Oleander never felt at home in one place; she was a rolling stone, a timid wanderer. When this tiny stranger meanders into Jump City, the Titans are unsure of what to do. The ghosts of their past remind the Titans that to trust to early can be nearly fatal. Orleander looks as the cover art for this story; pale skin, light green hair, and a fluffy, lacey white dress.
The first thing about her that caught Cyborg's eye was her hair; it was incredibly long, lengthier than Starfire's, and was the color of sunlight through leaves. It almost glowed with an inner light, and Cyborg was enraptured with its unique color. She was sitting quietly and alone across the busy street, sipping from a ceramic cup at a patio table outside a family owned coffee shop. Unlike all the other patrons of the shop, she sat fully in the heated sunshine, her face upturned to the sun, her green hair gently flowing in the slightest of breezes. Her pure white dress, stark against the filth of the city's streets, made her stand out like a sore thumb.
"Cyborg, let's go!" Beast Boy called from further up the street. Cyborg shook his head to clear it, and pounded up the street towards his svelte friend. He kept glancing back over his shoulder at the young woman, who grew farther in the distance, as he strolled along downtown Jump City. The city's streets and sidewalks bustled with activity; honking horns and screaming children, gossiping adolescents and business woman yapping on cellular phones. Raven hooked a sharp right into a nearby bookstore wordlessly, and the rest of the team followed, chittering happily. The conversation immediately dulled as they entered the dusky store, mute with ancient pages and elderly knowledge. Each of the Titans went to the area of the store that interested them the most, easily splitting up and weaving through the shelves.
Outside, the regular buzz of city life intensified; giggles turned to screams and shouts, and the window within the ancient wood pane rattled in protest of the greater volume. Robin returned the comic back to its rightful spot and rushed out the door, silently dashing past the cashier, who shivered with fear behind the counter. The other four rushed from the store quickly after their leader, and began forcing their way against the crowd, heading towards whatever was holding the group back. After a few frustrating seconds of making no headway, Starfire and Beast Boy took to the sky, while Raven summoned a midnight platform to carry Cyborg and Robin on along the way. The five superheroes zoomed above the heads of panicked citizens, and saw the City Bank door fling open.
"Thank you, Thank you, you've all been a wonderful crowd," Mumbo shouted, bowing low to the concrete as people fled from around him as oil avoids water. As he stood, he reached into his tuxedo's pocket, and extracted several cherry bombs. As they exploded around him and caused even a greater panic, his maniacal laugh sounded louder than the din of fear. Still far away, the Titans watched in growing horror as they saw one young person step away from the river of fleeing bodies and into Mumbo's attention.
"Get out of there!" Robin shouted, trying to be heard over the screams of terror. "Faster, Raven!" he shouted at his teammate, impatient to save everyone from harm.
"I can't go faster," Raven huffed as they zipped along. As they flew closer, they saw Mumbo's face contort in glee as he took in the young woman.
"For my next trick, I'll need a lovely volunteer!" Mumbo announced. From seemingly thin air, he pulled a great walking cane. Hooking the end around the young woman's waist, he drew her close, and her meek voice quipped in surprise. His gloved hand stoked her face teasingly, and she recoiled in anger. Cyborg raised his arm, and as his sonic cannon clicked into place, Robin glared at his teammate.
"We're still too far, you might hit her!" he warned. As Cyborg's arm replaced itself, he felt strangely hopeless. They wouldn't make it in time; she was going to get hurt.
A sudden gleam off of her hair caught the mechanical Titan's attention; her green strands were long and silky, stark against an unsoiled white dress. As the following events unfolded, he felt his confusion grow even quicker.
The small female delivered a vicious uppercut into Mumbo's blue face, and flipped elegantly out of his reach, landing perfectly on her tiny feet. After stumbling back a few baffled steps, Mumbo threw his arm out with a glare, and from his sleeve, a huge, colored rope lunged forth. The green haired girl hopped lithely to the side, and in return, held up her own hands towards the magician, a strange thing occurred. The cement around her feet buckled instantly, and two thick vines launched forward, wrapping around Mumbo and pinning all his extremities to his body. He landed with a cry of surprise on his face, and the girl knelt elegantly beside him, a pleased grin on her face. As the Titans landed silently behind her, they heard the end of the conversation.
"Nice trick, kid," Mumbo grumbled, eyeing the young lady above him.
"No," the girl said, her high pitched voice reminding Beast Boy of a canary, "a nice trick would be seeing you sneak out of the cell you're headed too."
"Glorious fighting!" Starfire's bright voice boomed. With a shout, the confident grin on the stranger's face was replaced with surprised terror, and as she leapt to her feet and saw the five superheroes before her, she about faced and began to run down a dank alley.
