OC POV

⇥𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝙪𝙥 early, just before the sun had risen. No one was awake from what I had known. I grabbed a grey jumper and blue jeans then heading out to the beach to which the tower stood before. Last night I had nightmares of memories of me in the black room, it made me toss and turn all night, I was on the brink of screaming. I walked barefoot on the line where the sand met the sea. Every few seconds I would feel the waves crash onto my feet.

The sea made me calm. It always had. From the sound of the waves crashing onto rocks or the shore, it was my lullaby. The smell of the sea salt kept me at peace. Thinking about from Rachel said about the memory of me as a baby by the sea, I guess why I felt so connected to the ocean.

-----

I decided to head back in as the sun had risen. Starfire couldn't cook so I had to do all the cooking, and sometimes Jamie would do too. As I walked along the hallway Damian came out of his door. I began to walk past as he asked:

"Um, may I have a moment please?" He asked

"Sure," I turned around and made eye contact with him.

"Um, I would like to say, Thank you, for yesterday's event," he said a bit more tentatively

"You're welcome," I said

"Oh, and I didn't get your name," he said

"You can call me whatever you want," I say. "The whole team cause me Val but individually Gar cause me, mama, just like with every other girl, Jamie cause me misterioso, which is Spanish for 'mysterious one', Raven calls me aqua, and Starfire calls me something in tameran," I explain.

"Don't you have an actual name?" he asks

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Jamie and Gar are trying to figure out my name and the loser has to do whatever the winner wants them to do for a month. Maybe you should join, you are the son of the detective aren't you?" I say

"How did you-"

"I have my ways," I say and start walking off. "Oh and by the way, and not a bad move by the way,"

"For what?" he cocks an" eyebrow

"30 seconds after you meet us, you put trackers on all of us," I smile with a hint of pride evident in my tone of voice.

"heh, not bad," he folds his arms on his chest. "Wait, did you put a tracker on me?" he asks

I chuckle "Maybe, Maybe not," I put up my hands.

"Where are you going?" he asks

"Kitchen, I'm cooking breakfast. Well, I usually do all the cooking around here. Since Starfire can't cook," I say and smile

Damian smirks "I guess you're the most proficient one here. And to think Starfire is the leader,"

"Well, apparently it seems everything is by age. And I'm still the youngest," I say

"May I accompany you the kitchen and perhaps you cooking?" he asks

"You may," I say

We make our way to the kitchen

"So, how long have you been here?" Damian asks

"6-7 months," I say

"I see,"

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I tie my black apron around my waist making a perfect bow, and get out the bowls. Damian watches on the high seats in front of the bench. "So do you have any allergies that I need to know about?"

"No," he simply says

I add the mix and milk and other additional ingredients. As I'm done I lay the pancakes on large plates, some were normal, some had strawberries and others were chocolate.

"I've never had such sugar substances before," he says as he observes the pancakes

"Really? I mean these don't have that much sugar. You should try cotton candy or sweets," I say

"I might," he then inhales the nice aroma of fresh pancakes. "They smell good,"

"Well, that's a sign you'll like them. Usually, if a certain dish or food smells good to you you'll like the taste of it," I say

"That's logically correct," he says.

I turn to the cupboards to find the icing sugar and maple syrup. "Where the hell does Kori do with them?" I say scavenging through the selves. "Oh, by the way, Damian. Um," I grunt as I reach on my tippy toes. "Did you say sorry to Jamie,"

"Why would I?" he inquires.

"Well, it wasn't nice to say that. And, um, you kinda started it,"

He furrows his eyebrows "You should probably try another way,"

"You think," I say out of sarcasm.

"Yes, I do," he says

I put my heels back on the surface and look at the kitchen bench then the fridge. I hop onto the benchtop then, like a pounce, make my way to the top of the fridge where I open the cupboards.

"Found them!" I say. I then do a flawless landing with my pride of achievement on my shoulders.

"That was a flaunt less landing I must say," he raises his eyebrows in impressed expression.

"Thanks," I say

"Why should I? I see no fault in my actions," he says stubbornly. Well, retaliating won't work.

