Chapter 1

Robin woke up with the dawn to a bleak dreary morning. He rubbed the sleep from his mask covered eyes and cracked his neck. With a yawn he left his room in search of food. He walked down the dark hallway and approached the Kitchen through the automatic doors. Just as his hand reached for the cupboard for a bowl, he noticed it. The crimson light blinked from its electronic host. The answering machine beckoned hypnotically. Without much thought Robin hit the play button. Nothing could have prepared him for what happened next.


Raven stood near the water's edge on the Titan's private island, watching as the raging surf crashed over the rocks and rushed foaming over her feet. She made no motion to avoid the waves or the pouring rain, but merely stood there unblinkingly. There was a low rumble of thunder, breaking the soothing, monotonous rhythm of aquatic percussion. Her face was blank as her emotional plane. She felt oddly content with feeling nothing. There was the crunching of rocks shifting under footsteps, signaling another's arrival. The rain suddenly stopped connecting with her head. Her violet eyes glanced backwards and connected with her teammates green ones.

"You're in my thinking spot..." He said plainly, smirking ever so slightly, a fang emerging from between his lips. He'd grown more handsome, his face had thinned, his posture had become straighter, he'd even finally gained a few inches on her. In one hand Beast Boy held aloft a simple black umbrella, guarding them both from the elements. With two fingers he placed a piece of warm metal in her hand.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he said.

"You seem to give me these a lot..." she said staring into her open palm.

"Let's try not losing this one in hellfire shall we?"

She blinked. It was strange how easily he'd brought up such a touchy subject. She was not bothered by such audacity, more perplexed by his ability to discern the subject of her reverie.

"I don't understand it," she said after a moment.

"What?"

"I'm free. Free to hate, free to love, free to express everything I am... But I'm still me. My Father's dead, I don't need to worry about releasing him on the world through my emotions, and yet I haven't changed." She said it softly, hardly breaking her monotone, eyes fixed on the shifting tide. She sat on the sand just beyond the water's reach. There was a slight pause before he crouched next to her.

"Why would you want to change?" Beast Boy said from beside her.

"I just feel like if I wasn't so introverted, so frigid, just so creepy, it would make life so much easier."

"I'd trade easier for more interesting any day..." Her friend smiled.

"Maybe if I was more like you or Starfire..." She said slowly.

"I don't think the world could take two me's," He contemplated as he sat down next to her, "We'd get rather unstable without you. That's why our team works, Starfire pulls Robin out of his Slade obsession long enough to be a good leader. Cyborg is unquestionably loyal and a good listener, which as both heroes and teenagers is unbelievably important. Then there's us. I try and make you smile, you try to keep me in line. We balance each other out."

She looked at him in the eyes. "And here I thought we didn't like each other, I mean you do drive me crazy and the vice versa is true I'm sure."

He smiled sadly and his gaze matched her own. "With our lifestyle psychosis is the only rational way to survive."

"I'm confused. You're both comforting me and calling me insane..."

Beast Boy grinned and leaned back on his free hand. "Hey, we're having a moment here, don't ruin it."

For the first time in a long time, Raven laughed.


Slade Wilson had found being someone else's pawn a humbling experience. Serving as an interdimensional demon's minion had taught him a few things about himself. By the time the ordeal was over one thing became overwhelmingly clear. He needed a break. He was burned out, tired, and needed time to plan his official return. Now however he found his ambitions had been postponed.

Having had his entire estate destroyed along with his body in his last apprentice's betrayal, Slade now found himself in a monetary predicament. Beforehand his megalomaniacal efforts had been financed by his generous inheritance and trust funds. Now he needed to become a self made man. An army of seemingly endless martial arts trained androids doesn't pay for itself.

Currently Slade sat in his newest hideout, a two room studio apartment overlooking a porno theater in one of Jump City's more sordid sections, the best he could afford on his meagre salary. Sadly it seemed near successful world domination attempts and a lifetime of combat training didn't count for much in an office setting. In the end he'd found only one that would hire him without a resume or verifiable diploma where he could work from home. At least it was evil.

"Hello Mr. Johnson? Do you have a moment to discuss your opinions on the merits of coal heating?" A firm click and dial tone rang in his headset as Slade frowned and added One Walter F. Johnson of 18 Pemberly Street to the list of people to kill when he came back. So far the numbers looked like genocide.

The job was not without its perks however. Everyday at precisely 6:30pm he would call Titans Tower, using the number made available by Beast Boy's Game Informer Subscription, just in time to catch Robin sitting down to his rigorously scheduled mealtime. Slade would wait from his adversary's voice and then hang up giggling.

Slade was just about to move on to Everett Joseph of 36 Timberland Road when he felt a moist rag go over his face. He felt suddenly lightheaded. Then he felt nothing. Just warmth and blackness


Robin stood enthralled as Starfire came through the door. The girl had done little different with her appearance, but would have loved to garner the sort of reaction the boy's face now wore. This was not such an occasion.

The message that was playing was in a voice remembered clearly from his days fighting alongside Batman. Strong, diplomatic and to the point, recording had done little to mask the Man of Steel's eloquence. "Your Team has been selected to take part in the Mentored Young Justice Movement in the hopes of training a better posterity of super-heroes." Superman's voice said, "Each of you has been assigned a relevant instructor based on your powers and personality in order to teach you better control and strategy for the years ahead. We hope today's retreat, coincidentally beginning at noon, will be conducive to the learning experience. By the way, Robin? This will self-destruct in 10 seconds so back away."

The masked teen was immediately struck by several things: the fact Batman had neglected to inform him of this development; the fact Superman apparently knew he was the only one anal enough to actually check the messages; the impossibility of his answering machine having suddenly become a bomb; and finally, the disproof of that last thought when he was hit upside the head by a particularly hot lump of plastic and metal.

It was going to be a long day


A/N- Hey everybody, this is my first attempt at both Teen Titans fan fiction and a normally chaptered story. (If you've read my Avatar fic "One Day At A Time" you'll see what I mean) This is an idea I've had brewing in my head for awhile and I genuinely like what I've written here. I'm a pretty harsh judge of my own writing. I'm not sure how long it'll be between updates but I'll try and be pretty consistent. I'd like to thank you in advance for any and all reviews and I'd like to send out a challenge: I have ideas I really like for Beast Boy, Robin and Raven's mentors, but I need some help for Cyborg and Starfire. Any DC comic characters you can think of. Thanks.