FIVE YEARS LATER

The weather is dull; clouds hang in the sky, leaving no space for the sunlight to pierce through. She walks down the street, empty handed except for a tote bag hung over her shoulders. She would like to pretend that she is just another passerby. But actually, that's not really the case. Not really.

Aurelia Hall is here for a reason. A meeting with an old friend. Her phone rings as she continues walking down the street, passing by all kinds of people and the window displays of the stores.

"Find an apartment yet?"

"Roy...did you seriously call me for just that? I told you I'm busy."

"I'm just concerned about you," Roy Harper replies, with the concern of an elder brother. After Lian was born, Roy's protective nature was amplified and he liked to keep check on Aurelia from time to time. It was a nice change from his angsty teenage personality. But sometimes, it could get too much. "You quit your job at Traverse PD. And now you texted me you're in Detroit, which is where..."

Before Roy can finish his sentence, Aurelia interrupts him. She steps sideways and walks towards a lamppost, trying not to block the way for the other people on the street.

"Don't you dare say his name," She says in a low, threatening whisper. In a normal tone, she adds, "Roy, I'll do it soon, I promise. There's just some things that I need to sort out. Nothing bad, I swear."

"That kind of makes me worry a little," Roy answers. In the background, Aurelia hears Lian calling for him and she lets out a soft laugh.

"Lian's troubling you again?" Aurelia asks softly.

"Oh, she's a troublemaker, alright," Roy says, pretending to be mad. "What with you and Wally spoiling the hell out of her. She's learning too much from you two."

"Hello, she's our amazing niece. It's our right to spoil her," Aurelia answers cheekily. "Besides, it's not just us she's picking up things from?" She drops her voice to a whisper, quickly making sure no one is listening to her. "Remember when you decided to paint all of Oliver's arrows pink because he refused to let you go on patrol?"

"Wait, how do you even know that?"

"Dinah told me."

Roy lets out a frustrated sigh. "I hate both of you. Gossipy old ladies, the two of you are."

"Don't call me old. I'll hit you and it won't be pretty. Anyways, I need to go now. Tell Lian I said hi," Aurelia says, rather quickly. There is not much time left till she has to meet up with Indira and hand over that stupid gadget she asked for.

"Will do," Roy says. "And Lia?"

"What, Roy?"

"Don't do anything stupid."

"When have I ever done something stupid? Bye, Roy. See you soon"

"You too."

(That part was unfortunately going to be a little white lie.)

Aurelia meets up with Indira in an empty park in Detroit. The skies are more gray than before and she has the slightest feeling that it is going to rain. Maybe or maybe not, but the chances still remain.

The first thing she realises when she sees Indira is that she looks tired. There are bags under her eyes, indicating she hasn't slept properly in days. And that's the first question out of Aurelia's mouth.

"What's up with you?" She asks. "You look like you could drop dead any second. No pun intended."

"I do, don't I?" Indira answers, yawning.

They walk over to the nearest bench and sit down. Aurelia reaches into her purse. Ignore her old PD ID (that she still hasn't turned in), she reaches for the gadget. Taking it out, she places it into Indira's lap. It's nothing special; it's an old necklace that was lying in Aurelia's old house in Ann Arbor. This very old necklace was used as a way to trap ghosts, almost like it was some sort of device from Ghostbusters (which, technically, it could be).

"The magic on this is strong," Indira remarks. Though she didn't actually scan the magical signature of the object, Aurelia knows that Indira understands this necklace because of her own connection to the land and barrier that separates the living and dead. "I am very lucky that you found this."

"Yeah well, there's some other stuff also left in the house, so if you want to go, I can just give you a key," Aurelia remarks casually. "And some old tomes if you or Z need those."

"Don't think we do," Indira yawns once again. She tilts her head, suddenly looking rather apologetic. "By the way, I should say sorry to you for making you come to this city specifically. After all, it's where Grayson is, right? I really do regret it, but my next clue got me here so I don't really..."

"Indira!" Aurelia interrupts with a yell. If there were people present in the park right now, stares would fall on the redhead. Before, that name would make her heart race. And now, anytime someone mentioned it around her, she cringed. Aurelia did not want to hear it. Ever. "I don't like it when people mention his name around me. You know that. Heck, you and Z were there when we had that big fight. You damn well know I don't like hearing it."

"Right," Indira winces. "Sorry. I keep on forgetting that you two aren't a thing anymore."

"I wish you wouldn't," Aurelia says, rather coldly. All memories associated with Dick Grayson are now tainted with the harsh words of their last meeting. No matter how happy he used to make her before, now, she cannot even bear to hear about him. "Things changed from five years ago. People move on."

(Have you moved on, the devil on her shoulders asked with a cackle.)

(No. She hadn't.)

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Indira answers with a far away look on her face. She stands up from the bench, putting the necklace in her pocket. "I should get going now. I need to catch that damn ghost before nightfall and then get my sleep."