"Well think of it this way. Until you get out of here, which is going to be a long time, might as well make allies instead of enemies. And I'm just saying, you don't have to become friends with them, just earn their trust, and let them earn yours," I say. "Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley." I quote

"Huh. I believe that's from Sun Tzu, Art of War," he says

"You read?" I ask

"I do, that book is really good," he says.

"What books do you read, and what have you read?" I ask as I powder the chocolate pancakes.

"I've read Dickens, Shakespeare, and other classics. I prefer mystery novels," he says

"I see the apple doesn't fall far from the branch,"

"Clearly," he says, with a dash of arrogance. "Well, I suppose I should take your advice. In the name of war and strategy. I will apologise to Blue Beatle," he hops off his seat.

"While you're at it, can you tell them breakfast is ready?"

"Sure," he then disappears into the hallway.

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Damian POV

I sit in Starfire's room on her computer. I try to look up the others but find no information. Technically, um 'her', gave me the idea. Art of Wars quotes: "Rouse him and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity. Force him to reveal himself, so as to find out his vulnerable spots."

"What are you doing in my room Damian? We have rules here. You never trespass another one's space," she closes the laptop in front of me.

"You have no background on her, no records, no history," I say

"On who?" she asks

"Raven," that, 'witch' gave me suspicions. Last night she pissed me off. She said my grandfather was a demon, and she said I know my demons. "Your the leader of this group. You should know everything about her,"

"She's fifteen, no mother, no father. She grew up in a hostile realm. Nothing like my own planet. She escaped. Like I did. She had nowhere else to go, so we took her in. She needed to grow, a place to live,"

I got up from my seat. "I was taught knowledge was power, and you knew nothing about her,"

"What else is there need to know when people are in need? Garfield was 11 when his genetics kicked in and gave him green skin and powers. We still don't know the purpose of Heimae's (I don't think I spelt that right) scarab. We just knew that needed help," she explains

"How come you haven't brought up her, the one who hasn't got a name?" I ask

"We know nothing about her, she decided to join us 6-7 months ago. We met her during a mission. She saved us. She has highly advanced combat skills and intellect. Nothing we have ever seen. She shares nothing about her past. The reason she hasn't told us her name is her is that she chooses to keep it private. And as a team, we respect that."

"What do call her in battle?" I ask

"Valkyrie," Starfire says.

"I see," this girl was full of mysteries.

"You know you should talk to her, she how does it go? Be in one's shoes," Starfires says. "Look, Damian, sometimes we just got to have a little faith sometimes,"

"Faith is believed in the absence of data. It leads to disaster," I say and walk away

-----------

I walk towards Val who is sitting on the sand gazing at the moonlit water. For some peculiar reason, I felt at peace with her. Something of which I did not understand. I sit beside her looking towards the sea.

"hey," she said

"Hello," I said.

"What did you do?" She looks at me with a smile.

"What do you mean?" I inquire

"You wouldn't just come here for no reason, wouldn't you. Unless I'm wrong,"

"I 'trespassed' Starfire's room looking up the team," I admitted

She just laughed, which made me smile for a reason.

"She also said I should talk to you," I say

"You don't have to if you don't want to. You shouldn't have to talk to someone by force, I get it honestly. Starfire can be annoying, even though the team doesn't think so, not that they said or I told them,"

"The rest of the team I find undeniably annoying," I say

"Tell me about it," she says

"Really?" I say surprised

"Yep," she said popping the p. "I secretly want to stab everyone in the back,"

"You? But your-"

"Caring, fragile, the one that automatically everyone likes and gets along with?" she interrupts me

"Yes,"

"Well yes," I say

"Damian, there are more to people than you think. Everyone has a deep end, who knows how deep the water gets? Like you for example,"

"How so?" I ask

"Well, I think you're more than just some angry kid. You hate being underestimated, you want to prove yourself in some way," she says

That is how exactly how I feel, ever since grandfather died everyone I know see's me as some monster. Father, is someone I look up to as much as I don't want to admit it. Perhaps I should tell her.

"Alright," I say

"What?" she asks

"I'll tell you my story," I say

"Are you sure?"

"yes,"