Jason was having a succession of bad days.

He felt he was being too overworked by all the missions his team had but he kept those feelings to himself, knowing as the leader of the Outlaws, if he showed any reluctance, the other two would not take things seriously either.

He refilled the ammo in his rifle, rolling out of the way of the gunshots being fired from all sides. He just wanted that mission to end so that he could get some peace and quiet in his otherwise turbulent life.

Training his focus back to the task on hand, he pressed the trigger, launching a round of bullets at the opponents. One by one, the men who were ganged up on them began to fall as Jason's shots reached the intended mark.

He was an excellent marksman, his bullets seldom missing the target he aimed for.

Just a few more to go and he would get to the gang leader those pawns had been trying to protect. Just a few more rounds to go.

Roy was close behind him too, watching his back as he fired arrows while Kori had tackled the men on the upper floors of that factory that was being used as a gang's hideout. Flashes of green, golden, and red lit up the dark as the Outlaws charged in, overcoming the hurdles set up to stop them.

"Starfire quick, don't let him escape," Jason shouted, seeing that a group of men was trying to leave unnoticed.

The Tamaranean princess flew in pursuit to catch them when Jason's eyes fell on the bombs inside the room they had just broken into. The timers were all set to go off in just a few seconds.

"Fuck!" Roy swore, seeing there were too many of those bombs for them to deactivate all of them.

But Jason reacted quickly, his hand grabbing onto his partner's arm as he threw his helmet at the window, making the glass shatter. Both of them fell tumbling out shortly after as the building behind them went up in flames.

Ash and dust clung to them as they rolled away to avoid getting hurt and the familiar green shade of Kori's starbolts caught their attention.

She had managed to catch the escapees and was chasing after them, throwing starbolts to trap them as she flew overhead.

"These bastards better not slip from our hands," Jason breathed out, helping Roy to stand up as well as they joined Kori.

Jay's helmet was broken from the side but he had worn it nevertheless, his left eye peeking out as he towered over the people they had captured.

"You better start talking before I make you," he threatened, his low but firm voice enough to make them tremble in fear.

Through them, they found out their next lead that made the case more complicated; coordinates to the place where the next meeting of the Devil's Auction was being held. The Devil's Auction was an event frequented by the top tier of the criminal world as deadly weapons were auctioned to the highest bidder.

The Outlaws were after the organizer of that auction as they had to bring the setup down and find out where and how they were procuring such lethal weapons. If they failed to do so, the auctioning of such dangerous weapons could lead to dangerous circumstances, including power wars between crime syndicates.

Fallen into the wrong hands, those weapons could cause immense havoc. So the current mission of the Outlaws held two purposes; dismantling the organization holding the auction and preventing the deadly items from falling into the wrong hands.

With the coordinates in hand, their next step would be to infiltrate the auction. But there was a higher risk factor and they had to think about their plan carefully before putting it into action.

"Please let us go," one of the captives spoke up, "we have given you what you wanted. Let us go."

"Sure," Roy remarked in his usual careless drawl, "we've called the police to pick you up. Enjoy the night stay in the lock-up."

The sirens could be heard in the distance so the Outlaws left the tied-up people and cleared out of the affected area. In a short while, the police vans would be there to question the captives and look after the flaming factory.

They were at a safe distance from that precinct, watching as the fire brigade put out the flames. The Outlaws were a myth for the common citizens there as they stayed out of the public eye and carried out their missions discreetly. However, Jason had a few connections in the police forces so whenever the Outlaws carried out their missions, the police would always be informed of the people getting caught and turned over to them for custody.

"So what now?" Roy asked, feeling that there was a lot on Jay's mind at the moment.

"We go and stay at Jay's for the night," Kori replied.

The three of them were exhausted and Roy immediately agreed to the suggestion. Jason didn't object either as he took off the helmet, examining the damage.

"We'll discuss this in the morning," he too agreed as they left for the safe house, "more or less, we will have to attend this thing and see for ourselves what goes on in there."

Kori seemed excited at the idea, "sounds fun. I've never been to an auction before."

Roy gave her a look, "seriously?"

She quickly corrected herself, "I have never been to an auction as a bidder before."

"I said we'll talk about this in the morning," Jay remarked, tossing the keys to Roy, "by the time we get home, I want to go to sleep so don't disturb me."

"Yes sir," she chuckled lightly, pinching his cheek though he emitted a slight ow.

Kori still loved to baby him around and refer to him as their team's leader at the same time. He couldn't understand why it was so amusing to her and by then he had just stopped altogether to stop her from doing that.

They reached the safe house which was empty as usual and Jason went to his room, locking the door because he knew the other two weren't going to go to bed anytime soon. They would either empty his fridge for a midnight snack or watch TV until they got drowsy enough to go to sleep.

His room was silent but the peace and quiet he wanted wasn't there. He groaned slightly, taking off his boots and armor, stepping into the bathroom to freshen up.

He had fresh cuts and bruises that he probably didn't care about. But as his eyes swept past the mirror, he stopped, turning to look at his reflection again.

"You're not endangering yourself, are you?"

Valerie's words from a night earlier flashed in his memory and he ran his hand through his messy hair absently. Even at a time when he was so terribly exhausted, his mind was drifting toward her thoughts.

"And whatever it is that you do, you don't do it to get hurt on purpose..."

He did not know why Valerie held him in such an unbreakable spell that in every waking or dreaming moment, she was slowly beginning to occupy every single part of his head and heart.

"No matter what you do in your life, there will be people who care for you and who want to see you safe. Don't get so hurt that it ends up hurting your loved ones."

Was she one of his loved ones? He remembered he had asked her that and she had replied with a vague maybe.

Maybe could mean a lot of things altogether. It could mean both yes and no.

By the time he came out after freshening up, he felt the urge to call her and see if she was awake. He wanted to go see her and kiss those soft tempting lips to make his restless heart come to peace.

But if he went to see her right then, she would see the injuries he had received and get worried all over again. 

He had assured her that he wasn't doing anything to endanger himself even though it was a lie. And if he went to her like that, she would know he had not been honest when he had reassured her. 

A disappointed groan escaped him as he switched off the lights and got into an empty bed.

He missed having her close to him but he had to spend some time apart if he wanted her not to get anxious for him.

***