Meanwhile

While you were busy corrupting an 'innocent' girl, the world continued to turn on without your input.

A-Train was heartbroken, sitting in his room at the Tower, which wasn't really a tower, but rather the floor designated to house the Seven. He'd been **** to kill his girlfriend, and potential wife one day after she'd betrayed him and Vought. He didn't know why she'd done it, and he hadn't waited for her explanation. He gave her a gentle send ff, overdosing her with **** as she'd passed out within moments, a shocked expression forever carved into her once kind face.

Sniffling, he began to filter through some old videos, watching and remembering happier times before it all went to shit.

He'd gotten through three other tapes before he'd found it, the one that'd snapped his fragile shield. Nick had probably went to delete it, but now A-Train had it, the tape recording the day Popclaw had changed sides, now showing she was cheating on him, and quite enthusiastically it would appear. It made should have made him wonder how long it had been going on, it should have made him question why he felt even guiltier now, it should done a lot of things, but instead all it did was set a raging fire inside of him as he snarled at the empty air.

"I'm going to kill Nick!"

Maeve was many things, and among those many things all two mattered at the moment: drunk and lonely.

BANG BANG BONG KKRACK

In her drunken haze, she neglected to hold back, accidentally splintering the heavyset wood door as the occupant of the apartment cracked the door, Maeve pushing her way inside without a thought as Elena was left reeling at her ex dropping in out of the blue although the bottle of almost empty **** was a good indicator why.

"Maggie, what are you doing here?" Elena asked exasperatedly.

"I screwed up Elena, I screwed up on that Flight whatever, and now I'm going to... I hurt so many people, I just left them... Oh God!" Elena had seen Maeve's, Maggie to her, bloodshot eyes, and had made the safe assumption that it was due to her heavy drinking, but now she saw the glimmering lines tracing down her face and realized that she had been crying.

If a paparazzi had seen her, the powerful and stalwart Queen Maeve crying it would've made for the candid shot and story of the decade, but it wasn't a reporter who'd found out, it was her ex, who armed her up, slinging an arm over her shoulder as she helped guide a sobbing Maggie to her bedroom.

It was when she'd tried to leave, to find some water or something that Maggie seemed to regain some measure of clarity, grabbing at her wrist as if to hold on like a drowning person.

"Guess it's my turn to be the hero huh?" Elena asked no one as she turned around, climbed on top of the bed, and just let Maggie hold her like a teddy bear as she sniffled and cried.

Starlight didn't know what had changed, whether it be her or the event, but the magical, or spirituality, seemed have been lost here. Maybe it was because the world was a far crueler and harsher place than she'd been led to believe, maybe it was because her mother just didn't seem to get it no matter how much she tried to say it without saying it, maybe it was...

"Hey, you okay?" Hughie asked, a hand on her shoulder as she turned on him, a worked irritation at the world, God, herself, whomever, all came rushing out.

"What do care? Do want something else? Is that all I am to you, a glorified convenience store?" Starlight shrugged off his hand, and tried to stomp away, but was stopped short, this time by Hughie hand on her wrist, stronger than it had any right to be.

"Sorry about that, I guess I have been using you lately huh?" Hughie didn't even try to deny it as Starlight glared at him.

"But I can explain." He added as Starlight, no Annie for now, rolled her eyes.

"That's the problem, everyone can explain, no matter what goes wrong everyone can explain, and shift the blame, and weasel out of it."

"I had hoped that coming here would help me." Hughie said as Annie was caught offgaurd by the slight tremor in his voice. "After Robin died, I was so angry... both at the man responsible and at myself." He continued and despite herself, Annie reached out and touched him, trying to let him know she understood.

"Robin would probably hate me if she saw me now, she was a nice, sweet girl you know, but I'm so angry and it seems like everywhere I look, every time I think I'm starting to understand this harsh world, it digs the knife in a little deeper, or I find another knife stabbing me. I thought I understood why she was killed, but I realize now that it runs even deeper." Hughie paused, taking a breath as he looked at something over her shoulder, she turned to look, but didn't see anything.

"I thought... I thought if I came here, maybe I could find some understanding why, if not on a physical or emotional level, then at least mentally, but I didn't..." Hughie trailed off, no longer looking past her, just staring at the ground now.

"Time to hero up Annie, muster up some words of wisdom." She muttered under her breath as she placed both hands on his shoulders, forcing him to look up into her twinkling eyes as she saw someone who understood finally.

"I think if Robin loved you like you seemed to love her, then the answer is simple. Find the path that makes you happiest, and follow it, that way you won't have any room to be angry." Starlight smiled, trying to convey something, but all that happened was Hughie hugging against him.

"Maybe you should try that yourself. He seems to make you pretty happy, I know he always did it for me." Starlight pulled back, looking around for the soft female voice, but no one was around except her and Hughie.

"Maybe I should take my own advice once and a while, gotta lead by example right?" Starlight said, her path set in her heart as she began to walk towards the center stage, but not without noticing Hughie's fingers interlaced with hers.