Disclaimer: See chapter one.
This chapter is set in Kory's (Starfire's) POV.
Returning Home? Part I
"Check out the new gear the school ordered for us?" Gar shouted as he entered while trying to balance three large boxes. "We're practically merchandising now! T-shirts, jackets, shorts, pants, and they even got sneakers and training shoes in colors that match our uniforms!"
Rachel leaned close to me and muttered, "Oh joy! Now we just need a theme song."
"Wow Gar, now we just need to talk the headmaster into hiring a superstar producer to write us a theme song and some awesome band to sing it," Wally suggested aloud with a wide grin as he took the last box from Gar's hands. Our green skinned friend's face lit up at the idea and I giggled while Rachel rolled her eyes and stood. She smacked Wally lightly across the back of his head as she passed.
"I was being sarcastic, speedster."
Everyone in the common room began to laugh as I stood and walked over to the table, standing between Wally and Roy as we opened the boxes.
"Damn, these jackets are pretty sweet," I heard Roy say and looked to my left to see the red leather jacket with gold trimming in his hands, a gold arrowhead on the back and a round black patch about two to two and a half inches wide with a silver T in the center of it on the right sleeve.
I let out a low whistle and reached over to take a closer look. He handed it over before reaching back into the box.
Gar and Rachel are the youngest Titans in our group. They are both fourteen and were picked to join our team specifically because of their powers, but have come to fit in quite well with the rest of us. Wally is our local speedster, the fastest boy alive, and a year younger than Roy and I. He and Gar certainly seemed very happy with their own jackets as well.
"I'm really digging the black with the purple tiger stripes on the back," Gar told us with one of his wide, toothy smiles as he slipped the jacket over his shoulders.
"Until you have to transform in it and completely destroy the material, just like all of your other jackets," Rachel reminded him as the box in front of Roy and I became enveloped in black energy and was floated over to an empty chair so Rachel could grab her book bag.
"Hey Rachel, yours looks really cool when it's zipped up," Wally stated, holding the jacket up for us all to see the large black raven on the front, with it's wings shown on the sleeves, ending at the cuffs.
"That looks awesome, Rae. I hope you at least plan on wearing this at least once," I told her as she slipped her book bag over her shoulder and started for the door.
"If one of you could just leave it outside my door, I'd appreciate it. I have to get to my physics class," she waved off my comment, not even taking a second glance back at the four of us.
"Physics doesn't start for another fifteen minutes," Gar called out after her.
"No, five minutes. Check your watch once in a while, Gar."
We laughed as Gar's eyes widened comically when he looked up at the large clock hanging over the entrance to the common room.
"Dammit! I completely forgot! And I still haven't even touched my physics homework."
"Way to use your study period wisely, Gar," Roy mocked him lightly.
"He wouldn't be Gar if he did that, Roy," I replied in Gar's defense before glancing at Gar then back at the clock. "You keep staring at that like a deer in the headlights, you'll never get there, buddy."
Gar physically flinched back as my words pulled him from his reverie and back to earth. He cursed under his breath before racing out of the room, his new jacket held tightly in his left hand.
"Hey, here's your jacket, Kory. The purple flames on the black sleeves look really nice," Wally told me as he handed me my new jacket. I glanced at the jacket, my eyes immediately going to the same black T patch that was on Roy, Gar, and Rachel's own, before my eyes went to the name stitched on the left side of the chest in black thread. Starfire.
I set it down on the empty chair beside me before reaching inside the box to find Donna's new jacket. I hadn't seen her or Dick since we got back from Jump an hour ago. That fight with Cinderblock went by pretty quickly. Didn't even have much cleanup to do.
When I found her red and blue jacket I pulled it out and laid it by mine before taking out and sorting through the rest of the new training clothes and jackets the school had bought us so it would be easier to bring them up to the rooms. When I was finished, I looked over at Roy and Wally, who hadn't even waited to show off their new jackets to some of the girls that had entered the common room at some point. Rolling my eyes, I picked up one of the boxes full of the guys stuff with one hand and walked over to them.
Stepping between them and the girls, I pushed the box into Wally's chest and told Roy with a smile, "Since you both have enough time to flirt, then you both have enough time to drop all this stuff off at your dorms. I helped you out by sorting everything in the boxes together so neither of you can try using this as an excuse to be late for class."
"Way to make your birthday feel special for us," Wally muttered with a smile. I ruffled his short red mop top before walking back to the table to grab the box I had filled with Rachel and Karen's things with the other holding mine and Donna's.
