Teen Titans Roster Day Off (7)

Responsibility

Penny Akk

When dad got home, I had not been expecting an argument. I had been expecting a grounding. At the very least he knew I was Bad Penny, which itself was bad enough.

From what Claire and Star had said, he now knew I'd programmed the crystal Starfire had used, and Raven had provided the enchantmet.

I had sat with literal trepidation, cold sweats and shivers as I waited for his return. Mother had been back home for a while, but was still out most of the day, helping to restructure and redesign the Super Max my team had so casually broken. Luckily that meant I was still by myself when he arrived.

He looked, beaten. Plain beaten. I gasped when he arrived, green skin! He had green skin. He wore an old uniform, a body suit that looked like something out of a 70's sci-fi but had Earthly quirks. A button up shirt, good solid leather boots and a tie. The shirt hung loose and he walked in, past me, ignored me completely for a moment, then casually began making a coffee.

He used the actual ground coffee, not the instant, using the coffeepot quietly as he grabbed a squeeze tube of vanilla essence and a shaker of spices. I sat and stewed on the couch, feeling myself shrink with each moment. He was trying to make sure he was calm, before ripping me a brand new orifice. 

Eventually he sat on the couch beside me, quietly sipping his coffee. Had this been mum, it would have been a nightmare, but this was dad. I chose to start with "I'm sorry I hid the whole super-villain thing from you. You were so determined I didn't have powers yet, and I let things get out of hand."

That got a look, a long pained one. He was hurt, and in his typical fashion was trying to process it by being cold and unemotional.  "Over five thousand people were left floating in space." He said at last. "Five thousand. You think I care that you play villain, or fight with the heroes. Five thousand souls who most likely died."

I gasped on reflex. "I thought Star's people were all space worthy!"

"They were the only people you worried about!? There were whole families on that station, Psion hatchlings, non-combatants!"

"All of who are technologically advanced and could look after themselves! The Tamaranean were slaves dad! Of course it would take extreme measures to free them!" Mine and Dad's back and forth was getting heated, him raising from his chair and abandoning the coffee. As his voice raised I mimicked mothers attitude, trying to remain calm.

"Do not argue justification to me! Historically these kind of violent revolutions never work! There was a better and smarter way! You're a scientist dammit! Or you will be!"

Now I raised my voice, but only a notch, "Excuse me! I've taken and studied history! How was their situation any different to the Confederates! Even after slavery was banned they just continued it under a different name! Things won't change for Star's people unless they have a Voice! That's History!"

"Historically, Violence begets more violence! The wars of the past, the hate and fear get passed down. The Psion's have the advantage, all you did was prove to them Starfire and her people pose a Threat!" My father practically growled the sentences, but his posture, his body language was intentionally, in spite of trembles, calm. Taking a drawn out breath he gulped from his coffee, letting the air burn between us.

"I just don't understand why you didn't bring it to me. If we'd worked together with that knowledge, we could have found a way that didn't risk lives. Instead you've been lying to my face!"

I winced at that, but then riled against it, "And you haven't been lying to me? What about Claire? You never told me about her powers activating when she was Eight! Or the kidnapping! You told me they were going on a holiday when instead you had her powers sealed! If I hadn't -"

"You were children. We did that to protect both of you, her powers were wild, working on anyone from little kids to old grandmothers! It was an innocent old lady who kidnapped her, and-" I waved off his response, cutting it off his response with my own.

"And Ray's abusive homelife! You could have done something about it! Got him out! You didn't for the same reason with Claire, you were lying cause of the Truce!" I asserted, standing up and pacing around the coffee table. "And So was I! I was justified! It wasn't your place to know about my villainous activities, or the stuff I supply to the community!"

"You Are Still MY Daughter. If the initial lie hadn't been made, the rest wouldn't have followed!" He growled.

The conversation ground to a stop, an argument I couldn't refute. I was defensive, and totally aware of it. I'd expected dad to be onboard with helping Starfire's people and this had thrown me. My villainous activities already had me on the back foot though, so I added fuel to the fire, breaking the back and forth: "Since joining the villain community the one thing I've learned, is that true evil is using power to take away other people's choices. Since joining I've seen the way they live, and made hard choices. The Psions were abusing Star's people for centuries! So what if some of them didn't make it. What I did was Right!"

Dad sat down at this point, staring at me flabbergasted, gaping like a fish. I had definitely crossed a line, so I tried to change the topic; "So, green skin. That-" I got cut off.

"I think you should stay at Claire's for a while." He muttered darkly. "I can't believe my own daughter..." the sentence fell flat, and he focused on his coffee.

I hesitated. Stood. Circled the lounge, leaned on it.Everything I'd done was right. I knew that. However, "I'm sorry I disappointed you. And... And I love you dad. Welcome back."

When he didn't immediately respond, I began walking to my room, only to hear a sad, soft, "I love you too Pumpkin!"

In my room I thought over what and how to handle this. Looking around, I was a villain and I had villain gear here, in the house.  I couldn't leave it here now dad knew my secret.

"Bootstrap!" I said weekly, watching my room translate to villain mode.  The orb I'd named 'Bootstrap' activated, coming out of the chest at the end of the bed, but I interrupted its usual setup with, "Hold up! I want you to gather the mini- machines, have them extract the shrink Ray from the roof, and assemble all my villain gear in a transport down stairs!" I opened the window and watched as everything slowly filing out the window. "For now, escort this stuff to the Lab. Depending on how things go, we might be back. I hope this is just temporary!"

Sighing, sagging on my bed I took way to long deciding what to do next. Yeah, I would need an overnight bag, clothes and sleepwear, but I felt like I was forgetting something.

Oh right, the Trial against the Original was tomorrow. So on top of all this I had to be confident, proud and villainous in a courtroom, regardless of what was happening at home.
I found myself just sitting on the bed for a full hour before I did anything.

Thankfully nobody would see me cry.
Tomorrow I would be strong again.