After the next few hours, Gar and Sam keep up with city surveillance cameras but they haven't been able to spot Conner or Krypto. Their best guess is that they're probably in some secluded alley waiting for things to calm down before they start moving.  It's a bit disappointing and disheartening. They need to find him and bring him back to the tower. It's not safe for them out there alone.

With no luck at the cameras, Sam convinces Gar to come to the kitchen to have a snack. They haven't eaten in a while and they won't be useful if they're hungry. Gar reluctantly agrees but he pulls up the news on a laptop as he paces back and forth, Sam rummaging for a few granola bars. Gar tries to call Dick again but still gets his voicemail.

"Why isn't he answering?" Gar asking, words steaming with annoyance.

"Guilt?" Sam questions, tossing Gar a granola bar from the other side of the counter. "I have no idea. Call Bruce again?"

"Uh..right, um." Gar rubs the back of his neck and Sam narrows her eyes at him.

He neglected to tell Sam that he did not call Bruce when he said he would. He went to call but then hung up before the call went through. Conner was their best chance at getting the Titans back together. He just wants them back, they belong together. They're Titans. But, he knew Sam would probably be mad if he told her. They had one job.

"Gar, did you not call him?" Sam blinks at him, sucking on her teeth.

Gar shakes his head, wincing. "Conner woke up and I thought if we called Bruce, he'd take Conner away and then we'd never get the Titans back to together."

Sam stares at him and she can't believe he was that desperate to lie and then not do what Dick told him to do. Sam knows the Titans mean a lot to him but he should have called. This was probably part of why Dick wanted them to call Bruce. The two of them are not equipped to deal with this and what just happened proves that. But, Gar is beating himself up enough for it and Sam isn't going to beat a dead horse. Especially because it's Gar.

"Okay." She lets out an exasperated sigh, rubbing her face with her hands. "Okay, I'll call Bruce then."

"But we lost him. How are we--"

"Gar," Sam shakes her head. "Look, it's Bruce Wayne. He raised Dick fucking Grayson and took Jason fucking Todd in who was stealing from the Batmobile, okay? He solves riddles from the Riddler. Us losing Conner? That's child's play. Bruce will know what to do." Sam swallows her pride admitting Bruce might be kind of helpful right now and he might not yell at them for it. This can't be worse than anything Dick and Jason have put him through.

"I'm really sorry." Gar's brows knit together with guilt and Sam hangs her head before looking back to him. She can't let him beat himself for it. 

"It's fine, I get it." Sam sighs. "I just wish you would have told me. But, it's okay. I get why you did it. I'll call Bruce and we'll find him." Sam walks over to the other side of the counter and puts her hands on his shoulders. "We got this." Sam gives him a confident smile and it does make him feel a little bit better.

Sam takes her hands off him and just as she's about to walk away, they get alert for someone at zone two. Gar glances to her before going to the laptop and pulling up the intercom feed from the front door.

"Hello? Who's there?" Gar asks annoyed, not seeing anyone.  Sam looks over his shoulder, just seeing the buildings across the street. 

Krypto jumps up on the screen and barks. Sam smiles widely, already making her way toward the elevator. Gar follows right behind her, feeling a little bit of relief. At least Krypto is back and he can lead them back to Conner.

Sam and Gar follow Krypto through the city, keeping up with him at an even pace. Sam almost laughs to herself as they walk because this is kind of like Lassie. They're literally following a dog to find someone who's lost. But, Krypto is cooler than Lassie. He's a superdog. Gar, on the other hand, is just relieved they'll be able to get Conner and come back to the tower. He swears he'll be calling Bruce when they get back. He should have done it yesterday but he can make up for it now.

After about a fifteen-minute walk, Krypto runs ahead of them, jumping on someone in a trench coat. Gar feels the weight immediately lift from his shoulders. That's definitely Conner. Sam is a bit surprised it was actually that easy to find him. But, she's definitely feeling like they got lucky that no one had recognized him from the news. 

"Great, dumbest dog ever." Conner says, looking down as Krypto sits right in front of him.

"He can ring a doorbell with his nose." Gar smiles softly at Conner as he walks up, Sam right to his left. "I've seen dumber."

"He brought Eve to the tower to find you, came to get us, found you again. Give him a little credit." Sam lets out a soft laugh as she walks over to Krypto, patting his head gently.

Conner deadpans at the two of them, clearly not in the mood for anything. "Stay away from me." Conner states before walking off.

Sam looks to Gar as his face falls. How is Conner possibly mad at them? Sure, they were not specific with the Titan's instructions but he went rogue. It's at that moment Sam gets why Dick was so angry at her and Jason, twice. She swears that thought will never see the light of day.

Sam and Gar start walking after Conner, taking long strides to keep up with him.

"What you did to those cops...you messed things up for a lot of people, including us." Gar says as they catch up to Conner. "I think we deserve an answer. What the hell happened?" Sam looks to Gar and she's proud of him for standing up himself. He doesn't do it nearly enough.

"When you invited me to be a Titan, I told you what I was. But you didn't listen cause that's not what you wanted to hear." Conner's voice sounds hurt.

"You're right." Gar moves forward, standing in front of Conner so everyone comes to a stop. "I didn't listen. Being a Titan isn't about being perfect. I..." Gar sucks in a breath, his voice lowering. "I killed a guy once. And I clawed him to pieces."

Sam remembers after Jerry, Gar has said something about that he had killed someone and that must be what he's referring to. She didn't really ask, it didn't seem like something he wanted to talk about but given the look of distress on his face, she's thinking maybe she should have. But, Gar is right. None of the Titans are perfect, and Conner doesn't have to be either. Being a Titan isn't about being perfect, it's about helping people who can't help themselves.

"So, maybe we should both be locked up." Conner states.

"Hey," Sam chimes in. "No, that's not how it works. We all fuck up." Sam states, moving to stand beside Gar so she can look up at Conner. "You hurt those cops because you didn't know any better but everyone is capable of learning from their mistakes. Gar did what he had to survive. I nearly beat a guy to death for torturing me. We fuck up and then we work through it with each other. That's how it works." 

Gar offers Sam a kind and grateful smile before looking back at Conner. "She's right. When we mess up, we learn from it with each other and so can you." Gar lets out a breath. "What we do...other people count on us to help them." 

"Well, they shouldn't." Conner fires back.

"Why not? If you wanna argue about it, I'll argue." Sam crosses her arms over her chest. "We can help them." Sam hasn't actually been able to given Dick not letting them but that's the idea. "We have these abilities that we choose to use for good. Who you are has nothing to do with who your parents are. That's all you and you can choose to be good."

"And you two still hurt other people by choosing to be good." Conner strikes back and Sam's eyes narrow. 

But, before Gar or Sam can try reasoning more with Conner further, Krypto starts barking. The three of them look where Krypto is barking, seeing a dark grey armored vehicle show up with a CADMUS decal on the door. Those are the people who are looking for Conner and Krypto and Sam starts getting a bad feeling about this. 

"You guys have to get out of here, now." Conner states, lightly pushing Gar's chest before he starts walking confidently towards the vehicle.

Sam and Gar are quick to catch up to him. Gar runs in front of him, putting his hands on Conner's chest to stop him.

