The stars shone brightly.
After soundly defeating the Brotherhood of Evil, all of the Titans' greatest enemies were either behind bars or dead. The absence of super-villains left Jump City relatively peaceful, with the crime level dropping dramatically - not even common thugs wanted to risk facing the Titans. They remained vigilant, but with the people of the city at the safest they'd been in years, their help was not needed nearly as much. Each Titan found his or her own way to fill the unexpected free time.
-TT-
"How are your students coming along, Cyborg?" asked Robin. He and his biomechanical friend were strolling through the expanded Titans Tower, examining the construction work on the new east wing. Cyborg grinned proudly.
"You tell me. They're the ones who handled the work here. I only stood around and did the odd heavy lifting for 'em." He patted the nearby wall affectionately. "Solid construction, too. The twins take as much pride in their work as I do, and Eli doesn't quit until he outstrips both of them. That's how I know they're great mechanics."
In months past, Cyborg had taken a shine to street racing. This quickly led to the destruction of the T-Car in a rather violent accident, leaving Cyborg physically fine but emotionally shattered. Thinking the car to be unsalvagable, he brought the T-Car's wreckage to the city junkyard and gave it a tearful farewell before returning to the Tower to draw up plans for a new model. Unbeknownst to him, three children had been scavenging in the yard at the time. Using crude, simple tools, they fitted the T-Car with a functional (albeit rusty) chassis and used various parts found in the yard to restore it to working order. Cyborg got the surprise of his life when he walked outside to get the morning newspaper two months later, and found a beaten-up T-Car sitting on the Tower's front lawn next to three grinning kids. There was a brown-haired boy, Joseph, and his brunette sister, Sam. They were fraternal twins. Their friend, a taller boy with a bright shock of wild yellow hair, was named Elijah. "That's Eli for short," as he had put it.
Cyborg was so impressed with their work that he asked if they wanted to learn how to become 'real mechanics' – and with that, he took them under his wing. The children were already gifted beyond belief. Years spent fiddling with various gadgets in the junkyard had given them a unique, natural understanding of mechanical and electrical engineering. They quickly adopted Cyborg not only as a teacher, but also as an older brother of sorts, and became fiercely loyal to him. His apprentices were overjoyed when he told them he wanted them to help renovate the Tower.
-TT-
"Raven, are we able to see Tamaran from here?"
Though they had always been on opposite ends of the emotional spectrum, Raven and Starfire had become good friends ever since their first battle with the Puppet King. While they disagreed on nearly every topic, their discussions never seemed to grow into argument – rather, the two of them were fascinated by one another's differences and they were satisfied with merely understanding the other's point of view. However, after the battle with the Brotherhood, they discovered something they both had a passion for.
While innocently rummaging through Raven's massive library of ancient grimoires, Starfire discovered an old text about ancient astronomy. Though much of the information was incorrect and downright silly, the Tamaranean girl was impressed at the accuracy of the ancient star charts, and that the people of past civilizations could discover what they did with only the crudest of astronomical tools. Raven was initially furious that the other girl had invaded her space (again) but that was quickly overridden by surprise when she saw the book Starfire had found. Raven had always had a secret fondness for the night sky. She would spend many nights on the roof of the Tower gazing upward, using the brilliant inky depths of space as a focus for her meditation. She was now as familiar with the stars as she was with her own bedroom.
"I don't think so, Star. It's too far away. But I can show you where it would be, if we could see it," responded Raven. She stood up and examined a computer terminal installed on the Tower roof. After having the computer run a few numbers, she was rewarded with a set of coordinates. Raven returned to Starfire's side and manned the small, consumer-grade telescope they'd purchased.
"Here, Star. Tamaran's solar system would be somewhere here, just behind the Orion constellation."
"Orion – that is the hunter, yes? A warrior, like my people," said Starfire with a hint of pride. Raven raised her eyebrows slightly, mild surprise betraying her normally stoic expression.
"Yeah. What a strange coincidence." The dark-haired girl glanced at Starfire for a moment, studying her features. Her friend seemed almost melancholy. Starfire gently outstretched her hand to the sky, loosing a small starbolt at Orion's belt, as if to send a small part of herself home. The girls watched the soft green glow of solar energy fade away into the sparkling night sky. Raven curiously noted that starborne glimmer as it reflected off Starfire's eyes, the girl gazing towards her distant homeworld.
She looked away after a moment and wrapped her cloak around herself once again.
"It's getting late. We should head back inside." Raven collected the telescope and headed for the roof door. Starfire remained for a few more seconds before following her.
"Yes. Thank you for showing me this, Raven."
-TT-
The Titans retired to their rooms for the evening, looking forward to another day of quiet patrols and productivity – but something began to brew beneath the earth that night, something that would threaten to yank the population from its peaceful reverie and return chaos to the streets of Jump City.