* DISCLAIMER *
This is a non-profit work of fan-fiction involving
characters created and owned by DC Comics.
* WRITTEN BY *
Samy samerc@mash.yok.utu.fi Merchi
* ARCHIVED AT *
http://mash.yok.utu.fi/corona.html
* INSPIRED BY *
* STARRING *
NIGHTWING! FLASH! TEMPEST! TROIA! ARSENAL!
STARFIRE! CYBORG! DAMAGE! ARGENT! JESSE QUICK!
* THE TITANS *
in
*************************
* ALL IN A NIGHT'S WORK *
*************************
* CONTINUITY *
This story takes place
after TITANS #5.
***
"Hurry up, Annie! Water's risin'!"
"I'm tryin', I'm tryin'!"
"HEY! What are those kids doing there??" fireperson Theresa O'Keefe
shouted as the vicious winds blew and buffeted around Chester County,
Pennsylvania, blowing leaves off trees and biting harsh cold rain
against your face. It was a storm, and a bad one.
"We're tryin' ta save Mr Fluppy!" the boy shouted in anguish.
"Someone help us!!" He started sobbing as the entire doghouse was
underwater already, watching in panic as his sister tried to reach in
and untie the dog's leash before the poor furry creature drowned under
the several feet of water flooding the town.
"Damn!" Theresa shouted, and jumped over the barricades, starting to
wade forward in the water towards the yard where the kids and the dog
house were, her heart racing as she tried to make it in time.
Suddenly, first Annie, and then her brother a few eyeblinks later,
were pulled under by the dark chaotic waters.
"NO!" Theresa shouted, and tried to move faster in the water that was
growing deeper by the minute, sloshing violently thru the heavy
liquid, getting soaked and not caring.
"Theresa!"
"Theresa!"
Her name was called several times, before she snapped to reality and
noticed two other firemen holding her in place, preventing her from
going any deeper into the water.
"There's nothing you can do", the other fireman whispered, biting his
bottom lip grimly.
***
Underwater, brother and sister fought in vain against the overwhelming
waters, strong enough to break stone and bend metal, certainly strong
enough to keep two children in its clutches long enough that it didn't
matter anymore. Didn't mean they didn't fight. Did mean it wouldn't
make a difference.
***
Above the surface of the water, the storm was lessening somewhat, but
the rain was still pouring down, whipped about madly by the winds, and
the currents in the flooded areas kept wreaking havoc and claiming
everything that wasn't nailed down. Everything was being disrupted...
***
...by a TEMPEST.
"GOT YOU!" Garth of Shayeris shouted as he cut a swath underwater like
a torpedo, grabbing Annie and her brother by the backs of their
shirts, and heading for the surface. If the kids were still alive,
they needed air, FAST. Neither of them was moving, both of them were
limp and unresponsive to his touch.
The water exploded as Tempest of the Titans shot to the surface, using
strong water currents to propel himself into the air so he landed
right onto the bridge underneath which a major storm current frothed.
"These kids need help!" he shouted, holding one child on each arm as
he ran towards a triage tent where some first aid shelters had been
set up.
"We'll take them", a paramedic said as he and several colleagues
rushed over, accepting the children from a tense, wide-eyed and
obviously worried Garth. "Thank you", he nodded to the superhero
before rushing off with the children and the other paramedics, leaving
Garth standing alone, in the cold wind and rain, red lights from fire
trucks and ambulances parked nearby illuminating the sight that could
be from a war-demolished zone. Homeless people, injured people,
people separated from their families and crying helplessly as they
didn't know if their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons,
daughters, lovers, friends were dead or alive, maybe somewhere trapped
in by water and nobody could help --
"Tempest." Calm voice. Sharp. In control.
Garth glanced over his shoulder at Nightwing, and took a deep breath,
brushing the back of his hand over an eye briefly before nodding to
his old friend. "Yeah?"
"I know how you feel, but we can't afford to rest", Nightwing said.
"No matter how tired we are, no matter how much we hurt from all of
this, there are people out there who are even more tired, even more
hurt, even more scared. We have the power to help them. It's our
responsibility."
Tempest nodded weakly. "I know", he said and took a deep breath.
"You're right, of course. Thanks for the pep talk." He glanced
towards the edge of the bridge, and the frothing waters underneath.
"Want me to just go?"
"Yes", Nightwing nodded. "Do your best. Try to use your powers to
freeze water in crucial places to form barricades, maybe try to slow
the currents down or divert them to safer waters. DON'T freeze any
waters unless you've checked there aren't any people there, I don't
want any stupid mistakes --"
"I'm not an amateur", Garth gave a slight smile. "Trust me, I can --"
He hesitated a moment, and lowered his eyes. "It's so *much* --"
"I know", Nightwing said, placing a hand onto Tempest's shoulder.
