"What in the world?" asked the man.

"What is this?" asked Rose.

"Rose, what are you doing?" asked the man.

"Stopping you. What is this?" said Rose.

"Are you insane? You're supposed to be working for us. We're paying you 100 million," said the man.

"I can't do that. My friends would be disappointed," said Rose.

"I'm not going to tell you anything," said the man.

"I'll just beat you until you do," said Rose.

"Don't do that. Brother Blood won't be happy," said the man.

"Fuck him. He isn't my boss," said Rose.

"But, your father is. He won't be happy after seeing this," said the man.

"I don't care about what he does to me. I don't want him to hurt my friends," said Rose.

"You don't have any friends," said the man.

"Yes, I do. I'm not like him," said Rose.

"But you are, my young and foolish friend," said the man.

"What should I break first? Your face or your balls?" asked Rose.

"You won't break anything. My drones will kill you. Protect your master!" said the man.

Once he says this, a large number of drones pop out of the walls of the warehouse. They circle the two of them and aim their weapons at Rose, ready to fire.

"Let me go or you will be blasted to pieces," said the man.

"Ok. You have the edge now, but what about in the next thirty seconds?" said Rose.

"What?" asked the man.

Rose lets go of the man and kicks him in the back. She then pulls out her blades and goes to work. She hops into the air and slices a few into tiny, little pieces. She then leaps onto one and uses it as a hoverboard and slices some more of the drones. She drops one of her blades and pulls out a pistol and starts to fire on some more drones. After doing this for around twenty minutes, she hops off the drone and destroys it with her strong hands.

"That was fun," said Rose as she turns to look at the man, but he has dipped.

Rose starts to smile and chases after the man through the opened door. The man turns his head and sees Rose chasing him. He tries to pick up speed, but he can't. He doesn't work out much. Rose doesn't even have to reach her top speed before she leaps onto him and holds him to the ground.

"Now, tell me what the machine is?" asked Rose.

"It's a machine that Brother Blood will use to steal the powers of the Titans. With the help of his alien benefactor, we perfected the machine and we will use it before the week ends," said the man.

"Give me the plans," said Rose.

"I already sent it to my boss. It's all over," said the man.

"I want to know more!" exclaimed Rose and she twists his arm, nearly breaking it.

"That's all I know. That's all he told me," said the man in pain.

"I guess your arm is going to go snap," said Rose.

"You can't. I told you everything," said the man.

"I don't care," said Rose.

"Rose!" exclaimed Jordan.

Rose's eyes widen and she lets go of the man's arm. She then gets off of his body and gets up. She turns to see her mentor walking up to her.

"Hey. I got him," said Rose.

"You beat Gar to a bloody pulp and you ran off. What is going on in your head?" said Jordan.

"I'm sorry. I saw him and freaked out," said Rose.

"If you weren't ready, you shouldn't have come," said Jordan.

"Look. I got this guy," said Rose.

"He's working for Brother Blood. He looks like a regular cult member. So what?" said Jordan.

"I saw the designs for a machine that would steal your powers and give them to Brother Blood. They want to destroy you," said Rose.

"The villains don't seem to get original. That is the second time in the past year," said Jordan.

"We need to prepare to take them down before they try to take us down," said Rose.

"You're right. You're learning," said Jordan.

"I just want everyone to be safe. That's all," said Rose.

"And that's good. Let's take this dude home and get some answers," said Jordan.

The man won't be coming home with them. Once they pick him up, he is shot in the heart by an assassin. He is dead on the spot. Jordan immediately grabs Rose and maneuvers his cape to block another bullet from hitting her or him.

"What was that?" asked Rose.

"Him," said Jordan.

"You do love to play the pronoun game, Jordan. It's very annoying," said Slade as he walks out of the shadowy alley.

"No," said Rose.

"Get out of here. I will deal with him," said Jordan.

"I want to help," said Rose.

"You can't deal with him. If you're seeing him when he isn't there, then you can't deal with the real thing. Now, go back to the tower," said Jordan.

"Ok," said Rose.

Rose dips at top speed and Jordan gets up and turns to look at Slade. He groans and gets into a fighting stance.

"Are you mentoring my daughter? You know that she is working for me right?" asked Slade.

"Not anymore. She's a Titan and she won't help you one more time," said Jordan.

"Did you learn anything from Terra or are you intentionally naive?" asked Slade.

"I will save her from your clutches. I couldn't save Terra, but I will save her and stop you," said Jordan.

"You can't and you won't. You're a failure just like your father," said Slade.