"No, no, no!" Gar's words rush together. "Do you really want to hurt someone else?" He asks as they come to a stop.

"You can choose to walk away, Conner." Sam states.

Conner looks between them, jaw clenched. But, he doesn't start to move forward.

"Come on!" Gar taps Conner's shoulder and the three of them start running, Krypto running slightly in front of them.

They run back to the tower, hoping CADMUS didn't notice them or follow them. They hope they lost them. Sam kept looking over her shoulder, checking but she's pretty sure they lost them when they took a shortcut down an alley and cut across to a second one. That's the last she remembers seeing them but there is a part of her that starts to worry about it.

They're looking for Conner. They're going to keep looking for him. Gar and Sam are not equipped to deal with that on their own. She's worried for Conner. If anyone knows what it's like to be held against their will, it would be Sam. It's CADMUS and they made him which means it was probably torture. The anxiety creeps into the back of Sam's throat but she has to swallow it down as they get out of the elevator. This isn't about her. This is about keeping Conner safe.

"Hey, you know they're just gonna keep coming after me, right?" Conner asks as he sets his coat down on one of the table chairs.

Gar grabs three drinks from one of the shelves in the kitchen while Sam takes a seat at one of the barstools.

"Let them try." Gar states, putting the drinks down in front of Sam.

"We're always gonna help." Sam adds in. She wouldn't risk someone being subjected to what she was.

"This is my mess, not yours." Conner states.

"This is what the Titans do." Gar urges, leaning his arms on the counter, facing Sam and Conner.

"We protect people, including our own." Sam gives Conner a nod.

The words still feel a little sour in her mouth. That's what they're supposed to do but it doesn't feel like that's the case. Sam keeps that to herself though. It's not fair to argue that right now. Giving Conner this rundown of the shit that happened a few days ago isn't going to help anyone or anything or this situation. She decides just to back Gar up on this.

"Exactly, we have each other's backs." Gar smiles proudly before walking back off to the pantry.

"So, where are they? The other Titans." Conner asks and Sam spins on her chair, facing away from Conner and towards Gar. That's all for Gar to explain.

"You know what," Gar pauses for a second. "Maybe I should do what Dick wanted me to do in the first place." Gar walks back of the pantry and pulls out his phone.

"Yes, yes you should." Sam nods her head. This is gonna be a big mess if they don't get ahold of Bruce. They cannot take CADMUS.

"Call in the big guns."

"We're gonna use guns?" Conner asks, a little worry in his voice.

"No, it's just a metaphor. Calling Bruce Wayne." Gar says with a smile.

"You are calling him, right?" Sam raises her brows at Gar and Gar nods softly at her, typing into his phone.

"Yeah, we need him." Gar states and he starts to walk away but then they get a security alert.

"Zone six, unauthorized access." The automated voice says through the tower and Gar pauses, looking back at Sam.

"What's that?" Conner asks.

"Zone six is the roof." Gar's voice is filled with confusion.

"Why does it have to be the roof?" Sam lets out an exasperated whine. She's really starting to hate rooftops.

The three of them look around, as if unsure what they should do but before anyone can check the security cameras, the floor-to-ceiling windows shatter. Sam leans away, dodging the glass. Gar takes a few steps further away and Conner flinches away from the windows. People in all black with guns start to storm the tower. They repel through the windows and start coming in through the hall leading to the training room. Sam jumps up from her spot, moving away from them, meeting Gar and Conner at the very end of the counter. Krypto starts barking as he runs in to join them. Gar puts his hands up, not knowing what the hell else to do with guns pointed directly at him.

Krypto starts barking and won't stop while the men say to shut him up. Before they can act though, Krypto uses his superspeed and jumps onto one of the men, tackling him to the ground. Unfortunately, another man shoots a net with glowing green orbs at the ends right at Krypto and captures him. Conner jumps into action with the sound of Krypto whimpering.

This cannot be happening. The tower is supposed to be safe. It's supposed to be secure but now they're being stormed by fucking CADMUS. Sam feels her mouth run dry and this can't be happening. They're going to take Conner and probably kill her and Gar. How does this shit keep happening? But, now is not the time to panic so Sam watches them carefully, the throbbing hasn't started yet but she's sure it's going to.

Conner punches two men at the same time, sending them flying backward and onto the floor. Two men start to walk towards Sam and Gar, Gar still having his hands up. Sam looks to Gar and they're thinking the same thing. Do or die. Sam nods at him and Gar attacks on of the men, grabbing his gun and then yanking him by his head, into the wall while Sam grabs the other man.

Sam grabs the gun, shoving the gun into him with all of her force before using it as momentum to swing him around into the kitchen area. She twists the gun around, as the man loses his grip and uses the weapon to drag him further to her level. Sam brings her knee up to knee him in the face before landing a hit to the back of his neck, sending him to the floor.

Sam and Gar look at each other with pride before the throbbing starts kicking in right in the front of her head. Sam's eyes widened and she grabs Gar by his jacket, yanking him down behind the center counter and to the floor just as another man starts shooting at them.

"Thanks." Gar says, breathing heavily.

"Got you." Sam offers a nervous smile. The throbbing has moved to the side of her head where more men have started shooting and Conner is still dealing with a few others. "Got a plan?"

"I'll distract them so you can move." Gar rushes his words, ripping his jacket from his shoulders while his face turns green.

Sam looks above them seeing the block with all of the kitchen knives. She crawls to the left of Gar so she's right under where the knives are, Gar fully transformed now. Gar walks out from the counter, growling at one of the men before he jumps on him. Sam takes that as her chance to stand up, and immediately starts grabbing knives. The throbbing starts coming from the back of her head and slightly to right. In a swift motion, she spins, hitting one of the men whose gun is aimed right at her. She hits him right where his neck peaks out of his protective gear. He drops to the ground, holding the wound where blood starts spraying out of it.

Sam takes the knives, moving towards where Gar is to make sure he's doing okay. Gar still has a guy pinned as a few more men come in, all aiming guns at her, Gar, and Conner and the throbbing intensifies, right in the front of her head but she's been training for this. She starts throwing the knives with everything in her, one right after the other, hitting two men and they go to the ground but the throbbing switches to the side and it's all starting to mush together as she catches a glimpse of Gar slowly moving away from the man on the ground and he looks hurt. Two men are moving to either side of the counter to surround her so she throws her last knife at the guy to the right, turning to fight the other one.

Sam takes the first swing but he uses the gun to hit her away, the butt of the gun connecting with the side of her face. Before Sam can regain her footing, she feels a hard hit to her right leg. She tries to fight through it, trying to grab the gun from this man as well but he yanks it away and the world starts spinning around her. She sways slightly before going to the floor with a heaving breath.

She drags herself up against the counters facing the windows, while her heart rate starts to slow. Her vision is blurry and warped as she looks in front of her. Gar is leaning against the opposite counter with a heaving chest, no longer in tiger form. They shot him, too and there's a bloody handprint right before his head. This can't be happening. It can't be happening. She has to save him.

