It's A Wonderful Life
Prelude: Worth More Dead Than Alive
Christmas Eve.
Titans Tower and the city it overlooked were quiet, as light snow drifted down onto its denizens. Normally, Noel Collins would have tried to raise a stink over whatever method his teammates had used to alter the weather, AGAIN, but he was trying something else in the most recent part of his life, which was not being a hair trigger jerkwad. He still didn't think it could be good for the local bio-systems and weather patterns, but Robin let it pass. Noel figured that Tim probably knew what he was talking about.
"So, you're sure this stuff won't make me grow a second head or something." Noel said, looking at the vial as best he could in the flickering firelight. He wasn't sure how Raven had gotten the fireplace into her room, but considering all he knew about his long-time girlfriend, he didn't question it. Nothing this year had made her, or him, unhappy, and he wanted it to stay this way.
"Trust me Noel. Just put it in the cocoa. You'll be glad you did." Raven said. Noel turned the vial over in his fingers one more time, and finally tapped its contents into the cocoa, stirring the drink with a spoon before cautiously lifting it to his lips.
"…geeeekh." Savior squeaked, as the sensation washed over his mouth and down his throat. "Good lord, this bleep IS good."
"Language, Noel. Maybe some can't make it out, but I can." Raven said. Noel was about to say something when Raven's communicator rang.
"Raven." She said as an answer.
"Hey, no fourth wall breaking! That's all I have that distinguishes me!" Gauntlet yelled on the other end. "Also, where can I get some of what Noel's having?"
"Well Robert, first you'd have to find a girl, and then you'd have to get her to LIKE you, and then the blood will flow to the soft tissue in…" Noel said, smirking before Raven punched him. "Ow."
"Oh ha ha." Gauntlet said. "It's not like I couldn't get a girlfriend if I wanted to. I'm just busy. Really, right circumstances, I'm a babe magnet. A chick catalyst. A lady logarithm. I think you get my point."
"Because they sure don't, hey-yo." Noel smirked.
"You should write for Letterman. Anyway, later." Gauntlet said, signing off.
"…how long before he comes back realizing I never answered his question?" Noel asked.
"Eight seconds."
"I say eleven." Noel replied, and waited.
It was actually ten seconds later that Raven's communicator crackled again.
"Hey wait a minute! What are you drugging his hot chocolate with and where can I get some?"
"It's from Starfire. Some Tamaranian spice, so ask her. Just make sure you're very specific, or…well, you saw what happened when Beast Boy mispronounced one syllable when he tried to ask her for a needle and thread."
"THANKS FOR BRINGING IT UP! THAT'S A MONTH OF THERAPY WASTED!" Beast Boy yelled in the background of Gauntlet's communicator. Savior chuckled to himself.
"Still, this IS good stuff, Gauntlet. If Raven hadn't given it to me I'd think it WAS some kind of drug."
"It might still be. Kinda sad to resort to roofies, Rae. Anyway, I better get going. You two have fun doing whatever it is you're up too."
"Oi. Is it really that strange for me to snark back?" Noel said.
"Considering what we usually know you for? Yes." Raven said. "Don't stop though. I like it."
"Well, it helps that everything was quiet this year. No massive gatherings or toy riots or religious nuts or evil Santa Clauses…nice and peaceful. Even WITH Adam visiting us again." Noel said, settling back as Raven leaned into him, both of them watching the fire dance on the logs as it slowly consumed them.
Raven was silent for a bit, feeling Noel's heart beat softly against her back. After the strange dimension-hopping Titan called Metatron, who was the lone self-invited guest of the Titans this year, did NOT respond to mention of his name by appearing and doing something strange, Raven sipped her own drink, musing on the flames as they burned.
"Noel?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what?"
"Remember last year?"
"Do I have to?" Noel groaned. "That time was no fun, especially for both of us. I'd rather leave that rough patch behind us, along with the other ones. Not to mention what happened in October with the Lanterns."
"Well, I was just wondering about something…" Raven said. "I noticed after the mess with the Church of the True Son you were in a bad mood, but when I saw you next, it had passed. Considering how well I know you, you tend to brood. I could chalk it up to greater maturity…"
"Perish the thought." Noel mused, drinking more cocoa.