I knew the moment I left the room on my way toward the girls second floor dorms at the top of the T, Wally would race out of the room with the box and be back with it empty in about two seconds. Maybe less if, he wanted. But he'll wait a few extra minutes. At least until I'm up the stairs so I can't hear him or feel the trail of wind he leaves because of his speed.
"Hey Kory! Where are you going?"
I turned my head from the entranceway of the common room to the top of the stairs where my roommate, Donna Troy, stood staring down at me quizzically.
"Just bringing the new gear up," I informed her as my feet left the stairs and I floated the rest of the way up. "You mind stopping by our room and putting this stuff away? I still have to stop by Rachel and Karen's rooms before European History starts."
She reached out and grabbed the box in my right hand. "Yeah, it's no problem," Donna assured me as she turned and we both began walking down the long hallway.
"So I was thinking of heading back into the city after classes for dinner. You want to come in with me or meet up somewhere later?" I asked her as we took a right at the end of the hall toward the girl's dorms.
"Oh, I can't after classes. Wally, Vic, and I are scheduled for a training room session for two and a half hours. We could probably meet up with you around seven or seven-thirty."
"That's fine. Pizza and pasta tonight. Make sure you tell 'em."
She grinned before I stopped in front of Karen's room and she continued on down the hall. I knocked on the door and waited a moment in case Karen or her roommate was inside before I punched in their password on the keypad on the wall beside the door.
Wow, does Bee have a messy roommate. No wonder I never come in here that often. Have a thirteen-year-old stay with a nineteen-year-old and this is what you usually get. Well at least it's not Gar and Wally's room!
Walking around the numerous clothes strewn across the floor, I made it to Karen's bed safely and set the box on it. After pulling out her things and setting them at the center of her well-made bed, I lifted the box, now with only Rachel's things left inside, and floated off the ground and swiftly out of the room. When I closed the door with a sharp click, my feet touched back down to the wood floor and I continued five doors down the hall until I was standing in front of Rachel's room.
As I raised my hand to knock on the door, it swung open quickly and Tula, Garth's girlfriend of two years, stepped out and right into me before stumbling back when I didn't budge.
"Oh! I'm sorry Kory! I was kind of caught in my own little world there," she apologized as I stepped aside to let her pass.
"It's okay, I just came by to drop this off for Rachel. I wasn't expecting you to come out so quickly," I replied as she held open the door for me to go through.
"Have a test I've got to get to. I'll see you around!"
"Later!" I called after her, pulling out my communicator to check the time. Crap! European History starts in five minutes and I still have to get my book! I walked quickly over to Rachel's bed and set the box down beside it before pulling out my cell phone to call Dick.
"Hey birthday girl," I heard him answer and couldn't help the small smile that made it's way across my face at the sound of his voice.
"Hi Dick. Where are you right now?"
"On my way to history. What's up?"
"Are you anywhere near the common room? I left my book on the couch and I'm already on the other side of the building."
"Don't worry 'bout it. Wally left you book with me when he dropped off my new training clothes and jacket. Just fly over and it'll be at your desk by the time you get here."
"Thanks so much! Remind me to thank Wally, too. I'll be there in no time."
I heard him chuckle for a second before he hung up. I flipped my own phone closed and slid open the window to the room and flew out into the open air. Closing it, I smiled up to the sky, the now few rays of sunlight recharging my powers as I flew high above the T-shaped three story building.
I remember the original designs Vic had shown me for it a few years ago. Originally, it was supposed to be standing on its base with the top high above the trees, almost like a lookout tower. Instead, if you're on the ground level, you really can't tell its shape, but from a Birdseye view, it is very easy to see the symmetrical shape that lay flat on the ground. There were a few smaller buildings surrounding it. Two houses for science labs and three for training areas, which doubled as gym classes. A large lake was at the north side of the T full of fresh water, which Tula and Garth needed to swim in at least twice daily if they were going to survive out here. Unfortunately, or fortunately in some students opinion, a few pipes had burst in our history class earlier this week, and so the class had been moved to Science Arts House Two.
I touched down outside the building with a minute to spare and raced up the stairs just as the clouds began to darken outside. I smiled as I wrapped my right hand around the first pole at the top of the stairs, forcing my momentum to the still open door on my right and skidded to a halt in front of the class just as the bell lone bell inside the room rang.
Roy and Donna were laughing silently in their seats as I made my way to my seat at the back, left corner of the class. Dr. Chase was probably glaring at my back as my classmates tried to control their so far silent laughter. Dick smirked at me as I passed his seat and traveled two desks further before silently slipping into my own desk, my book lying right at the center just as Dick promised.