Sam looks to her leg. There's a dart sticking out of her leg and she knows that's not good but there's no real panic happening. She should be panicking, getting an extra boost of adrenaline, but it's like her entire body is shutting down the adrenaline won't kick in. She picks up her arm to pull it out and her arm feels like it weighs a thousand pounds. It takes her a few tries to get her arm to line up with the dart. It's like her brain isn't quite connecting with her body and it's frustrating but eventually, she's able to pull the dart out of her leg. 

Gar looks to Sam and they lost. He was shot with a tranquilizer and he can't do anything to help. He's stuck here and they are so in over their heads. Everything is so heavy and it's hard to breathe. Gar can barely keep himself up right and he's watching Sam struggle to breathe in front of him. He really messed up this time. And he's fucking scared. They're gonna kill them.

A woman comes in with more men, they walk in through the elevator and her voice sounds distorted to Sam as her eyelids grow heavier. She's wheezing with every breath, trying to look over to Conner. She gets a hazy glimpse of him just standing there. She has no clue what the hell is going on but what she does know, is that they are so screwed. And no matter how badly she wants to get up and keep fighting, her legs won't work. Her arms are too heavy to lift and it feels like she's in a fever dream. Every second is a struggle as the woman keeps talking and finally, Sam's body gives out to the tranquilizer.

Sam doesn't come to until the following day. She's in the same spot she was before and her head still feels heavy and foggy. At first, she just feels a little disoriented and confused. For just a second, she forgets what happened last night, isn't sure why she's on the floor in the kitchen. Her right leg where she was shot with the tranquilizer is sore. Her breathing is ragged while she looks around slowly. But confusion clouds her mind as she looks around slowly seeing broken glass and blood around her. And that's when everything starts to become clear.

Gar, Conner, Krypto. Tranquilizer darts. Guns. Fighting.

A sense of panic washes over Sam as she looks at eh spot in front of her where she last saw Gar, the bloody handprint staring directly at her. Her head starts to throb, but not for fighting, just from a normal headache. She knows Gar wouldn't leave her here if he were still here and her heart breaks. They took him. They took all three of them and left her for dead. But she can't focus on that, she needs to get help. So, she starts to get up.

Sam places her hands on the cool floor beneath her and pushes up. Her arms feel like limp spaghetti but she pushes through it. Tranquilizers are just an anesthetic and she knows the more she comes to, it'll start to wear off. She needs to just find a way to push through it. She leans forward, grabbing the counter for support as she lifts herself up, groaning as her leg feels like it has the worst Charlie horse of the century. She keeps pressure off it as she gets fully to her feet, her heart thundering through her ears. The whole room feels off and it's starting to make her nauseous. 

She groans and pulls out of her phone from her pocket. Her vision takes a second to focus on the screen as she goes to her recent text thread, hitting the call button.

"Hey, it's Jason. Leave a message or don't."

"Seriously, Jay? Answer your damn phone." Sam huffs into the phone. "The fucking was attacked. I'm hurt and CADMUS took Gar, Conner, and Krypto. Call me." Sam hangs up the phone, rolling her eyes before she starts texting him.

Sam: Gar kidnapped, hurt, check your voicemail shithead

Sam lets out a sigh and pulls up Dick's contact whose voicemail is now full. Sam grits her teeth before letting out a scoff. She pulls up Kory's number and that goes to voicemail. What is with these people? Can't anyone answer a phone? Everyone has their phone attached to their hip, constantly on it but now there's an emergency, everyone conveniently can't answer? Sam grows more annoyed as she starts making her way through all of the Titans. Donna, Dawn, Hank. She even tries Rachel and not a single one of them can answer the phone either.

Sam nearly chucks her phone across the room. What the fuck is she supposed to do if she can't get ahold of anyone to help? The boys could be getting tortured or killed right now and she's stuck here, no backup. She's all alone and hurt. The panic sets in as her hands start to shake and tears burn the back of her eyes. Her nose grows warm and she has no idea what she's supposed to do. Her breathing quickens as the room starts to spin. She can't do this on her own.

But, then her phone starts ringing, Donna's name appearing on the screen.

"Hey—"

"Where are you?" Sam rushes her words, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "I need help, Gar was kidnapped with Conner and Krypto. Dick isn't answering the phone."

"Slow down, what happened?" Donna stops, looking around the street.

"Gar, Conner, and Krypto were kidnapped. We were attacked last night by the people looking of Conner." Sam's throat feels raw like sandpaper.

"Where are you?" Donna starts walking quickly.

"Still in the tower, they used s tranquilizer on me? I guess I don't know. I just came to."

"Stay there, do not move. I'm on my way."

"Thank you." Sam lets out a breath, the smallest bit of relief coming over her. At least Donna called back.

Sam pockets her phone and she needs to get herself straightened out. She'll explain everything to Donna but she wants to be ready for whatever Donna will come with to help them. She has to be ready. 

Sam limps over to the fridge and grabs a bottle of water, taking a few sips of it to ease the cotton mouth. The water is cool and helps perk her up a little bit. It helps the panic subside a little as she takes a few deep breaths before she starts limping to her room.

Sam grabs new clothes to change into, getting a look at the damage a tranquilizer dart can cause. There's a deep maroon-colored bruise covering the majority of her thigh and she winces at the sight of it, understanding why it actually hurts to walk. It sucks and it hurts, but she's honestly relieved that's all there is. Tranquilizers used for wildlife, something like a tiger for example, can kill people. She's not really sure what type they used or the dosage, but she feels lucky to not be dead right about now.

While she changes and grabs her knives, she can't help but feel the guilt seep into her bloodstream like an infection. It's there and tugging at every part of her. She had them. She was holding her own just fine and she got that glimpse of Gar. That split second and it made her pause. She should have been able to take the last two. She should have been able to help Gar. And the more she thinks about it, she should have used her powers.

She was just so scared to use them. A part of her thinks the only reason she's even still here right now is because they didn't know she has powers. Gar does. He made it obvious and maybe that's why they left her for dead but not him. And she thinks she should have tried because trying is better than nothing. She could have made a barrier around them, around the counter of some sort, maybe. She could have done something to try and protect all of them. And the more she thinks about it, the more the anxiety creeps in like the reaper waiting for her to finally cave in. Because, she thinks they would have taken her, too if she used her powers and she would have been held captive three fucking times. She doesn't think she would survive a round three. And she should have been able to save Gar, regardless.

The guilt is suffocating.

Donna comes up the elevator two hours later. Sam's sitting in the living room, an ice pack to her leg while her phone is glued to her hand. Her eyes are trained on the text thread with Jason, several of her messages fill the screen from the last few hours. She chews the inside of her cheek and flips to Dick's text thread, it looks similar to Jason's.

"Sam?" Donna calls with hesitance.

"Here." Sam calls, her voice flat.

Donna walks over, looking around the tower and seeing glass, blood, and knives covering the floor. "Are you okay?" Donna gets a look at the purplish-red bruise across the right side of Sam's face as Sam looks up at her.

"Yeah." Sam nods, keeping it short. "We have to save Gar. And Conner and Krypto. I'm fine."

"What even happened?" Donna looks to the windows, every single one of them shattered.

"They came in through the windows first, started attacking. I don't know. We had the alert for the roof but they came in before we could do anything." Sam shrugs, grabbing the ice pack as she stands up.

