Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans


Twenty Twenty

Chapter Three

Lunch with Dick was a bit refreshing, seeing as Lian was more quiet with food in her mouth. Until she started throwing it at Roy, that is…

He had learned about Richard's friend… Not that he had told him much about her… just that she was good with kids and would get Lian to behave.

"Trust me." he had said. Roy scoffed while preparing for bed. It was late, one in the morning, he had just gotten back from an uneventful patrol and was tired.

Roy hung up his Arsenal costume in his closet and placed his equipment in the safe.

Lian had gone to sleep early, probably exhausted from all of her tantrum throwing.

Roy lay in bed silently, watching the ceiling, staring at the darkness as it swirled about the room noiselessly. He sighed.

"I leave her in your care…"

Roy screwed his eyes shut. He didn't want to think about that. Not now. No, now he needed to sleep. He would be meeting Dick's friend tomorrow, and he needed to be prepared.

With a final sigh, Roy shut his eyes and fell into a dreamless slumber.

The next morning…

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Chirp Whistle

Roy groaned as he opened his eyes. He turned fitfully, placing his pillow over his head in hopes to drown out the sparrows outside his window… his open window.

Roy sat up. Had he opened his window last night? A dark look passed the man's features as he jumped out of bed, now listening closely to hear even the slightest noises.

Walking stealthily through his apartment, he heard the television on, some child cartoon probably playing. He heard someone in the kitchen, cooking?

Roy inhaled the scent of French toast, syrup, eggs and bacon. His mouth watered suddenly.

He crept less suspiciously into his kitchen and found Dinah cooking breakfast while Lian lay on the floor singing along with the Backyardigans.

"'Bout time you woke up!" Dinah smiled sweetly at him as she served the food onto the three plates set on the table. "Coffee." she nodded her head toward the counter where there was a pot, fresh. He poured himself a cup as Lian crawled into her chair with some help from Dinah.

"What are you doing here?" Dinah didn't answer him as she poured Lian orange juice.

"Mm?" She asked, finally turning to him.

"What are you doing here?" Dinah rolled her eyes and shook her head, a grin plastered strangely on her lips.

"Do I look like the kind of person that would let a child starve?" She sat at the table next to Lian, picked up a strip of the crispy bacon and started waving it around while talking. "I had a feeling you'd be up late. And you should know that children don't exactly like to stay in their own beds once the sun's up."

Roy hummed thoughtlessly as he eyeballed the eggs cautiously. "I wasn't aware you could cook…" Dinah snorted.

"Of course I can cook. Most people can, even if it's just the basic necessities, it's still cooking." Roy shrugged. It was true. While he was no master chef in the kitchen, he knew how to not burn corn flakes.

They sat in silence for a moment, each eating their own meals when Roy noticed Lian. She was wearing… a bunny costume?

"Where did you find that?" He asked Dinah suddenly. She looked at him innocently.

"What?" Roy pointed at the silent Lian who watched Dinah curiously. Said woman fought hard not to smirk, but in the end she failed miserably. "What? Don't you think she looks cute?"

"She can't go outside wearing that." Lian turned to him abruptly and narrowed her little green eyes.

"Why not?"

Lian screamed, "No!" Roy sighed.

"What do you mean, why not? Look at her. She needs real clothes." Dinah shrugged. Lian hissed which earned her an odd look from the man and a strange smile from the woman.

"I used to wear things like that all the time when I was little. My mother never said anything about it."

"What about your father?"

Dinah shrugged. "That's not the point."

"It is the point. I'm her father." Lian screeched.

"NO!" she reached for something, anything, and found her small cup. She chucked it at Roy. It hit him square in the nose, orange juice spilling out on his face and shirt.

The cup clattered to the floor and for the first few moments, all that could be heard were the somewhat distant sounds of Uniqua singing about something. It didn't really matter, nobody was listening.

"She's got quite the arm, no?" Dinah stated seriously. Lian glared at him, waiting for a response, perhaps?

How does one react to such an action?

"Indeed." Roy muttered. Lian snorted and munched on a piece of her French toast.

Today was going to be a long day.


Author's Note: Well. Another short chapter… Sigh… sorry for the lack of Raven in this chapter.

But now I have nowhere else to go… so… I guess that's good news. We will have to meet Raven in the next chapter fosho.

Fo. Sho.

Thanks so much for reading.

And for putting up with my short chapters.