"The sooner we get to work, the less it'll be." He took Garth's hand
into his and squeezed it tightly. "Good luck."
"Thanks", Tempest replied, and then ran over to the edge of the
bridge, climbing up onto the railing and leaping off into the waters
underneath, disappearing into the dark swirls and vanishing from sight
as if he was never going to be seen again.
Nightwing didn't let his eyes linger on the sight. He was too much of
a professional. "Cyborg!" he shouted into the microphone at his
mouth, putting a hand over his ear to hear the receiver better.
"Gimme a sit-rep!"
***
"It's bad, Nightwing", the gold-skinned man replied, standing near a
newsvan and keeping himself appraised of all the latest events and
developments. "The storm's dying down, but there's still tons of
water coming down, and the Crum Creek Valley reservoir thirty miles
away is overflowing, and the dam's cracking -- if the dam gets worse,
we could be in for a lot of trouble!"
***
"Gotcha!" Nightwing shouted and quickly ran thru a list of possible
approaches in his mind, considering several and discarding more than
that. A few seconds later, he said, "Tempest is busy, I need a line
on Argent!"
***
"That's it! Don't rush, take time to reinforce it!" Arsenal shouted
from atop a van that was half underwater. "The bigger and stronger it
is, the easier a time you'll have pushing it against the water
masses!"
The silver-skinned Argent nodded in understanding, and her forehead
furrowed in concentration as the silvery energy she projected from her
hands fastened to lampposts, nearby buildings, half-drowned vehicles,
anything that could serve as leverage. The energy field fixed itself
in place, thickened, serving as a solid dam against the onrush of
water onto the streets.
"Hang on!" Arsenal called out, and then pressed a hand over his ear to
hear the transmission better. "WHAT? You WHAT?" he then shouted.
"Hey, man, I've got a crisis situation on hand here, too! I can't
spare Argent, she's -- what? Hey, I've got her holding up a dam here
too! I can't --"
ZZZZIIPPPP
Arsenal blinked as a flash of red and gold streaked thru the area and
when it was gone an eyeblink later, so was Argent. And so was the
energy field she had been creating. "Aw, great!" Roy Harper growled
as held-back water masses rushed to the streets. "Thanks a %$£&ing
lot, Wally!"
***
"Here she is, Nightwing", the red and gold streak said as it screeched
to a stop atop the bridge where Nightwing was helping the triage tents
be set up.
"Great, thanks, Jesse", Nightwing said, turning away from the tents
and towards his two teammates. "We've got a crisis, thirty miles off.
Dam cracking. We need to bulk it up, and keep it holding up until
repair crews can do their work. I know it'll be a lot of work and
it's been a hard night, but --"
"We get it, Nightwing", Jesse Quick said, and glanced to both sides of
the bridge, before returning her eyes to the Titans' leader. "Where
is it?"
"Here", Nightwing said, pulling a map from one of the compartments in
his gauntlet and handing it over. "X marks the spot", he said, unable
to restrain a slight smile. "I marked the dam on the map, and I also
marked the best route for you to travel by land, taking into account
the present flood reports that were available to --"
ZZZZIIPPPP
"Hnh", Nightwing said, quirking an eyebrow as he stood alone again.
But again, only for a moment, before he rushed back towards the tents
again to help out the overtaxed official rescue workers with his body,
while his mind kept working with his team, coming up with ways upon
ways of how to best utilize the Titans' talents in a crisis like this.
"Flash, I've got a sugg--"
Then, he stopped, and swallowed.
He walked over to the paramedics, and looked at little Annie lying on
a stretcher, pale.
Behind the solid white lenses of his black bird-shaped mask, his eyes
squeezed shut and a little tear came to the corner of his eye as a
blanket was pulled over the little girl's face.
*** FIVE HOURS LATER ***
Sun rose.
The storm was over, and the waters were settling down. They were
still high, but they were mostly calm by now. There was only the
slightest of breeze, and the air was clear and without rain. The
first rays of sun's gold glittered off the waters everywhere.
Damage was sitting in a tent, bags under his eyes from staying up all
night, as he was watching over Argent who was lying in his lap, passed
out from the exhaustion of having held the dam together until the
repair crews could pull things together.
Arsenal was flapping his big mouth at Jesse Quick, telling her how she
had put dozens of people at risk by stealing Argent away, and Jesse
was defending herself by saying that *thousands* would have been
endangered if she hadn't done what she had done. Arsenal being who he
was though, logic didn't penetrate his wounded macho ego very well.
Starfire was standing off to the side, dried tears staining her
cheeks, and Troia's arms around her, comforting her, even as she
comforted Donna in return by hugging her back.