"I won't fail this time. You're dead, Slade," said Jordan.

"Come get some, clown," said Slade.

The battle between father and mentor begins. Slade throws a knife at Jordan and he easily dodges it. He runs up to Jordan and tries to punch him, but he dodges them as well. Slade pulls out his katanas and swings at Jordan. Jordan dodges these as well, but he is moving quicker. Jordan pulls his own katanas out. Their blades clash as they did years prior. Their blades continue to meet until Jordan tries to kick him, but Slade grabs his foot and throws him into a wall.

"Too predictable," said Slade.

Jordan flips back to his feet and their blades clash once again. Slade jumps back, puts his katanas back into his hilts, and pulls out his pistol. He tries to shoot Jordan, but he dodges the bullets. Jordan rushes Slade and punches him once. He tries to punch him again, but Slade dodges and pistol whips. He then kicks him in the chest and sends him flying back a few feet.

"You're slow. You're rusty," said Slade.

"I don't need to train every day to beat you," said Jordan.

"You don't? Then, fight harder," said Slade.

Slade quickly throws another knife at Jordan and he catches it. Slade then tries to swipe at him with his blades, but Jordan dodges the slices and then kicks his swords out of his hands. Jordan then punches him in the stomach very hard and then hits him with a superkick to the helmet. This one kick nearly breaks his helmet.

"This is brand new," said Slade.

"They don't make helmets as hard as they used to," said Jordan.

Slade angrily rushes Jordan and tries to hit him, but Jordan easily dodges the attempted punches. Slade then tries to grab him, but he slides under him and trips him. Jordan hits Slade with a knee drop to the helmet, breaking it, and then slams his foot on his face. Jordan grabs him and hits him with a high knee to the temple and then a dragon kick, drawing blood. Slade tries to react, but the strikes are too fast and draw too much blood. He is then hit with a headbutt and stumbles back before catching a couple strikes from Jordan's escrima sticks. He backs up and tries to pretend to not be hurt.

"What's wrong, Slade? Have you gotten weaker? Maybe slower? Or older? Aren't you like 70?" asked Jordan.

"You talk a big game, but I don't see anything to be scared of," said Slade.

"Screw this. I don't feel like fighting you today," said Jordan.

Jordan pulls out three Claws and tries to throw them at Slade, but he sees Rose in the corner of his eye. She holds a gun and aims it at Slade's exposed head. Before she fires, Jordan tries to signal her to escape and Slade sees this. The bullet is fired and Slade moves his head at the last second as Jordan moves closer. He has no time to dodge and the bullet flies through his chest. He immediately drops to the ground and Rose's eyes widen to their full extent.

"No," said Rose.

Rose runs up to Jordan and rolls him over. She pulls a needle from her utility belt and tries to stick it into Jordan's chest, but her hand is grabbed and she is lifted into the air.

"Thank you, babygirl. You did well," said Slade.

"Get off me!" exclaimed Rose.

"Do you want to save him? Do you love him? Do you have a little crush? Well, I don't care. Our mission is to destroy the Titans, not make friends and show sympathy. I thought I taught you better, but you still have to learn the hard way," said Slade.

'Wait! Don't!" exclaimed Rose in fear.

"Are you scared of me, babygirl? Good," said Slade before he punches her with full strength, sending her through a building's wall. Before she can get up, she is grabbed by the neck and slammed onto the ground before getting stepped on. She is grabbed once again and then thrown through another wall. Her foot is grabbed and she is kicked in the face with full force and lands right next to Jordan. Slade quickly walks up to her and grabs her one more time.

"Please stop," said weakly.

"Sure," said Slade before he slams her body on his big knee.

She immediately falls unconscious and is dropped on top of Jordan. Slide smirks and walks away without stating another word.

"So, you like to beat on girls and people that are weaker than you? You're sad," said Jordan.

"And you're dead meat," said Slade as he continues to walk away.

Thirty minutes pass. Back in the tower, Beast Boy holds a bag of ice over his beaten face. He only moves it once he places a potato chip in his mouth. After being healed by Raven, he has just been relaxing. Doing nothing in particular. He continues to watch a childish show until he hears an alarm. He hops into action and hops over the couch. He runs at top speed out of the living room and runs down the stairs. He gets close to the entrance and gets in a fighting stance as he gets closer. The doors open and it scares him. He prepares to combat the threat, but it is no threat. Only the shot of Jordan carrying Rose's unconscious body.

"Jordan?" asked Beast Boy.

"Slade's back," said Jordan before passing out.