"And they took them but not you?"

Sam shrugs once more and she gets a distant look in her eyes. "Guess so, I, uh, I didn't use my powers. Maybe that's why. It's CADMUS, we saw them earlier when we were out."

"You saw CADMUS and you and Gar didn't call anyone?" Donna almost yells.

Sam narrows her eyes. The last thing she wants right now is to be told she fucked up. She is very well aware of that right now. "Does it fucking matter? They were here within ten minutes of getting back and none of you answer your fucking phones anyway." Sam lets out a scoff and she hangs her head for a second. "We tried." Sam looks back at Donna and Donna lets out a sigh.

"Okay," Donna runs a hand through her hair before putting a hand on her hip. "You're positive it was CADMUS?"

"That's what the truck said and some woman came in. I don't know what she was saying. They shot me with a tranquilizer so I was out of it. But, we have to save them. Who knows what fuckshit they're doing to them."

Donna pauses for a second and if it's CADMUS, they're gonna need some help. The others aren't answering her calls and to be fair, the last time they all spoke, Sam was screaming at most of them. But, that's not an excuse and Donna knows something is up. She hasn't been able to reach Dick either.

"You're gonna think of a plan, right?" Sam asks and there's a hopefulness to her voice as she knits her brows together. As upset as she is with the Titans, Donna showed up and she looks worried. Sam has no choice but to rely on her.

"Yeah," Donna nods. "I'll start calling and trying to get some backup, we'll need it." Sam gives Donna a soft nod while Donna pulls out her phone.

Before Donna can start making calls, she gets a phone call herself. Sam watches her carefully as Donna answers. Her brows knit together as she says Rachel's name and Sam nearly rolls her eyes. Not because it's Rachel but because by the way Donna said her name, there's something else happening. Everything is really crumbling around them right now.

"Rachel?"

"I think she's in trouble?" Donna questions. "Have you heard from her?"

Sam blinks at Donna. "Nope." Sam pops the 'p'. "Haven't spoken to her since that day."

"Right," Donna sighs. "Well, we'll need backup anyway so...we have to go help her."

Sam lets out a sigh, looking up and then back to Donna. "What about Gar? We know for sure he's in trouble."

"We can't just walk into CADMUS by ourselves. We need help. Come on." Donna turns on her heels, walking towards the elevator.

Sam lets out a groan but limps quickly after Donna, catching up to her. Sam isn't a big fan of the idea but Donna might have a point. If the four of them last night were no match for CADMUS, Sam and Donna won't stand a chance even entering the front entrance. She hates it because Gar is in trouble right now and them going after Rachel means that's more time CADMUS has with Gar. But, Sam is given no choice in this matter and all she can do is follow Donna to the car and hope they'll have some sort of plan to save Gar.

Sam and Donna start their drive to some place called Elko Diner and the ride is quiet. Sam keeps her stare out of the window, thinking. She replays last night over and over, picking apart everything she could have done better. It's not making her feel any better, she's pretty sure it's making her feel worse which at this point, a part of her thinks she deserves.

Donna glances over at her a few times, the silence between them feeling a little unsettling. In the short time they were at the tower together before everything went to shit, she heard Sam talk a lot. She was always talking to either Gar or Jason but she's been silent for an hour. Donna gets it, beating herself up over everything that went wrong.

"You know it's not your fault, right?" Donna finally asks.

Sam snaps her attention to Donna. "Mhm, yeah, just..." Sam lets out a scoff. "Wasn't enough again."

"You guys didn't stand a chance against CADMUS. There was nothing else you could do. We'll get the boys back."

"Yeah." Sam's word is short and quick. "Hope so." Sam chews the inside of her cheek and she isn't going to talk about the inner workings of her head with Donna. This is a three-hour drive to this diner. Sam can't sit in complete silence the entire way so she's going to try and talk this shit out. She's going to have to trust Donna which means talking and letting some shit go.

"You were wrong, by the way. About Jason." Sam changes the subject, putting the spotlight on Donna.

"You're still going on about that." Donna lets out a sigh.

"Obviously." Sam rolls her eyes. "It was Rose. Gar and me found the footage and it was her. Like I said, not Jason. And I needed you to know that."

"Rose? How did she even know any of that?"

"Her dad, apparently. She's been working with him the whole time so all of us got played." Sam looks over to Donna who looks completely lost. "It's a long story but yeah, that's a thing. We don't know how he knew anything though but...ya know."

"Guess I owe the more annoying Robin an apology."

"You all do." Sam states, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, who else would have been?" Donna tries to defend herself.

"Doesn't matter, he went to the roof and was gonna jump off but you're all so self-absorbed that none of you cared to even offer an apology. Dick hurt your feelings so you got mad, fine but you all should have been nicer to Jason. His feelings and innocence were never any concern of yours."

"We aren't self-absorbed." Donna lets out a scoff. "You don't know us well enough to even have that opinion."

"You made it obvious. If anyone would have done that shit, they wouldn't have deserved to feel the way Jason did. It hurt your feelings what Rose did and that's valid, but it never should have led Jason to the roof. Even now, you're defending your distaste towards Jason when I'm telling you how he felt. Self-absorbed." Sam looks over at Donna with raised brows.

Donna clenches her jaw and maybe there is a point to be made with what Sam is saying.

"Okay." Donna says reluctantly. "We all could have handled it better. We owe him an apology." Donna glances to Sam who still looks displeased. "He's not....that...bad."

Sam lets out a laugh with Donna trying to get the words out in a single sentence. "He isn't, he kind of reminds me of Dick sometimes. I think that's why they butt heads so fucking much. But, yeah, you should apologize and kiss his ass."

Donna scrunches her nose at the thought. "I am not kissing his ass."

"It would be funny."

"To who?"

"To me. I need a good laugh." Sam lets out a breath.

"I am sorry. You're not Jason but...I'm sorry." Donna glances to Sam for just a second.

"Thank you."

Sam looks in front of her and she lets it go. Gar comes back into her thoughts and she worries all over again. She hates worrying so much. It's exhausting and it clouds everything else in her mind. She can't focus on worrying about him when they still have a two-hour drive ahead of them. They don't have a plan. They have nothing right now. So, Sam tries her best to push the guilt down and the thoughts of Gar away and starts asking Donna questions about missions and the rope. Sam figures that might actually be a good distraction and maybe one of the stories will spark some sort of idea to help them save the boys.

The girls finally get to the diner, exiting the vehicle. They take a second to look at the outside. It's in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by farmland. Sam's beginning to think this is the beginning to a bad Children Of The Corn movie. It's a bit unsettling and the diner looks rundown, old. But, Donna looks at Sam, jerking her head towards the diner before they start walking and head inside. They're met with not only Rachel but Kory and Dawn as well. Sam looks at everyone, already confused as to what the hell is going on here. How did they all know to meet up here?

"Is this real or am I going crazy?" Kory asks.

Sam looks at Donna. "Am I still high?" Sam lets out a huff, everyone snapping their attention to her.

"Tranquilizer, long story." Donna adds in.

There's a short pause before Dawn nods. "This is definitely real."

"Why are you following me?" Rachel's voice is snippy and annoyed as she looks at Donna. Now that's also weird. What the fuck is happening?