"Except I later found a trace of strange energies on the roof I saw you coming down from. Very faint, so much that it slipped my mind until now…"
"You want to know what happened up there."
"Did something?"
"What, like I was kidnapped by some alien dimension and they replaced me with some sort of clone they made, and the real me is stuck in the other dimension all mutated and angry and wanting revenge? PHANTASMAGORIA…!" Noel said, sounding like he was rattling off what was supposed to be a comical reference.
Raven stared.
"…right, I forget you don't spend as much time on the internet as I do." Savior said.
"I HEARD THAT, CURTIS! I mean, Noel." Gauntlet's voice crackled on the communicator. Raven stared again, and then turned her communicator off.
"So something did happen?"
"…yes, actually."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Well, at the time I just wanted to keep things peaceful, and like you, I guess it slipped my mind." Noel said. "You want me to tell the other Titans, or just you? It's a long story."
"…I would like to know. We can decide if the others have to." Raven said.
"All right then." Noel said, taking a moment to locate the special coaster-esque item Raven had enchanted to keep drinks warm and put his cocoa on it. "Well, after we all got back to the Tower, I was in a pretty foul mood. Didn't want to sour anyone else's holiday, so I went up to the roof to get some privacy…"
Christmas Eve. One year ago.
Deep down, Noel knew he was being a prick.
He really shouldn't have. True, he'd just come within a hair's edge of dying, again, and so had several of his other teammates, not to mention the Tower had almost been blown up (again). None of that had happened, and Raven's recent awkward coldness towards him had faded when she realized he hadn't been killed. He really should have felt grateful, for the sake of the others if not himself.
He was, however, still human. The fact remained that Raven had begun treating him like a semi-pariah without giving any reason for it herself, or presenting one that Noel could figure out, a state that had taken him nearly getting shot to death for her to stop. Noel couldn't help it: pain and fear were one of the best ways to bring out resentment, and logic was rarely an effective weapon against the wounds of the heart.
So here he was on the roof. It was cold, but not cold enough to change his mind. He needed to be alone, if only because he thought he'd have a better chance of getting over it alone. Also, he didn't want to ruin the holiday for the others…
Wonderful. He was Scrooge, again. He could live with being as hard and sharp as a flint, but he didn't really want to be a solitary as an oyster, when things came down to it.
"If anyone wants to bring out some Christmas ghosts, I wouldn't be opposed." Savior said. He wasn't expecting an answer, and he didn't get one. "I'll take a Jacob Marley! Hell, I'll even take an inexplicable steam train."
Savior glanced around, expecting Metatron to pop out of the shadows and begin babbling again, especially off a line like that. He really didn't want that to happen: as perspicacious as the strange Titan's judgment could be, Noel really wasn't in the mood to hear it.
And why is that Collins? You don't want him ruining the self-indulgence of your sulk? A voice chimed up in the back of his head. Noel covered his face with one hand and muttered. Even his brain was against him these days.
"It is the nature of humans to be torn in such ways."
Noel tore his hand off his face, his eyes widening at the new figure in front of him. Reacting on instinct, Savior leapt backwards, Shimmer weapons springing from his hands. The cloaked figure made no move in turn, as Savior stared at him, blinking. It took several seconds, but recognition slowly dawned in the Titan's eyes.
"…Phantom Stranger?!" Noel said in confused surprise.
"So you know of me, Noel Collins." The Phantom Stranger replied. Savior stared another moment before calling back his talent, looking at the entity standing on the empty air in front of the tower. The snow seemed to drift around his dark blue cloaks, not one flake landing on the hat that cast the Stranger's face in shadow. Normally Noel would have been alarmed that someone he'd never met was speaking his real name…but while Noel had never met the Stranger, he'd heard a thing or two about him. You didn't date a magician for years without not learning such things.
The mysterious entity who wandered the world and occasionally aided or advised heroes before him was one of them. No one knew where he came from, or what his goals were. Many said the Stranger himself no longer knew, if he ever did to begin with. But in times of great disaster, usually of the magical variety, the Stranger would appear and lend a hand, or a word.
Knowing that didn't lessen Noel's mild confused alarm.
"…yeah…I do. Why are you HERE?" Savior said, keeping on alert, just in case.
