DOWNTOWN JUMP CITY

September 24

13:31 PST

"There's a truck headed outside of town right now carrying about 13.5 million dollars worth of artifacts. They have set 3 bombs in random locations. Robin and I are going alone. That means Blue and Raven it's up to you to find and defuse that last bomb. As for our fugitives, Garfield and Summer will take care of that. Let's get these guys and make sure those bombs don't set off!"

Starfire yelled to the team before splitting up to their designated areas. The stakes were so high for her first mission. Summer rode on the back of the horse that was Beast Boy. Since there were 3 bombs and one truck, as she said, there would be two pairs and two singles. Since Summer refused to get more than 20 feet off the ground, Beast Boy was literally her only option.

"You know if I turn into a pterodactyl this'll go a lot faster!" Garfield panted as he ran with the girl's muscular arms nearly strangling his neck.

She sat with both legs on one side. Riding a horse with no saddle was not exactly preferable, so she wanted to keep steady with her arms around his neck.

"Hey, if you take flight I'm gonna pass out! Sure you could probably take the truck down on your own, but it'll go a lot smoother with me being awake!"

They boy sighed with irritation in his voice "What if I fly close to the ground?"

Her long lashes came together as she shut her eyes tight. "Just... don't go too high, okay?"

The green skinned boy morphed his body into that of the prehistorical pterodactyl. He kept true to his word and stayed as close to the ground as he could while still giving himself a comfortable amount of room to flap his wings.

The path they were being lead was by the docks. This was good because it meant less civilians to worry about. Beast Boy slowed and transformed back into his normal self. Summer climbed off his back and the two hid behind the shipping containers.

They watched as some shady deal was going down. There were about 20 armed men surrounding the truck. It was nothing they couldn't handle, but if at some point these men felt too threatened, they could easily set off the explosives.

"What do we do? We can't let the stolen goods leave the docks." Summer whispered to the boy. She was pressed against his back so they could both inconspicuously look at the going on's.

"I'll transform into a bird and get an aerial view, when I see an opening I'll signal. That's when yo-"

"Hey! Who's that?!" Beast Boy's words were cut off by someone outing their position.

The armed men looked at the two and pointed their guns.

Garfield altered his body into that of a lion. "Time for Plan B. We fight!"

He charged at the men pouncing from left to right. They were barely missing the big cat as it was too quick. Summer never fought alongside anyone before, but the rules of this seemed simple. He'd be the tank, and she'd be support. Now that the work was split up, this would be a piece of cake.

Coming from behind the container, Summer pulled two stilettos from under her sleeve. She threw it at one of the men trying to attack Beast Boy. His attention turned just before the knives hit him and he shot them down.

The crook smirked at her failed attempt... or what he thought was a failed attempt. Behind her second stiletto was a third riding parallel to the others. It pierced through his hand and pinned it to the container behind him. Only after looking at his palm did he even know what happened.

Running over she'd pick up her grounded knives and throw them in the direction of the other men. The now green goat rammed and kicked all the others surrounding him. Quickly the masked girl took her position to get his back. Throwing punches and kicks of her own, this was going quite smoothly.

If one wasn't mistaken, there was actually a smile on her face. This was what she was bread to do. For the better half of her life she was molded into a cold killer. She was told what she was doing was for the greater good, but it never felt like that. Fighting alongside Beast Boy, she knew this was the gateway to a good life.

Just as she pulled another knife, her hand was caught by a man in front of her. He'd hold up a button that one could only assume connected to the bombs downtown. Her lip quivered as her eyes focused in on it.

"New girl?" The man smirked. He rubbed the speckle of blood from his stubbly face. "You are in a world of trouble, you know that right?"

Both she and Beast Boy watched helplessly as the supplies were being loaded onto a nearby ship. They couldn't let that stuff leave the docks or it was mission failed.

Summer'd have to bite her tongue on this. Normally she'd have a snappy rebuttal, but there were lives other than her own dwindling in the balance. Being surrounded by men ready to kill her was nothing new, but she was no Superman. The men closed in with their automatics cocked and ready, and she wasn't faster than a speeding bullet. That is, not unless she knew it was coming.

She could feel the back of Beast Boy press against hers. With her free hand she'd interlock her fingers with the boy. In the blink of an eye she saw the man's thumb get closer to the detonation button, and all of a sudden it was gone. It was no longer in his hands. Was it magic?

Using her hand that was currently being held by the man, she'd yank back and force him into a headbutt.

Instinctively he'd release and the triggers were pulled. She squeezed Beast Boy's hand to the point of nearly breaking it. If they lost contact for even a second, he would die. She reached for her tucked away knives, but before she could even pull a single one, the enemies fell.

One by one their weapons were dismantled, and they fell back on the ground. Her eyes couldn't even register what was going on. She released her hand from the green boy's as her brows furrowed.

"So, you got a new technique that I don't know about or something?" She turned to the boy with crossed arms.

"Um, maybe? I was gonna ask you the same." Beast Boy literally scratched his head trying to comprehend what happened.

"Hey, don't take my credit." A yellow blur came into vision, and as it slowed a person could be made out of it.

"I took care of the one's on the ship too, so you don't need to worry about that." The boy completely stopped in front of Garfield and Summer.

"Kid Flash?" Summer's eyes widened, "I met you at the Hall of Justice a few days ago. What are you doing here? Don't you live on the other side of the country?"

Garfield waved at the boy, and it seemed as if the two were already acquainted.

