Something Borrowed
Chapter One: A City Spurned
The city was dark and clouded, almost ominous. It was as if whatever greater power was above knew what the city did not yet; The Titans were missing.
For nearly twenty five years the group had served the city, Nightwing, Starfire, Raven, Cyborg and Changeling, and in more recent years the long lost Terra, giving up their lives for the greater good of civilians who hadn't the means to help themselves when trouble came about. Strong powers, skill and strategy earned them not only a place as heroes, but as an entity in the people's hearts. Though they had seen their fair share of trials, of betrayals and false hope, the Titans had more than earned their place as the saviors of jump city.
But that is a story for a later chapter.
A young girl with Caramel skin and bright clear blue eyes looked up the sky as a torrential downpour began. She scowled, pulling her shawl closer to her face and continuing on her merry way. She had business to attend to, and knowing her teammates, there would be little attention given to her until she made her point clear. More than likely, they were currently on the couch, playing video games and chowing down on pizza while her and Starburst, (as she liked to call her, her actual name was Korynadraea'r, but the girl had such a colorful personality, she was nicknamed after the succulent candies.) scrounged downtown for any information on the Titan's disappearance.
It made the girls stomach curl. How could they just go missing like that?
"Have you found anything?" The girl looked up to the sky to see Starburst touchdown on the ground. The girl was only fourteen, but she looked almost eighteen with her alien height. Her black hair was long and shiny, nearly to her hips. Her blue eyes were striking and were complimented by her native Tameranian heritage, even though half of her was still human. She looked at the caramel skinned girl meaningfully but the girl only sighed in response.
"Nothing." She replied, the sorrow weighing heavily on her heart. "I don't know what's worse. That there are no rumors about it at all or that when the rumors do come, there won't be anyone to protect Jump City." Starburst looked down at the ground and held her arms across her chest.
"Skye," She said. "What's going to happen if they've been compromised?" Skye shook her head and looked up to the sky where the rain continued to pour down.
"I don't know Star," She said. "I don't know."
-::-
Raven sat up in her bed, breathing heavily in a cold sweat. What was this dream about? She'd had it three or four nights in a row, and that much frequency told her it was close to a premonition.
A girl with brown hair and caramel skin was walking towards her in the dream, but her eyes were closed and her arms were limp at her sides. She couldn't be any older than fourteen or fifteen. The girl stalked toward Raven each time, and each time she came closer and Raven noticed something different about her. This time, she noticed a really disturbing fact. The gem on the girl's forehead.
Not many people would have understood the importance of this gem, especially being that hers was a very particular sort. The kind that those on Azerath were born with. This girl, whoever she was, was in some way related to her. Maybe not by blood, but by the brotherhood of Azar.
Raven slid her legs over the edge of the bed and rubbed her eyes, glancing at the clock. Two am. She sighed and stood up, nimbly stretching and walking out the sliding door to her room.
The tower was quiet and completely undisturbed at this hour. This was the time Raven generally decided to walk around if she couldn't sleep for any reason. She peeked into the main part of the living room to find in unoccupied and sighed again. Part of her always hoped that someone would be awake to join her at that strange hour.
"Raven?" Ah, she spoke to soon. She turned around to look and see Cyborg carrying a medley of parts back to his room from the ground floor. He looked rather surprised to see her awake. "Is something wrong? I don't normally see you creepin' around the tower this early in the morning." Raven smiled at his phrasing of the time.
"Just a dream." She said. "Need some help? It looks like you've got your hands kind of full there." Cyborg smiled cheekily and wiggled a bit.
"Are you offering milady?" He asked. Raven smiled and rolled her eyes, walking over and grabbing a few good sized parts and following him to his room. If someone had been awake at Titan's tower, Raven always hoped it would be Cyborg. His constant tinkering with gadgets didn't always fascinate her, but it kept her mind off of other things and kept her focusing on something easily attainable. That, and she genuinely enjoyed every moment spent with the metal man.
Truth be told, Raven could almost say she was quite smitten with him. But of course, no one would ever in their right mind guess that. Actually with the way things went, most people assumed her and Beast Boy were going to end up together. In a sense she supposed it made sense. But somewhere deep in her heart she knew he still had it hard for Terra. Even though she'd yet to return as a Titan, Raven felt that just the fact that she existed placed a barrier between her and the changeling. Not that it bothered her too much. She loved Beast Boy, but she knew things were not meant to be in that sense. He was like her brother. Well, not exactly like her brother. Seeing as her real brother was closer to Robin in personality. But a younger, more eccentric brother. Yeah. Like that.
"You can just put those on the table right there." Cyborg said, letting the rest of the pieces fall unceremoniously onto the long working table. Raven gently placed down the pieces and turned to look at Cyborg. He looked a little tired and she tilted her head.
"When was the last time you sat down and recharged?" She asked, crossing her arms and giving him a meaningful look. Cyborg smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.
"Erm… I don't remember?" He said. Raven rolled her eyes. She looked down at the pieces and took note of what was there.
"What are you building?" She asked. Cyborg's sheepish gaze was instead replaced with a spark of intense passion that she knew he harbored for his creations, regardless of whether they worked or not.
"Well, I'll tell you," He said, his voice excited, "But you can't tell anyone else, it will be our little secret." Raven raised an eyebrow in amusement and smirked. He always did this when his inventions were less than conventional. She was now officially curious.
"I'm building-" Wait for it. Raven thought. "A time machine!" Raven blinked a few times and then smiled, shaking her head.
"A time machine?" She asked. "How in the world are you going to do that?" Cyborg pretended to look offended and covered his pieces from her view.
"How could you say such a thing?" He exclaimed. "My inventions are flawless!" Raven rolled her eyes, still smiling and whacked his arm lightly.
"I'm sure you'll do it. I'm more concerned about how you'll get it to actually function later." Cyborg pouted and she patted his arm again.
"No faith Raven." He said puffing out his chest. "It's gonna work. And then we're gonna take a trip to the future and go see ourselves in the future and hope we aren't old and cranky."
"That's a guarantee with being human Cy." Raven said smirking. "Eventually we will get old and cranky."
"Maybe you will." Cyborg teased tapping her nose. "I'll stay young and happy forever."
"Fat chance!"
"Actually my sensors indicate-"
"Sensors shmensors you'll age way before I do-"
"Well we'll see when I finish my time machine!" Raven smiled at their witty banter and yawned, now tired again. Cyborg shook her shoulders a bit and smiled gently. "It's time for you to go to bed Rae, I'll make sure to come get you in the morning." Raven rolled her eyes again and poked his chest.
"Only if you promise to recharge starting when I leave." She bargained. Cyborg looked reluctant but nodded his assent.
"Alright alright, I will." He scooped her close and gave her a quick hug, releasing her and smiling. "Now go get some sleep. No more nightmares. And we'll talk about this one in the morning." Raven nodded and took her leave, heading back to the dark depths of her room, where sleep again claimed her.
Hey my dearest Readers! Yet another CYRAE story here, but this time we're not going to follow an alternate universe timeline, oh no! Instead, we're going to take a look at the next generation and a little adventure that makes the team realize a few things about their futures, if you know what I mean. ;) So I hope you've enjoyed this first chapter, more to come soon! Cheerio!
~Suzuka