"My wanderings have brought me here. They will later take me elsewhere. I am, as always, a stranger to all things." The Phantom Stranger said. "I took notice of you as I passed, however."
"Why? Am I in danger? Is Raven?" Noel said.
"No, it was more that your isolation from your fellows is self-imposed."
"…and you disagree with this?" Noel said, peering around to make sure he wasn't being pranked in some fashion.
"I can assure you I am very real, Noel Collins." The Phantom Stranger said. Noel swallowed a bit, feeling like he was being looked through like glass, and not much liking the idea. "Your teammates are not, and will not be, interfering with your grievances. Though I point out to you the same realization you have had: they serve little purpose besides self-indulgence. I am, by who I am, destined to wander alone. You are not."
"Is my thinking process completely wrong, then?"
"…no. The feelings you have are…understandable."
"I don't suppose you can tell me why my girlfriend is, or was, to be fair, being so cold to me, unless, of course, I nearly get shot to death."
"That is not my place."
"Right. How about telling me how to get back to the way it used to be with her?"
"That is within your responsibility, not mine."
"I figured. Well, it was nice meeting you, and Merry Christmas, but you can probably be of more use elsewhere, Stranger." Noel said.
"…do you really believe such bitterness is the best approach to have, Noel Collins?"
"What? Look, if you're really so all-seeing, you should know why I'm doing it. Also, please, my name?"
"As you wish, Savior." The Phantom Stranger said. Noel arched an eyebrow, trying to tell if there was a hint of subtle irony in the Stranger's tone.
"…no. I don't think this is the best way. But I can't help how I feel at the moment." Savior said.
"Perhaps you need a differing viewpoint." The Stranger said.
"Look, I know why my teammates are in a good mood, I can even dismiss why…oh wait. Wait. I get it now. I've seen this movie." Noel said. "You want to pull that card? Why don't I just ring a bell?"
"Pardon?"
"Really, I had heard you might be a fallen angel, Stranger, but I doubt anything I can do will get you your wings back. And if by some infinitesimal chance you have somehow become my guardian angel, you're about five years and a giant backlog of events too late."
"…pardon?" The Stranger repeated, his face remaining inscrutable.
"…right. I suppose you might not be up to date on the entertainment industry." Noel said. "I thought you were going to replicate the plot of a famous Christmas film, and show me a world where I was never born, and how that I should be grateful for my life because the world would surely be so much worse without me in it."
"…actually, I was planning to do something else entirely, but I believe that concept may help more." The Stranger said. "You are aware of the flaws of your position, but not enough to actually abandon them. Perhaps a world affected by your absence would allow you to…"
"…waitwaitwaitwait. Hold it." Noel said. "Are you serious? You actually want to do that."
"It would help. Sometimes I do give aid, Titan."
"You pop up out of nowhere, and now you want to use your powers to show THE WORLD WITHOUT SAVIOR." Noel said, keeping the mockery in his voice directed at the concept rather then the one offering it.
"You have seen stranger things than…well, what a Stranger can bring, Titan." The Phantom Stranger said. Savior cocked his head, thinking for a few moments.
"You can actually do that?"
"The fact that you know of me should answer your question."
"………….All right. I accept. But I have one condition."
"Yes?"
"Showing me a world where I wasn't born is…too easy. I want more data, if it were. Expand the idea. I want to see what would happen if none of my teammates had been born."
"All of them?"
"No, not a world where none of the core Titans were born, well, yes that but…ugh." Savior said. "I wish, if we're going to be following this hoary old concept, to see separate worlds. Worlds where Cyborg wasn't born, where Scalpel wasn't, and so on. All of us. Just my team though, not any of our offshoots or honoraries, that would take too long. Just knowing what would happen if I didn't exist isn't enough. I want to know just how important we are all together. See all parts of the whole, I guess." Savior said.
"You would make…demands of me?"
"No. If this is beyond your power, then merely show me what you originally planned to. But if not…consider it a gift. After all, part of the season is asking what you want. Within reason, of course."
"…I suppose your request has grounds." The Phantom Stranger said. "Shall we begin then?"
Noel suddenly had an intense sense of vertigo, as the roof he was on began fading away…
"Where do you wish to start?"
"Surprise me."
"Classical fashion seems best, then…"