"Following—what? You called me and told me to come here." Donna states.

"No, I didn't." Rachel looks to Sam. "Why are you here?"

"Called Donna for help then you called Donna, I was there." Sam gives Rachel a look of pure annoyance.

"My check engine light went out." Dawn states before looking at Kory. "Kory?"

"I'm just here for the donuts." Kory shakes her head.

Just then, the door opens again and everyone turns to see who could possibly be walking into this diner now. Sam's jaw about hits the floor as everyone else looks at the man who's dressed nicely.

"Bruce?" Donna asks.

"Holy shit, you're Bruce Wayne." Sam lets out a chuckle. "I'm definitely still high." Donna gives Sam a disapproving look.

"I'm so glad you all could make it." Bruce says.

Everyone gathers around, taking seats at different tables. Sam sits on one of the tabletops behind Kory, just looking past her to see Bruce. They take turns filling Bruce in as to what's happened over the last few weeks. They fill him in about Dick and Deathstroke, the events that lead to Sam and Jason being held captive as well as the detail to that. Bruce sits with one leg over the other, carefully listening to everything the women have to say.

"This is troubling news." Bruce says. "And no Conner or Gar?"

"No." Donna answers sadly.

"CADMUS has them." Sam states. "They attacked last night."

"What?" Kory gets a look of sadness as she looks at Sam.

"Hence the bruise." Sam gesture around it.

"I am aware of what's happened to all of you. And I...I'm sorry." Bruce states. "Lies can tears a family apart and hope been living in the aftermath of that. And it's a...lonely place to be. But this was a...this is...a family of choice. Breaking apart was a choice. In the light of this news, I'm asking you to make another one. To come together. Walking away from bad feelings is easy. It's much harder to take the blow, and come back for more, but that's what a family does. If you can unite, you can face any threat. But if darkness arrives while you're still cast apart, I truly believe that none of you will survive.." Bruce pauses as he stands up, the whole room growing eerie. "If you won't protect one another, who will?" Bruce asks with a nod before grabbing a biscuit and leaving the women to themselves.

"That was fucking morbid." Sam mutters, understanding why Jason and Dick are so pessimistic right about now.

"Did he just leave?" Donna asks.

"Yup." Dawn answers.

"So, let's get this straight. Bruce Wayne somehow miraculously arranged for us all to meet in this diner in the middle of nowhere to mansplain us into putting the Titans back together?" Kory asks.

"Yup." Dawn answers as she gets up and puts her coat on. "I think that's exactly what just happened." Dawn lets out an exasperated sigh.

Sam's never met Bruce Wayne, she only knows about him. He's always seemed a little weird to her but right now, that proves that thought. He just organized for all of them to get together, somehow. Gave them some weird ass speech and then leaves. He doesn't actually offer any help or anything. Just leaves.

Suddenly, there's a sound of static coming from the front of the diner. All of the women get up and head to the front. They see an old TV, static on the screen before it switches to a news report.

"Today's top story. Two men escape Kane Jail, apparently aided by imprisoned Detroit police detective Dick Grayson. More details on this story and more on our next news update."

"That sure explains a lot." Sam lets out a scoff. "He left us to get himself arrested."

"I'm sure he didn't do on purpose, Sam." Rachel snaps.

Sam rolls her eyes at Rachel before looking to Donna.

"You got to be fucking kidding me." Donna states, her voice annoyed. She shakes her head and jerks it towards the door. "Let's go, Sam."

"Finally." Sam lets out a breath and follows Donna right on her heels out of the diner, the other women close behind.

"Donna, wait." Rachel calls.

"Troy, where are you going?" Kory asks.

"Back to San Francisco." Donna turns around to face them, Sam following suit.

"To save Gar and Conner." Sam quips.

"No, we need to save Dick." Rachel argues, stopping Donna before she can turn around and keep walking.

"Dick's on his own." Donna yanks her arm back.

"What is wrong with you?" Rachel asks.

"Me? Look, I know Dick Grayson, okay?" Donna starts. "He put himself up on that cross. Nailed himself to it. Now he's gonna have to take himself down, too."

"Donnas right. Whatever Dick's doing, he's doing to himself." Dawn agrees with Donna.

"He saved your life, Sam!" Rachel turns it to Sam, knowing she won't get anywhere with other women.

"Okay?" Sam shrugs. "And Gar is like, important and didn't get himself kidnapped on purpose so? You're on your own here, buddy."

"He saved us!" Rachel grows angrier with Sam's response.

"Who the fuck cares!?" Sam snaps. It doesn't matter that Dick saved her. Gar needs their help.

"You should. You want to let him rot away in federal prison?" Rachel's voice is offended this time.

"Yeah, kind of, Rachel." Sam states with ease.

"How can you say that!?" Rachel yells. "He's done so much for us!"

Sam rolls her eyes. Yes, Dick has done a lot for them, for Sam. But, so has Gar. Dick saved her life but Gar is her best friend. Gar is there for her and she's there for him. Dick did this to himself. The choice is easy.

"Okay, guys—" Kory tries to break them up.

"Dude, I, from the bottom of my heart, could not give less of a flying fuck right now." Sam nearly breaks out into a fit of laughter. She's so flabbergasted that Rachel is actually choosing Dick right now.

"How can you say that?" Rachel's brows pull together as if she's hurt by what Sam said.

"With ease, actually." Sam quips, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly.

"We're saving him, you don't get a say," Rachel crosses her arms over her chest and Sam is done. This is ridiculous and she was already mad at her but this is the edge.

First of all, Rachel is not Sam's keeper. Rachel doesn't get to decide what Sam does or doesn't do. And second, this isn't her decision. Rachel doesn't get to control what everyone else gets to do. Donna is with Sam on this one and Sam kind of wants to see Rachel try to stop them.

Sam limps closer to her, getting in her face. "Fuck Dick Grayson and fuck you for being his fucking lap dog all the damn time. You know, I defended you a lot against Jason but I get it now." Sam gives Rachel a sinister laugh. "It doesn't matter what Dick does because you'll always be up his ass. He dropped us from a fucking skyscraper, he left me and Gar in charge of some random ass dude knowing people would be looking to hunt him down as if we had any business dealing with that alone. He got himself arrested on fucking purpose. Fuck Dick Grayson, got it?"

"Sam, I think you need—" Dawn starts, putting a hand on Sam's shoulder.

Sam shrugs her hand off. "Calm down? Fuck that. I'm sick of being calm about this shit. It's always about fucking Dick."

"As opposed to it being about you?" Rachel challenges.

Sam's eyes widen, shaking her head as if she can't process what Rachel just said. What the fuck is she even talking about? "It's not fucking about me, Rachel. This is about Gar!" Sam's voice echoes in the parking as she tosses her arms out to the side. "CADMUS fucking took him! What part of that doesn't seem urgent to you!? They hurt him and they took him and you're so wrapped up about some guy that got himself arrested on purpose! That you left, may I remind you! None of it would have happened had he left Jericho alone but he didn't. He started all of this shit. And now Gar is kidnapped and for all we know, they've killed him and your wounded puppy ass wants to help Dick!? They are probably torturing Gar right now because of his whole tiger thing. Over my cold dead body am I going to save Dick before I save Gar." Sam huffs in Rachel's face.

