Welcome to Gaia! ::

See ya, Dani.

*Chris turns back to Kara and Cissie.*

What are you talking about? She's been distracted...cause of the internship. She hasn't betrayed me.

*Didn't she ditch you last night? Chris stamped that thought down.*

::At the Midvale Hyatt Regency, Grace Powell and a handful of members of the Church of Human Purity meet in one of the small sitting rooms on the ground floor of the hotel. Grace stands at the front instead of a whiteboard.::

"So, we have the permit for the protest, and I've gotten the bank to agree to allow parking. So far, we have thirty-four people confirmed to arrive from the adjoining state chapters. We don't know how many locals will listen to us, but so long as we speak loud enough, the Mayor will hear us."

::The door opens, and Grace Powell looks up to see Wally West walk in, slowly. sweeping around with his cane.::

"Ah, young man, you came! Where is your mother?"

"I'm afraid that she's working late at the factory, ma'am, so I had to come alone."

::Wally stumbled slightly, and the mothers in the crowd (the largest percentage of people there) all moved forward to help him.::

"You poor boy. Come on up here and have a seat. What is your name?"

"Christopher, ma'am."

::Grace Powell winced slightly as she helped Wally to a seat.::

"Christopher, you said that you lost your sight during the Ares invasion. Can you tell us what happened?"

"I-it's painful, ma'am."

"Please, call me Grace."

"Well, Grace...It was in the middle of this battle between the students of that school and some...monsters. There were explosions and lasers, and..."

::Wally put his hands to his face.::

"I just feel so alone, so isolated. But you'll all be my friends, won't you?"

::Grace put her arms around the boy.::

"Oh, you poor thing! Why, you're cold as ice! Well, you can relax. You're among friends here. And when we're done, Hero High will be nothing but a bad memory."

::Wally smiled at her.::

"Oh, thank you, ma'am-Grace. There's nothing better than having friends you can count on. Would it be okay if I just...just sat here and listened while you went on with your plan?"

"Of course, Christopher."

::Grace patted him on the shoulder again, and turned back to the whiteboard outlining their protest.::

After the mediation session was over Cassie thanked both d**k and Conner as she left. Conner also left the dojo heading out to class. d**k was the last to leave the dojo after he left he walked around campus with his old friend Roy Harper.

d**k walked alongside Roy when he saw Chris. d**k looked at Roy.

"I'll catch up to you later man."

d**k gradually approached Chris. He knew Chris Cassie's boyfriend and in many ways a distraction for her. Maybe at some point that type of relationship would be good for her but d**k felt now was NOT the time. She had to focus on other things so that she may control herself better. d**k approached Chris slowly and smiled at him.

"Hey Chris... Do you mind if we talk alone?"

" This is high school Chris rumors are ALWAYS going around."

d**k walks with Chris out towards the foot ball field. The team wasn't out so they were more or less alone.

" First and foremost I want to say that I'm sorry about what your mother's doing. I saw it on the news and I know this must be a rough time for you and that makes what I'm about to ask you even harder. I need you to put your relationship with Cassandra on hold for now. There's a lot of things that she needs to sort out right now and I fear that you'll only be a distraction to that."

After Chris stormed off Mr. Grayson shrugged..

'Steal Cassie? What was that all about?'

Meanwhile right outside the dorm Cassie was with Conner Hawke and a few others in a drum circle. It was the first time Cassie had ever been in a drum circle but she was finding it rather relaxing. She wondered if Chris would like something like this. She had been worried about him with everything that was going on around him the poor boy sure could use a way to relax.

Cassie looked up at Chris.

"Of course."

She looked back at her drum circle.

"Sorry guys I gotta go"

Cassie walks with Chris.

"I'm sorry I haven't been around so much. I've just been so busy. I know this must be a rough time for you with your mom and all."

" Slimy gymnastics teacher? Chris I understand you've been though alot lately but you're over reacting. d**k's been helping sort out alot of things, he believes in me even though most of the staff doubts me since the whole Ares thing, and he's the one who helped get me reinstated to the school. I owe him alot and he's been nothing but nice to me. I doubt he's trying to drag us apart."

Cassie didn't like the way Chris was talking about d**k. He was trying to help Cassie manage her anger and now Chris was telling her to stay away from him. When Cassie was under Ares' control the war god controlled both her mind and her body... she felt so violated. Cassie needed to gain control back and in order for her to do that she had to get a handle on her emotions.