Aurelia stands up after her. "You should do that. You catch that ghost."

She pats Indira's arms rather gently. "Be careful. If you need my help, just let me know. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thanks for the offer, but I don't need anything more," Indira smiles kindly. "You've already done a lot for me. Just stay safe."

Aurelia hums in agreement. Indira smiles at her once again and squeezes her shoulders gently, murmuring her goodbye. She sits down on the bench once more and watches Indira's figure as she walks away. As the older woman disappears from the park, Aurelia turns her stare to the sky. It is a little less gray as the bare minimum of sunlight makes its way through.

It makes her think of good times when things weren't complicated. It reminds her of the times where she could just see Dick Grayson and feel happier. Right now, she did not feel like that at all. With what had transpired five years ago, culminating in Garth's death and the disbandment of Titans, everything had changed. Once, things had been good. But now, they weren't.

That was the curse of being a part of this world of heroes.

Everything changes in an instant. In a flash, rather.

(But that's just how the world is, isn't it? The devil on her shoulders cackles again. You couldn't deal with change and so you ran away.)

"No, I didn't," Aurelia states out loud.

(Yes, she did.)

Running is for cowards and Aurelia is not one. She didn't run; she just left things behind and moved on like life does. If anyone else didn't, that was just their fault.

"Maybe I should just stop overthinking and go home," Aurelia mumbles to herself. She gets up, brushing away the non-existent dust on her jeans. "But first, I'm gonna grab something to eat. Yeah."

Life moves on. And so will she.

Instead of going back home to Traverse, Aurelia is dawdling in Detroit. By the time she sits at a table with her tray of fries and a greasy cheeseburger, the sun has sunk below the horizon. Sitting in the small restaurant, Aurelia realises she is sickeningly alone. She barely has friends these days; she may know many people but no one is a true friend. She has Roy and Lian and even Wally, but they aren't friends; they're family,

Friendship is different. Friendship is what she had with Donna and him, and later the Titans, but that's long gone and completely tainted. No one in the JL is a friend; not hers at least. They were her aunt's friends. Maybe, she likes Hal and his wife Alex. They're nice people, alright. But they're more mentors than friends.

Maybe this is her fate. Five years ago, Aurelia would not have felt this way. She had good friends, a great aunt and an amazing team to work with. But now, she has nothing. Even the Phoenix has gone quiet. There are days when she can barely feel the power; it feels like she is losing her connection to the mythical creature.

And she knows. Aurelia knows if the Phoenix chooses to leave, then she'll truly lose everything.

She releases a sigh and gets to finishing the fries. Once she is done with that, she goes to finish the burger. As she eats, her phone vibrates in her coat pockets. She ignores it, yet it keeps on ringing. One ring, two rings, three rings...frustrated, Aurelia puts down her burger on the tray and pulls the phone out of her pocket, not even bothering to check the caller ID.

"Hello?" Aurelia says, keeping her tone polite and level.

"Good, Hall, you finally picked up," It's Derek, her ex-partner at the precinct. She likes him, but he's a little arrogant, so the like has technically faded.

" 'The hell do you want Gardiner?" She asks, letting annoyance seep into her voice.

"Well, someone's cranky," He says, and she can imagine him rolling his eyes as he props his feet up on his desk.

"You do realise I quit, right? I'm on my notice right now, idiot. And I took these last few days off for a reason. What do you even want?"

"Calm down, Hall. I didn't call you to tease you and shit. You're in Detroit, right?"

"Yeah, I am. What does that matter?"

"Good. You got that thing for helping kids, right? The Chief just got a call from someone at the Detroit PD. Some kid from Traverse knocked up a cop car with a brick."

Aurelia narrows her eyes as she glances around the restaurant, making sure that no one is over hearing her conversation. Lucky for her, there is not much of a crowd. "How is that even relevant? The Detroit PD can't even handle a case alone?"

"It's serious," Derek says. "The same kid's mom was killed today. Murdered in her home. The Chief wants you to go help out with the case and then escort the kid back to Traverse."

"So it's that serious?" Aurelia pushes a strand of her behind her ear. She has practically forgotten the burger now. But Derek is kind of right; any case that has got to do with children and Aurelia is the first one to volunteer. "Guess vacation's over now."

"Uh huh. Just do what you usually do."

'What I usually do is a lot different from what you think,' Aurelia thinks. Out loud, she doesn't say anything, only letting out an affirmative hum.

Looks like it was time to get back to work.

After two months of neglecting this fic, I suddenly got inspiration for this and managed to finish this chapter after slugging through it. I know it's really not much and is shorter than usual, but we are finally moving into Titans season 1 and we are immediately starting off with the action. The next chapter will be the Dick-Aurelia reunion and that's...it will be interesting, is what I will say. 

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

On a more important note, I have multiple carrd links in bio that you should check out to keep yourself informed about issues that are happening around the world. Make sure you are signing petitions, donating (if you are able to) and just do what you can to help.