This is insanity. It's the last day at the tower all over again. Trying to get anything through Rachel's head is worse than explaining rocket science to a brick wall. It is infuriating. Sam doesn't get her at all. The whole time Rachel defends Gar and is on Gar's side but when it fucking matters, it's about Dick? Sam can feel her blood boiling and she's already on edge. She is not dealing with Rachel's shit today.

Rachel stands her ground, unphased by Sam. "You're saying I'm a wounded puppy?" Rachel crosses her arms, letting out a bitter laugh and Sam can herself falling into the pits of rage. "You're still mad about that stuff with Jason! That's why you don't want to save Dick. We're going to get Dick and there's nothing you do about it."

"That's it!" Sam brings her right arm back, connecting her fist with Rachel's face as the other women jump in. Donna pulls Sam away while Kory checks on Rachel whose nose is bleeding. "Jason was fucking right about you!" Sam screams, fighting against Donna to let her go. "You're fucking nuts for actually siding with Dick right now!"

"You punched me!" Rachel screams, her nostrils flaring.

"Yeah, I fucking did! I punched you because I won't be telling Gar that you really wanna put him in last fucking place and I punched you for how you fucking treated Jason! You were the one that started that shit that led him to the roof! That punch is for my boys, so fuck you!"

"I didn't choose Dick over Gar!" Rachel tries to take a step forward, Kory blocking her away from Sam. "You think because Jason helped you train behind Dick's back that you take on anyone or anything." Rachel snips. "You think you can do whatever you want, just like Jason! Look what happens when you do that!"

"First of all, it wasn't behind Dick's back. We were trying to be productive unlike you who took out your jealousy on Gar! Yeah, he told me what you said to him, asking if he growled at Dr. Light. I will defend those boys against the entire world. Dick has done a lot for us and while he pisses me the fuck off sometimes, I do like him and respect him but this was his choice."

"Jason treats everyone like shit! Why can't you see that!? He's not even here! He left and you're still defending him! Dick did what was best for us! How can you even stand her yelling at me!?" Rachel screams at her. 

"You also left, Rachel! The irony is that somehow, amongst all of us standing here, I was the one that stayed! I chose to stay and everyone else bailed!" Sam screams past Donna, her throat growing raw. "But I get why Jason left which is why, even when I wanna be mad, I can't be. Because I get it. Gar and Jason are everything to me and I don't know why that's such a fucking problem for you. You're literally standing her talking shit about Jason when he's not even here and then choosing to get Dick out of prison instead of saving Gar's life! You're insane!"

"This is life or death, Sam! You should have used your powers! If I were there--"

"Here we fucking go. Round and round and round we go. Where we will stop on the Rachel has a fucking hero complex stop? Everyone deals with shit differently but the only way you can defend yourself is with your powers." Sam glares at Rachel. "You have nothing besides your powers. Powers get you fucking killed and kidnapped, as has been proven in the last twenty-four hours. If you were there, you probably would have hurt Gar!"

"Fuck you, Sam!"

"Not even in your wildest dreams, Rachel!" Sam snarks back.

"Gar deserves better than you! Okay, you wanna go find him and then what? You leave to hunt down Jason, right? You sound just like him, you train like him, you went through the same things. Both of you think no one likes you which is true! You guys put everyone in danger without ever thinking about anyone else! He left you! And for Deathstroke's daughter!"

Sam lets out a sinister laugh and it's such a low blow. She doesn't get how Gar is actually friends with her if this is how she treats people when she's mad. And Sam hates to admit that comment actually hurt a little.

"We are friends, Rachel." Sam grits her teeth and she's done arguing about this shit "I don't know why the fuck you care so much about us. Is it guilt, maybe? That you aren't going after Gar? Do you feel guilty so you're trying to make me feel guilty enough to hunt down Jason instead of Gar so that way if Gar dies, you can again, point the finger at me?" Sam shakes her head, disgusted with this whole argument. "Gar deserves better, you're right and guess what. It's why we're friends. I chose Jason, despite him going with Rose but that's none of your fucking business. We are friends, all of us. So, if you wanna keep throwing my feelings in my face, fucking fine. But I can live with my decisions, can you?" Sam lets out a sigh as she stops fighting against Donna. "I'm done fucking arguing about this shit with you. It's not fucking worth it. Do whatever the hell you want but I'm going to save Gar." Sam turns away from her and starts walking towards Donna's car.

Rachel stops fighting Kory and Dawn, letting the argument simmer in the air. It's more than Dick being there for her and saving her. Gar has done that, too and she does care about him. Gar is her best friend, too. But, there's more to it and she was hoping she wouldn't have to come clean about it but it doesn't look like she'll get so lucky.

"That was..." Donna start.

"Dramatic." Kory mutters.

Rachel stands there with wide eyes and decides to come clean. "I'm having dreams again."

Sam pauses, turning around to face Rachel.

Rachel stands there with wide eyes and decides to come clean. "I'm having dreams again."

Sam pauses, turning around to face Rachel.

"I was at Dick's funeral. Deathstroke killed him. Look, I know that I sound crazy. I know that. But Dick needs my help. And I really need yours. Please." Rachel's voice is pleading, almost breaking as she asks for help.

Sam puts her hand on her hip because this is ridiculous. Rachel's demeanor might have changed and it's obvious she is honestly worried about Dick. Sam understands dreaming about someone and seeing them die. It is terrifying and Rachel's dreams sometimes mean something. But at the end of the day, Dick got them into this mess in the first place. That's still fact. Gar being in danger is still fact. They don't know about Dick, not for certain. And it seems Dawn and Donna are on the page.

"I'm sorry, Rachel." Donna says. "But Gar needs us more." Donna finishes before she walks back to the car and gets in, Sam follows right behind and gets into the passenger seat. "Do you feel better?" Donna looks to Sam, sarcasm in her words and clearly annoyed by the whole argument.

"So, much, I didn't realize how much I had been holding in. I feel so much better now. Gar is right, talking about things helps."

"I don't think what you did there was talking but sure." Donna shakes her head and sees Dawn coming to the car. "Alright, backseat." Donna looks to Sam and doesn't protest. She does as told and climbs into the backseat while Dawn opens the passenger door.

Sam buckles her seatbelt while Donna puts the car in drive and takes off. Sam leans forward between the women.

"Well, I would like to apologize for my ranting and airing out some of my dirty laundry, that was weird of me. Uh, yeah, so sorry for that." Sam nods at the two of them, offering an awkward, closed-mouth smile.

Donna can't help but let out a soft laugh and Dawn gains a smile.

"Just don't punch Rachel again, okay?" Donna asks.

"I will try very hard not to." Sam lets out a sigh. "So, uh, what's the plan?"

"We're going back to San Francisco. And we're gonna get Gar back. We can look at the footage and run facial recognition. One of them has to be able to give us information." Donna explains.

"Sick." Sam nods, she's just relieved they're actually going to be doing something to save Gar now. 

