Annie Invitation! (Titans United)

It was the day after the voting process had been completed. Bow had tracked down the bakery where Annie still went to get food after hours. The pink haired leader made sure that Annie would be there tonight and made plans to go and meet her. She put on a simple pair of blue jean pants and a soft yellow blouse. Her goal was to not look at all intimidating, but also to give an air of professionalism. She wasn't actually sure how it had been done in the past, but she wanted to do it this way.

When she got to the bakery, the girl got a pastry and an iced coffee and sat down, waiting for the little girl. As soon  as she walked into the store, Bow stood up and waved her over, giving her a small hug and smiling sweetly. "Hello, Annie... How have you been? I haven't heard from you at all very recently, but I have an invitation for you if you're interested." The girl sat down as she spoke and looked up at Annie adoringly.

Just as Bow had expected, the young girl and her companion entered the bakery. As they approached they felt a familiar person, Bow, in the shop; again waiting for them. It had been a while since they last/first met. Holding her kitten in one arm and pushing open the door with the other, Annie looked right at Bow, following her motion to come over and smiling a bit when she was hugged. "Hi Bow; I've been okay lately." She looked up curiously. "..An invitation? Invitation to what?"

Bow smiled proudly, her eyes twinkling in delight. "An invitation to join Titans: United. The magical branch of the Titan league." She waited for that piece alone to sink in for a moment before continuing. "I know you're young and apparently want to be independent, but I think this would be a great opportunity for you. You would be part of a team. We all work together to protect the citizens of Jump and provide for our own."

Pause. "You would be in danger every time we went out onto that battle field and, I'm not going to lie, you may get hurt. But I can promise you that you would be safer than anywhere else in this world. You would have new friends. A new family. A place to rest your head where Kasha is always welcome. Please consider it, Annie... I promise this isn't me just wanting to bring you home and keep you sheltered. This is me wanting to help you grow up in the best environment for you so that when you are ready, you may fly through the skies of life with ease." She was trying to be as persuasive as possible, not sure about how she was doing. Every word the girl said was true though. She figured Annie didn't just want charity, and this would allow her to earn her place.

Annie and Kasha both listened carefully to what Bow had to say, pondering her offer.  A magical branch of the teen titans?  Kasha had heard something about them before.  Annie took her seat across from Bow, looking down toward Kasha.  They considered and thought about the offer, which actually took a while to do.  The process of talking it over with each other in their minds took a painfully long amount of time.  If left uninterrupted, Annie and Kasha would stare blankly for up to 20 minutes straight without saying a word or making eye contact.  

Eventually Annie looked up, questions filling her mind.  She started with something simple, "...Could someone there teach me how to use magic better?"  This was only the first question, however.  She asked many more, one at a time, including:  

Was Bow personally inviting Annie to join, or on behalf of the Titans United as a whole?

Specifically, why did she/they want Annie on their team?  

Who was in charge?  

Did the Titans United have any enemies?  

How secure was their fortress?  

How often were they dispatched for missions?  

Would she be able to spend some time in a trial period to allow Kasha to see what the missions are like before making a commitment?  

And finally, could she tour the fortress?

Bow let them have as much time as need be. She just sat there idly drinking her tea and talking to the baker as they talked between themselves. Once there was movement in the little girl's eyes though, Bow sat back down and gave her full attention.

The first question struck her hard. Bow bit her lip and thought for a long moment herself before answering timid, but truthful and sincere. She didn't want to hide anything from her new recruit. "...Possibly... Unfortunately Kale, our actual magic user, is gone now. But, I'm sure we can figure something out... If nothing else we can help you hone other aspects that will in turn benefit your magic!" She hoped that would suffice, but it was possible the conversation was over right there.

If not, however, she would answer her questions happily and without any complaint.

"I was the one to nominate you along with two others. The team voted and you were accepted by all except one. But he's our resident jerk, so that's no surprise... *giggle*"

"They see great potential in you, Annie. We want to help you be the best you can be, whether that mean remain with us or go off to be amazing on your own. We just want to set up a good foundation for you... Because none of us had that..."

"That would be me now..." They would since that she was both elated and slightly nervous about this fact.

"HIVE and the Russians. Though we have made strides to try and coexist with HIVE." Kasha may be able to detect that she had a soft spot for HIVE for some reason...

"Our tree attacks any of those who mean to harm it or us. No one's getting in there without our permission."

"As of right now, we're kind of keeping things slow to get used to not having Kale around, but we should be picking up soon... Though, if you're worried about getting hurt, you don't have to go on any mission you don't feel confident for."

"Of course! Take as much time as you need! I don't want to rush any decision."

Her eyes lit up. "Wanna see it right now??"