"Hey, wait!" Beast Boy called. The Five Titans began to pursue her, from land and air, and chased her through a network of alleys before she finally came to a dead end. As she whipped around and found herself backed into a corner, she began to whimper in fear, her frail body shaking.
"Please…I'm sorry, don't hurt me," she croaked, her itty bity voice cracking with terror.
"Uh, we aren't going to hurt you," Raven stated drily, removing her hood to expose her pale face.
"We want to thank you," Robin smiled, stepping forward. "Without your help, Mumbo might've hurt a lot of people." Robin extended his hand in a formal greeting, and the small girl stared at it with doe eyes, as if expecting a trap. "What's your name?" Robin asked after a moment, his hand still waiting to shake the stranger's. The young woman stared at him, her chest heaving with fear. "Look, if you don't feel ready to tell us something about yourself, that's fine," Robin coaxed soothingly, letting his hand fall to his side. "But Mumbo might get away. What do you say, we go wait for the authorities together, so they can thank the proper hero?" Robin moved to the side, along with the other Titans, to allow the newcomer a pathway through them. She approached the tunnel of bodies slowly, then bolted through, as if she expected them to close ranks on her and destroy her from all sides.
"Not exactly the brave and dauntless heroine we've come to know, huh?" Beast Boy whispered to Cyborg as they followed behind the others slowly, eyeing Starfire and Raven above.
"Nah, man, she ain't," Cyborg nodded, thinking of his teammates as well. "But there is definitely something about her." The six waited for the police to arrive, and when the cops thanked the stranger profusely after Robin explained what had happened, she nodded vigorously but silently, a nervous grin on her thin lips. After Mumbo was loaded into the back of a police vehicle and the red and blue lights disappeared around the corner, the dusk of early evening grew awkward with a heavy silence.
"So, ready to at least tell us your name now?" Raven asked blandly, turning to the shy girl. She looked at each of the Titan's faces in turn, and Starfire felt as if she were kicking a kitten.
"Oleander," she squeaked, her own small voice seeming to make her uncomfortable.
"Wow, that's a mouthful," Beast Boy grinned insensitively. "Mind if we call you….Ollie?" She stared at the changeling and shook her head back and forth, back and forth, causing her tiara of green hair to wave around her.
"Well, thanks for the help today, Oleander," Robin smiled, offering another handshake. The green haired girl shook it weakly, but a tiny smile pulled at the edge of her mouth.
"Where'd you come from, Ollie?" Beast Boy asked, playfully punching her on the shoulder. Her eyes grew sad and she rubbed her skin comfortingly as Cyborg nudged his way in between the newcomer and his best friend.
"Don't mind him," Cyborg smiled, trying to seem less like a seven foot tall robot man, and more like a regular man. She stared up at him, her mouth a small "o", and after a moment, her face cracked into a huge grin as she gazed up at him, and Cyborg felt his heart thud underneath his armor. She clung to his side a little, before turning to the group.
"I was just passing through town," her wispy voice said. "I'm kind've a nomad, I guess you could say. I heard the screams and thought I could help."
"You did more than help," Robin said with a satisfied grin as he crossed his arms definitely.
"Oh, absolutely!" Starfire thrilled as she twirled in the air and zipped in front of the small woman's face. "You are most effective at unleashing cans of the butt whoop!" Oleander offered a small, nervous smile, and tucked herself a little further behind Cyborg's arm, using his titanium arm as a wall against Starfire's vibrancy.
"Yeah, girl, you rocked!" Beast Boy cried, socking her again in the shoulder. A tiny whimper escaped her throat, and Cyborg immediately shoveled the smaller man out of the way, protecting his new found charge.
"Where you staying tonight, little lady?" Cyborg asked, in a voice quieter than usual, as he smiled down at his tiny new friend.
"I was planning on continuing my trek, move on to the next city," she grinned, gazing up at the eldest Titan adoringly. A harder thump in Cyborg's chest caused him to inadvertently shake his head.
"Nah girl, come on back to our place! Spend the night, you can move out in the morning!" A chorus of encouragement sound from Beast Boy and Starfire as they began pushing the new heroine towards Titan's Tower, blabbing reassuring words as the frail girl clung to the eldest Titan's arm with nervous desperation. Robin began to follow, then noticed that one of his team members was missing.
"Raven, are you okay?" Robin asked, his eyes slumped with worry. Raven stared after her family ahead, and appraised the slight form of their guest critically.
"We don't know her, and we have already made the mistake of trusting strangers too soon. We've done that several times, actually," her monotone drawl seeming loud in the sudden absence of the boisterous party in front of her.
"I know," Robin nodded sternly. "We won't let that happen again. This time, we will watch her, get to know her. No one is putting the Titans in danger again." Raven nodded in agreement, and the two heroes followed the noise of the shouting group ahead of them in silence, each lost in their own thoughts of betrayal.