Sam leans back in her seat, the adrenaline dump from her argument with Rachel starts to hit and the tranquilizer has some lasting effects. The exhaustion starts to hit Sam, slowly and then all at once. But she feels safe in the car with Donna and Dawn. It's getting late now so she decides to just rest her eyes, just until they get back to the city.

When Sam wakes up, they're back at the tower. They don't have anywhere else to stay so the women make their way through the elevator. They didn't clean anything up before they left so there's still blood and glass across the floor. Sam was feeling a lot better after yelling at Rachel and having Donna and Dawn on her side. But that feeling fades as she looks around the tower. It feels emptier now than it did that day everyone left. Sam doesn't like it. But she excuses herself to her room and tries to get some rest until the morning.

Sleep did not come easy. And when it did come, it was broken up between different nightmares. There was a nightmare about Sam being dropped from the skyscraper, one version Dick dropped her and in another Jason dropped her. Another nightmare was Gar being killed by CADMUS in front of them. Another was Jason killed by Deathstroke and the last one that finally convinced Sam to not sleep anymore, was both boys being killed. By Deathstroke. That was enough for her.

It worked out timing-wise because Dawn and Donna were both awake, and the tower had been cleaned up. That's when Donna fills Sam in on the plan. Donna found a guy with facial recognition and they're gonna go to him. Sam is told to stay in the car because he might recognize her and they're guessing CADMUS only left Sam because they thought she was dead or would be. Sam isn't a big fan of the idea but she also gets it. If he recognizes her, he'll know what's up and it could end worse for all of them and Gar so she goes along with the plan. Sam grabs a quick breakfast before the women make their way to the man's house.

Once at the man's house, Dawn turns around in her seat, looking at Sam. "Okay, what's the plan, Sam?" Her voice isn't exactly asking but more looking for verification that Sam isn't going rogue.

"I promise I will not leave the car." Sam promises them. 

"Good, now stay here." Donna has a stern voice as the two older women get out of the car.

Sam lets out a sigh and slides back in her seat, unbuckling her seatbelt. She takes out her phone and goes to her messages with Jason. She still hasn't heard from him. So, she tries again. She has nothing else to do while she waits for the women to do their thing and she's actually getting really worried. There has to be something going on. Even if Jason is just trying to enjoy his new relationship with Rose, he would call or text given the entire CADMUS situation.

The line trills and Sam chews on the inside of her cheek. She thinks he won't answer. He hasn't in a few days anyway but she waits patiently, almost holding her breath. And then he picks up.

"What!?" Jason yells.

"Uh.....hello to you, too?" Sam questions.

"What the fuck do you want, Sam?"

Ouch. Sam pauses and it hurts with him yelling at her. She didn't do anything. Does he suddenly not care about Gar? About her? What is with everyone?

"Dude, what's going on?" Sam asks hiding the hurt in her voice.

"Nothing, what?" Jason huffs.

"You sound upset? What's going on, Jay?"

"Why the fuck did you call?"

This is not a good time. Jason is on his way to leave, to go somewhere else that's not here. Things, in his opinion, were going pretty well with Rose. He was making a solid effort and letting her in. They were doing some drug busts and it was fun. It allowed him to escape from the tower and all of that bullshit the other Titans put him through. But, he's just had a blow-up with Rose because as it turns out, she's been lying to him the whole time. He let another fucking person in and all she did was lie and use him. This is not a good fucking time for him.

"I've been trying to reach you for like three days." Sam drops asking him what's wrong, he's clearly not going to tell her.

"Bullshit, I haven't gotten a fucking call from you at all."

"I literally called you yesterday, hold on." Sam takes the phone from her head and screenshots her call log, sending the screenshot to Jason and then taking a screenshot of the texts, sending them to him. "I just sent screenshots."

Jason takes the phone from his head and looks at the messages. There he can see that Sam has not only called him about a hundred times but she's also texted him at least, an entire page full of messages. He reads them over, seeing none of them in his actual message thread with her. A lot of them are question marks or begging him to call her back.

"What the fuck?" Jason yells into the phone.

"I told you." Sam states. "What? You didn't get any of them?" Sam furrows her brows and she knew something weird was going on. Jason wouldn't abandon her and Gar.

"Fucking Rose probably deleting them." Jason lets out a scoff ad he's not even sure if he's more mad at himself for trusting Rose or at Rose for lying to him.

"Ah," Sam nods her head. "She had your phone?"

"I wasn't with it the whole fucking time. She wanted us to spend time alone, without our fucking phones. Know why now, huh?" Jason's voice breaks and he's just so fucking mad. This is why he doesn't trust anyone, it's why he doesn't show anyone those parts of him. They use him and exploit him. They take and take and take but never give. It fucking hurts. And Sam is unusually silent on the other end. "What?" Jason sounds completely exasperated.

Sam hesitates, almost debating on telling him but that wouldn't be fair. "Did you get our texts about her? Mine and Gar's?"

"Nope."

"Shit, I'm sorry, Jay. She working—"

"With her fucking dad? Yeah, she just fucking told me. She was using me and lying to me this whole fucking time!" Jason sniffles and Sam swears a part of her heart just broke for him. Why would anyone do that to him? He doesn't deserve it. That explains why he's so mad.

"I'm really sorry, Jay," Sam's voice is quiet. "We didn't know she had your phone." Sam pulls the phone away and switches it to FaceTime. She figures maybe if they see each other face to face, it'll help calm him down. She can give him a smirk and a grin, he'll play along. Maybe it'll help. It would help her.

Jason goes along with it, seeing her in a car, a nasty maroon bruise decorates her right cheekbone, the bottom of her eye socket a shade of purple. His heart plummets with the sight of her. He feels more anger start to flood his blood. He's going to find whoever hurt her. What the fuck did he miss?

"Not your fault." Jason lets out a huff and immediately drops it. He doesn't want to talk about it anyway. "What the fuck happened?" The worry creeps into his voice as he asks.

Sam sees Jason's nostrils flare and a part of her definitely forgot the bruise. She shakes her head. "Uh...right, um," Sam's brows furrow as she looks down and Jason knows she does that whenever she doesn't want to tell him something. He's picked up on it. "CADMUS came and broke into tower. They took Gar, Conner and Krypto." Sam looks back to the camera, letting out a breath.

Jason shakes his head, closing his eyes for a second and for just a fraction of a second, he feels relief because they didn't take her. He can't imagine her getting taken three fucking times. That's insane but she's hurt anyway and now they have his best friend.

"What the fuck does that mean? They took them?"

"Uh-huh." Sam nods. "I was spamming the fuck out of you. They broke in, guns. Um...one of em, uh, ya know. I lost." Sam lets out a scoff as the guilt floods her system again. "Donna and Dawn are trying to get answers from a guy now."

"What the fuck." Jason lets out a quiet sigh.

Rose had the idea yesterday to shut their phones for the day, and not be bothered by any outside bullshit. Jason went along with it, he kind of thought Sam and Gar weren't talking to him, he hadn't heard from them. Maybe they were having fun alone or something. But, apparently, it was all Rose and he feels so stupid for all of it. For not seeing through it.

"Are you okay?" Jason's eyes scan across her face and he wishes he were there.