Annie way Bow answered her questions, and Kasha could tell from her words and emotions that Bow was new to being the leader of the Titans United. Kale must have been the previous leader, so the team was getting used to him being gone.

Kasha was disappointed with the fact that Kale was gone now, leaving no actual magic users to teach Annie. One would figure that the MAGICAL branch of the titans would have members capable of magic in it. Perhaps they had some books on the topic Annie could learn from...

However Bow did say that the Titans United wanted to help her to become the most she could; to support her and give her a strong foundation. That promise, if true, helped make up for the previous fact. After being left behind by Shivering Jemmy and Marleigh, Annie was again homeless and alone. The promise of a secure home and a family drew them to accept the deal.

...But would it end the same way?

Annie could sympathize with Bow's eagerness to be shown the Titans Tower. Dispute a few concerns, she and Kasha were still eager to check out the tower and the rest of the team; maybe meet that one grump who didn't vote for her. Taking a moment to think, Annie responded not to Bow but to the bakery owner. "Can I have those cinnamon rolls to go?" She laughed, agreeing and soon preparing them. Annie looked back to Bow with a smile and a nod. "Yeah, we can go now. I'd like to see your home, and meet the others, too."

Bow smiled brightly and legitimately lit up the place with her light for a moment. "Wonderful!!" She then blinked and blushed in embarrassment, calming down and smiling much more gently. "Thank you for giving us a try..."

The teenager stood up and reached for the little girl's hand, but then stopped and let it fall to her side. She didn't want to scare Annie off again by being too forward. Bow thought for a minute before speaking. "I think you're really going to like the tree house, it's pretty amazing... If I do say so myself." She giggled and then turned to look at Annie as she walked.

"Not to even mention the cool people you'll get to meet! Toji is a half demon that's always hyper and energetic and really fun to be around. Ruin is another half demon that used to be Russian but... we... umm... I'll let her tell you that story herself." They would sense that she was straying from that topic, not because she wanted to hide anything from them, but because it simply wasn't her story to tell. "Anyway! She's super sweet. Manic is our speedster and doesn't really have a filter, but he's pretty cool. Then there's Kishi... To be honest, he's not very nice, but Kale was the one that recruited him at the very beginning... He wants to be bad, but because of a curse or something, he literally has no choice but to be good! So don't worry about him..." She giggled. "And then we have two more recruits along with you... One of them is very quiet and just... does his job. That's Kuro. And I'm honestly not to sure about Kristen, but she seems awesome so far!" The girl was rambling on as they made their way to the tree.

Annie and Kasha both looked up in surprise at the sudden lighting of the room, seeming to be triggered by Bow's happiness since it calmed down again when she did. That was...interesting. Annie didn't exactly know what Bow's powers were. It seemed they had to do with light.

Annie placed Kasha back in his perch in the front pocket of Annie's overalls, allowing her to took the bag of cinnamon rolls from the shop owner. After thanking her, Annie stood up noticing Bow's hesitance to take her hand, apparently out of curtsy. As they started walking, Annie would let her know it was fine by silently reaching with her free hand to take Bow's; a silent gesture of acceptance. She just kind of took it and walked with her, not even bothering to look up. Did she need to?

All Annie did was smile as they walked, silently listening to Bow ramble on and on. She didn't mind, in fact she enjoyed listening to Bow talk, and it seemed like Bow enjoyed talking.

Eventually they would come to the Titans United Tower. Annie gaped up at the magnificent tree. "You weren't kidding. It really is amazing."

Bow blushed lightly in sweetness as the little girl took her hand. She held it happily as they walked and looked down at her, seeing her smile. This was a good choice, she decided.

As they got to the huge tree, it seemed to glow softly from within itself. When they got up to the front, a door appeared before them and opened by itself. "Well, this is home! As you can see we're in the living room right now... Over there is the kitchen, and through that door is the main ops room!"

All of the furniture was made of wood and the entire house smelled of maple. There were lighting bugs flying around and mushrooms creating a nice warm glow to see. Everything seemed to have a mystical aura around it. "So... This isn't even the start... But what do you think so far??" She smiled adoringly and went to walk towards a hallway.

Annie looked around, petting Kasha as she stared up at the interior. "I don't even know what to say. You have such a beautiful home." She could really get used to this place, and kind of wondered where the others were. She hoped the team was nice, and maybe even get on good terms with that one guy that didn't want her on the team(not that she blamed him).

Kasha looked up and meowed, letting Annie know he wanted let down. She took him out, setting the kitten down on the floor. "Topamet tchu, toe aye?" she said, watching as he ran along to go scout the floor in kitten-like curiosity and excitement.