"Now that we are all seated," Dr. Chase started, a stiff glare still aimed in my direction, "I would like everyone to open their books to page one hundred and twenty-three and silently read the three paragraph passage on Joseph Stalin. You have ten minutes before we begin our discussion."
I lazily flipped open the cover as my eyes glanced out the window. The sky had gotten even greyer since I had landed. I smiled at the thought of the cool rain that was about to fall. While it's true that I enjoy bright sunny days as much as almost everyone at this school, I also enjoy when it rains or snows. Sometimes I'll sit up on the roof and just watch in curious wonder as these different, yet very similar forms of precipitation fall around me, though I long ago learned the how and why.
I glanced back down at my book; I was only about eleven pages away from page one hundred and twenty-three when I noticed something had been left between two pages from the rise in the paper. Glancing up I saw Dr. Chase staring at the computer at his desk and I flipped the pages quickly to see a folded sheet of lined paper between pages one hundred and twenty-two and one hundred and twenty-three. Looking up again, I unfolded the sheet of paper once I was sure the coast was clear.
Garage after class.
I smiled before folding it back up and slipping it under my book.
The fifty minute period just seemed to drone on from there, with each second ticking by slowly as I tried to concentrate on Stalin's rise to power, only for my eyes to drift up to the clock above the door time and time again.
I still needed to run back to the dorms and grab my sunglasses. My eyes are very unique, in that my iris of my eyes are emerald green, but the sclera is also green, though a few shades lighter and so, when I am not on a Titans mission and just blending in, I must always wear a pair of dark sunglasses to cover my eyes so as not to scare anyone. Or leave the boys in hysterics as they pick me up from the local hospital again as Vic had to do when I had lost my sunglasses a few years ago. Luckily, that was before the Titans had been officially formed so the few people who did send and checked out my eyes at the hospital could not connect that Starfire and Kory Anders are one and the same.
Since almost everyone in this school is connected to each other on some level, it makes sense for everyone to respect each other by keeping up the appearances of secret identities. That way, if someone had decided to forgo becoming a superhero and live a normal life at some point, they could not be connected with the rest of us and vice versa. Which makes perfect sense. That person would not go around revealing our secrets, so why would we purposely go around and reveal theirs if that is not what they wish. It creates a level of trust and respect, both of which are honors that should be held very high.
The bell finally rang and I scooped up my book, being careful to slide the sheet of paper up with it as I slowly filed out with the rest of the class.
"I know it's your birthday, Goldie, but what's got you so excited?" Roy asked me as he finally rose from his own seat and fell into step beside me. He and the others sometimes like to call me Goldie because of my skin, which most people mistake for a golden tan.
"Just happy for the day to be over so I can go into the city," I replied as we made our way down the stairs. I glanced at him for a second and noticed he did not have his new jacket from earlier. "I thought you'd be wearing your jacket for the rest of the day. What happened?"
He smirked and pointed up to the sky as the rain continued to fall around the grounds, softening the grass beneath our feet. I glanced back up at him. "Not gonna get it wet five minutes after it arrives, Kory. I like to take care of my things! Besides, since we're celebrating in the city in our civvies, it probably would not be a good idea for Roy Harper to be wearing an official Titans jacket with the name Speedy stitched on it. That's just asking for trouble, y'know?" I smiled and nodded in return. "So when are we leaving?"
"Well, I still need to wash up and get changed before I meet Dick at the garage. I think he's taking me on his motorcycle."
"Ooh. The fearless leader finally gonna ask you to go steady? Or, and this one's so much better, he's skipping all that dating crap and just plans on flat out proposing! You both do only need to be a year older to legally tie the knot."
"You know, I'm sure if you boys weren't constantly teasing us," he stepped back from me with a look of mock offense, which only caused my smile to widen into a full grin again, "then we would probably already be boyfriend and girlfriend."
Roy slowly shook his head. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Shame on you Ms. Anders! Blaming your best friends for your current relationship status."
"Well, Mr. Harper, unless you would like to be my flattest friend, you will learn to keep your mouth shut for a while."
"Well, I'll try, but Gar and Wally are the one's you'll probably have to worry about. They just don't know the meaning of shut up! And they are such bad influences."
We laughed as we finally walked through the south entrance. "Donna, Wally, and Vic are meeting up with us around seven, if you want to go with them. They've got to go through a few hours of training and by the time they're finished with that I'm sure you'll have finished fixing your hair."
"Ha. Ha. You all always have to pick on the hair. Fine, I'll go with the others, but only so you and Dick can get some much needed alone time. Hopefully by then the sexual tension will have completely disappeared, never to return again!"