"Dunno." Sam chews the inside of her cheeks, her brows knitted together. "I tried so fucking hard but it wasn't fucking good enough, ya know? They just kept fucking coming, Jay. There were too many and I ran out of kitchen knives. They shot me with a tranquilizer and left me for dead. But, they...but they took Gar. He shifted into a tiger and maybe that's why. I didn't use my powers. I wasn't useful, maybe. I don't know but it fucking sucks. I couldn't--" Sam cuts herself off, feeling the lump grow in her throat. "I couldn't save him. It wasn't fucking enough and I wasn't fucking good enough." Sam's voice breaks.

Jason wants to personally hunt down every man from CADMUS that attacked the tower. For taking Gar and for hurting Sam and making her feel this way. That's hi best friend they took and it's bullshit. And Sam fights like hell, he knows for a fact she tried her absolute hardest but it's CADMUS. He doesn't need to have been there to know whatever she did was enough.

"Hey," Jason calls. "Don't do that shit, alright? It's not your fault. I wasn't there but I know you fought like hell because you did for me. That's fucking enough." Jason pauses and Sam nods softly. "I'm fucking serious. You grabbed the kitchen knives?" Jason chuckles. "Smart, guessing you fought until the tranquilizer kicked in?"

"Still tried after." Sam lets out a soft laugh. "My arms and legs just wouldn't move."

Jason lets out a soft laugh. "Exactly so it's not your fault." Jason's face softens slightly and it does make her feel better.

Seeing Jason face-to-face is helping in general. His hair is messier than usual and his eyes are red, but there's something comfortable about seeing him that she hasn't felt since he left. He knows exactly what to say and he laughs about the kitchen knives. No one else would but it makes her feel better. Not fully, but enough. And she does really miss him.

"Thanks." Sam's smile falls and she clears her throat. "You okay?"

Jason shrugs and starts pacing. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"It's okay if you're not. She fucking sucks for lying to you."

"Yeah, no shit." Jason offers a half-scoff half-laugh.

"I'll beat her up if you want." Sam offers Jason a smirk to try and cheer him up.

It seems to work because Jason gives her a laugh and a smile. "Yeah? Think you stand a chance of all sudden?"

"I punched Rachel, I could take Rose, now."

"You punched Rachel?" Jason lets out a booming laugh and he can't believe it. He would have loved to have seen it. "Why?"

Sam shrugs. "She made me mad and I was exhausted. I just couldn't fucking do it anymore." Sam's eyes widen, as if to be mocking the situation.

Jason has a grin and he does feel a little better. "She attack you?"

"No," Sam shakes her head. "She just yelled at me. Kory and Dawn held her back while Donna held me back. It was all very dramatic, you would have loved it." Sam gives him a teasing smirk. "But, hey, we need you, Jay. Gar needs you. We can't do this alone."

Jason's smile falls and it still hurts, the way the Titans attacked him for shit he didn't do. It's still an open wound and he's not sure it'll ever heal. They don't want him and he's tired of being in places he's not wanted. 

"Look, they don't want me."

"Donna texted you last night." Sam states.

"Fucking seriously." Jason groans and he's so mad at himself for not seeing through Rose, for not knowing it was weird not to have heard from Sam and Gar, for not being the one to text them. Phones work two ways. Jason just thought they were kind of done talking to him, living it up as a couple or whatever. They weren't interested in him anymore since they had each other. He should have sent at least one more text when he didn't get a reply from either of them.

"Uh-huh. She said she would try and I guess Rose deleted that, too."

"What the fuck, man?"

"So, uh, you gonna come?" Sam asks hesitantly and Jason sees the worry across her face.

"Gar's my best friend but I don't—"

"Jay, he needs you, please." Sam pleads with him and she pauses for just a second. "I need you." Her voice goes quiet and she does. This whole thing would have been a little easier if he were around, even just to talk to.

Jason lets out a sigh. He can't say no to her even if he feels unwanted around the other Titans. She looks desperate and Sam is always there for him. She's the one person who doesn't give up on him and he knows he can't let her do it alone.

 "Alright, fine." Jason nods his head. "I'll help get Gar back and then I'm gone."

"Deal." Sam smiles sadly at him. She knows it'll be temporary but at least he'll come back to help. They definitely need him.

Jason shakes his head. "Hey, seriously, you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, uh....just...traumatized." Sam lets out s scoff. "Shocker, huh?"

"Hey, look, fuck those assholes, we'll show them who they're fucking with."

"Thanks, Jay," Sam offers him a soft smile. "I don't know. Feel a whole lot better once we sort it out."

"I'll find a way, I swear. Text me where you need me and I'll be there. I'm not fucking staying but I won't let you do this alone."

"I knew I could count on you."

"Always, babe." Jason gives her his cheeky grin.

Sam almost hates to admit it, but she kind of misses him calling her that, too. She has to laugh, looking away from the camera.

"Shithead." Sam mutters and Jason chuckles on the other end. He misses hearing her call him that. With anyone else, he'd be annoyed but not with her. "I'm still sorry about Rose." Sam looks back to the camera, smile erased with a look of empathy.

"Eh, you were right." Jason shrugs a shoulder.

It hurts. Jason hasn't been in many relationships. With living on the streets and his home situation, it was never something he ever had time or energy for. He's had heartbreak, sure, but this one is different. He was in a stable enough place for something and it ended like this. Broken trust and more betrayal. It just really hurts a lot more than Jason really wants to admit to anyone. It feels a little embarrassing even.

"I wish I wasn't though. That's not fair to you and you deserve someone who's not gonna treat you like shit and lie to you. You deserve better always."

He'll never understand why Sam is the way she is with him. But, he's thankful for her.

"Thanks, Sammy."

Sam looks to the window, seeing the women coming back. "Hey, they're coming back, I'll text you and call you okay? Just, uh, see if you can pull a string with Bruce and get on a flight."

"Who says I'm in Gotham?" Jason looks around him and he doesn't know how she knows that but he can't say he's surprised. Of course, Sam would know where he went.

"It's home." Sam chortles. "Where else would you go?"

"Yeah, alright, fuck you."

"Mmm," Sam hums and decides she'll leave him with their game of chicken. "Maybe I'll get you lucky one day." Sam smirks at him and Jason shakes his head, eyes closing for a second before the looks back to the screen. The comment throws him off because shouldn't she be...with Gar? Sam lets out a laugh and seeing him confused and flustered never gets old. "Alright, get a fucking flight, Jason."

"Alright, don't do anything stupid until I get there." Jason nods at her, his cheeks a tint of pink.

"Course not, I only do stupid shit when I'm with you." Sam gives him a wide smile. "See you in a bit, Jay." Sam hangs up just as the women enter the car.

"Okay, we need backup." Donna starts. "No Rachel, no Kory. Nothing from Jason or Rose either."

"Jason's coming." Sam scoots closer to the women, the both of them looking back at Sam. "It's a long story, he wasn't getting our messages. I just got through though, he said he'll come to help Gar. I just gotta text him what we know."

"Okay, good, this is good." Donna says.

"Nice work, Sam." Dawn gives Sam a kind smile.

"I am very annoyingly persistent." Sam scrunches her nose.

"Let's get a plan together then." Donna smiles at the two fo them before putting the car in drive and driving off.