Flash and Cyborg were being interviewed by a pair of reporters. Wally
did most of the talking, and Cyborg let him, only stepping in to make
corrections when Wally got something blatantly wrong.
Tempest was sitting on the railing of the bridge, watching the sunrise
with a faintly serene expression on his face. As he heard the
footsteps behind him, he knew who it was, and why he was there. "She
didn't make it, did she?" he said softly.
"I'm sorry", Nightwing murmured softly, placing a hand onto Garth's
shoulder as he sat down beside the Atlantean on the railing, looking
towards the sunrise.
"It's a new day", Garth said quietly.
Nightwing nodded, and stayed silent for a few moments. "It's over",
he finally said.
"This one is", Garth pointed out, and then quietly placed a hand over
his eyes. He stayed motionless like that for long moments, almost a
minute, before a sob made his shoulders shake. "If I had been a few
seconds faster -- if I had looked in that area sooner -- if I had --"
He stopped, and another sob escaped him.
Nightwing let Garth trail off by himself, rather than interrupt him.
Then, when Tempest was done, Dick spoke. "Or, you could've been a few
seconds slower -- looked in that area later. They *both* could've
died."
Garth's expression contorted in pain for a few moments, and a few
tears ran down his cheeks. "They were trying to save their *dog*!" he
gasped with a constricted throat. "They were *children*! They hadn't
done anything *wrong*!" He took a few quick shallow breaths as tears
began to run more freely. "The fireman I spoke with -- she knows the
family -- their mother has just recovered from a bout with alcoholism.
If she goes back into the bottle -- it's *my fault*!"
"No, it's *not*", Nightwing said affectionately, and leaned a bit
closer, putting his arms around Tempest, who lay his head onto Dick's
chest and sobbed uncontrollably. "It's okay, Garth", he whispered.
"You didn't do anything wrong tonight. And neither did they.
Sometimes there just *is* no right choice. We're damned if we do,
damned if we don't. They tried to save their dog, and failed. We
tried to save a lot of people tonight, and we failed at that." He took
a deep breath, and then slipped off the railing, taking Tempest's hand
in his and leading him towards one of the first aid tents. "But we
also saved a lot of people tonight. If we hadn't been here tonight,
more lives would've been lost. Both of them would've died. We made a
difference, Tempest. That's why we restarted the Titans. To protect
the children of the world. And that's just what you did tonight. You
saved one boy who would've died otherwise." He pointed towards a boy,
sleeping on a cot underneath a blanket. "That boy."
Garth swallowed, and turned away. "I can't -- I *can't* face him!" he
said in anguish. "I *can't*!"
"But I can", a new voice spoke, and the two Titans turned towards it
to see a middle-aged woman. "Because of you", he spoke to Garth, "I
still have my son." She bit her lip, as moisture glimmered in her
eyes. "I've lost a lot this night. Because of you, I didn't lose it
all. I still have a reason to live." Tears started streaming down her
cheeks as she placed her hands onto Garth's cheeks. "I can never
thank you enough."
"And I can never apologize enough", Garth sobbed, putting her arms
around the woman and hugging her tightly as his body shook with the
tears. "I'm so sorry! I'm so *sorry* --!"
Nightwing turned away, and quietly walked off. Garth would heal. He
knew this. So would the town. So would most, if not all the people
who survived until dawn. It was over. The healing process was
beginning. He took a deep breath, and brushed some moisture off his
cheeks.
"Hey."
"Hey yourself, Arsenal", Nightwing answered, sniffling back the tears
and putting up the brave front. "You okay?"
"Yeah, amigo", the marksman replied, flipping a coin into the air for
want of something better to do with his hands. "Question is, are
you?"
"You know", Nightwing said quietly, "I told Garth he shouldn't blame
himself for every mistake he made, but be happy about every thing he
did *right*."
"Makes sense", Arsenal nodded.
"Then how come --?" Nightwing shook his head silently, and took a
long, deep breath, turning his eyes towards the sunrise. "Howcome I'm
doing exactly the opposite of what I'm advising?"
Arsenal shrugged slightly. "Maybe because you ain't got nobody who'd
tell you the same things you tell people?" he suggested. "Maybe
because you know all the right things to say, but you don't believe in
them yourself, 'cause nobody's saying them back to you?"
Nightwing managed a weak smile. "Are you telling me I shouldn't blame
myself?" he asked.
"Nah", Arsenal said, patting Nightwing onto the back. "You're a smart
hombre, you'll figure that out anyway in a few days. So since I've
got an opening to tell you something, I might rather use it to tell
you to lend me a hundred bucks so I can take out this firefighter
chick I met..."