"I'll see ya," I giggled as I started up the stairs to my room.
"Later birthday girl! Hey!" I turned and stared down at him curiously, "If it doesn't work out for you two just remember, you always got me by your side," he joked and sent me an overly flirtatious wink.
"Please. If she ever decides to turn to you, hair-boy, then she would obviously be crying out to the rest of us that she's contemplating suicide," I heard Karen reply from behind me.
"You always gotta pick on me, don't 'cha, Karen," he exclaimed, stuffing his left hand into his pocket and letting his history book hang loosely in his right hand.
"Boy, you make it way too easy," she shot back with a wide grin before stopping beside me as Roy walked away with a short scoff. "Hey Kory, Donna told me to meet up with you guys at The Palace tonight, but I gotta be out and back by nine if the weather clears up. Astronomy's been a pain in my ass and I still have to check my constellation calculations to see if they match up with the constellations around eleven tonight."
"It's alright, I understand. If you need help then let me know! I elected to take my first year of astronomy last semester."
"Thanks, but I gotta learn to do this on my own or else I'll never get it. I gotta head out for my last period science class. I'll see you later!"
"See you!"
I sped up the stairs and down the second floor hall, straight to my dorm room. Twenty minutes later, I was showered and changed into a fresh pair of jeans and cream colored sweater to cover my uniform top and silver, bulletproof bracelets. My boots were dark enough to pass for a set of hiking boots with dark soles. I brushed my bangs away from my eyes and smiled at myself in the mirror before grabbing a set of sunglasses and leaving my dorm room.
The garage was really an underground fourth floor to the T, which hid all of the Titan vehicles in one locked down area and students vehicles in others. Most students, by the age of sixteen, were given odd jobs around the city that they were allowed to go to after school or on the weekend. Most of the older students, like Vic and Karen are the ones with cars, others who can't fly or don't have super speed or teleportation have motorcycles like Dick and Roy. The student section was connected to a street that led out of the front gate that has been hidden for years thanks to the wonders of technology. The dirt road that travels parallel to the gate, leads straight toward Jump City, the closest city to The T Institute.
The elevator doors opened and I could hear the water hitting the pavement, from the open garage doors, the sound echoing off the high ceiling before my footsteps could be heard over them.
Dick always keeps his motorcycle parked toward the back.
"Took you long enough," he muttered as I got closer. He was bent beside his motorcycle, tinkering with it like always. His project these last three years has been that bike. For a while some of us thought it would never be able to run and he never let anyone help, especially Vic, who had designed his R-Cycle, but by his sixteenth birthday he had it ready to take on a long distance road trip. I'd never seen him more proud. "I thought you stood me up. Decided to stay in and wash your hair or something."
I tilted my head as he sat up and stared at me with those deep blue eyes of his. "You're not a nerd, and I always feel so bad for them in those cheesy movies. They're so sweet and yet they get stood up and walked over constantly."
He shrugged and slipped on his black leather jacket, pulling the tan riding gloves from his pocket. "Originality is hard to find. Especially when it does happen a lot in reality. Ready?"
I nodded and he jumped to his feet and grabbed the helmets hanging off of the bikes handlebars before tossing me one. I handed him my shades to store in the inside pocket of his jacket before slipping the black motorcycle helmet over my head and sitting down behind him.
He started it with the push of a button and revved it up before lifting both feet off the ground and peeled out of the parking space and out the open garage doors. I glanced back in time to see them close before wrapping my arms around Dick's stomach and leaning into him. The driveway was a little less than two miles long and the gates began to open when the bike passed through a sensor a few feet away. When the wheels hit the dirt path, mud was kicked up every which way around us and I slapped his shoulder lightly when I saw the mud at the bottom of our pant legs. We had only traveled about three miles when I noticed a light coming from high above on my right side. I tugged on Dick's jacket, unconsciously noticing he had already begun to slow down until we finally came to a stop in the middle of the road.
I stood and watched the flaming red and orange object make its way through the cloudy sky and closer to the ground before it disappeared behind the tall trees.
"I can call the others and have them check it out if you want," Dick offered a few minutes after the object had disappeared. His body was just as tense as mine as I slowly sat back down.
"No. Let's go check it out," I replied softly, and odd feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Dick revved the engine once more and took his bike off the dirt road.
A/N: Whew. Okay, action is definitely coming up in the next chapter! In part two there's a good fight between two people who, for the moment, shall remain nameless and everything will move along from there. Until the next update, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review!