"Yup, it's me. Looked like you guys could use some help. How exactly do I know you again? I don't remember meeting you." The ginger boy rose an eyebrow.

"We can chop it up later. Right now we need to get these criminals detained. I don't know how hard you hit them, but they could come to any minute now." Summer ran toward the men and the boys did the same.

She'd kick away their guns and drag them toward one of the shipping containers. Using her ability, she'd put both of their arms through the large box and leave their body on the outside. It was in improvisation for hand cuffs.

Both Kid Flash and Beast Boy lined up the men for her to "handcuff."

They boarded the ship and headed to the stern. It was where the loot was, and they'd not leave until the police showed up. Summer climbed up on one of the containers and sat down. Beast Boy looked out at the water, and Kid Flash sat beside the girl.

She stretched her arms out in the air, "So this is what it's like to be a Titan? Waiting for the police to show up?"

"Not all the time." Beast Boy peeked back. "We got the easy part. Anyway, why are you here KF?"

"I was actually on my way back from delivery duty and noticed something shady looking." It got silent for a moment before Kid Flash turned to face Summer.

"So are you sure we met? You seem like the kind of person I would remember." Kid Flash was not letting it go. It was a little weird that she knew who he was immediately without question. Not only that, she specifically met him at the Hall of Justice.

"Please, let's just finish this first and I'll tell you everything. For right now, just call me... um, Astral."

"Astral huh? Alright then, we'll talk later."

Summer placed two fingers on her forehead as she shook her head, "What the hell kind of criminals are these anyway? I'm no expert, but this seemed pretty blatant. They robbed one of the biggest museum's in Jump City, their truck was so easy to find it's stupid, and they put up very little fight all in broad daylight. It's almost like they were trying to get caught."

Beast Boy walked to the container Summer and Kid Flash sat on. He slumped his arms over the top and looked up at her, "Sometimes it's just dumb criminals looking for an easy come up. There is a possibility that this could be linked to something else, but these men aren't known criminals, so thaaaaaattttttt-"

His words slowed down dramatically. Was he thinking as he spoke? No. No that wasn't it at all. She could feel wind blowing her hair in her face. There were arms carrying her, and little speckles of water splashing up on her. Kid Flash was carrying her and running on the water away from the boat.

Summer looked back and saw the large boat explode right before her. A small green bird could be seen barely escaping the blast. It flew up until it was completely out of the blast radius.

Kid Flash stopped running, and the two began to sink in the water. "What the hell was that? What just happened!?"

The red haired boy shook his head, "No idea. I checked the boat for explosives before I even helped you guys. There were none."

Beast Boy jumped out of the water as a large marlin and plopped back down as a tiny duck. "The suspects are still detained, so police can handle the rest. Let's just meet back up with everyone at the tower. Kid Flash, thanks for your help. You don't have to stick around anymore."

The young boy smiled, "I know I don't have to, but I still have a few hours left of free time."

TITAN'S TOWER

September 21

17:55 PST

"Please tell me again what has happened!" Starfire sat on the couch across from Beast Boy, Summer, and Kid Flash. She wasn't upset, but more so worried.

"I don't know." Summer started. "We showed up to the docks just as they were making their deal over the stolen artifacts. Someone outed us so we had to fight. They loaded up about a quarter of the items before Kid Flash came in and helped us. We detained everyone involved, and then we waited on the boat for the police to arrive."

"I felt something rumbling beneath us, so a grabbed Astral and took off." Kid Flash explained, "I checked the boat beforehand. There weren't any bombs onboard. Whatever happened was a complete coincidence. It had to be."

Starfire clasped her hands and placed them on the knee of her right crossed leg. "Astral?" She was unfamiliar with the girl's new alias, but that wasn't the point right now. "Was anyone left on the boat?"

"No." Garfield shook his head. "We took them off when we were detaining everyone. We did loose a little over 3 million dollars worth of items on that boat though."

"These things just don't make sense. When I reached the bomb downtown it was completely fake. Gunpowder and confetti. It was like someone was mocking me. Blue and Raven said the same thing happened to them. Robin too. This doesn't make sense. I'm going to have to look into this. You did what you could."

The ginger stood up and made her way to the elevator. She was now on a mission to find out if this was a dumb coincidence or connected to something bigger.

Kid Flash lifted the goggles up from his headgear and slumped back onto the couch. His eyes looked up at the ceiling and traced back around to Summer. "So, are you ready to tell me where I know you from?"

"Right." The freckled girl smiled and the slight dimples in her cheeks began to show. "I'm kind of offended that you don't remember me, so I guess I'll make you earn my identity." She pranced away to the refrigerator to get out a drink. "Don't you have your own HQ to loiter?"

Bart smirked at her sarcasm. "You do know I could take off your mask, see exactly who you are, and put it back on without you realizing?" He stood up from the couch and lowered his goggles. "But you're right. I need to head back now. I'll catch you guys around, soon."

In a flash the boy was gone. Summer lowed her head and laughed to herself. Garfield looked over at the girl and cocked his head to the side.

"You like him huh? You like KF?"

Her smile stopped and she turned to the green boy. "He's funny, but he's too young. I like older, and taller. You know what I mean?" Her head turned as the elevator sounded.

"Hey, glad you two are safe. What kind of attack was that? The bomb wasn't even real." Blue Beetle walked out of the elevator and toward the other two. "How was your first time chica?"

Summer twisted the cap back on her drink and leaned over the counter. Her hands rested on the bottle, and her chin on her hands. "I mean, it was alright I guess."

Beast Boy rolled his eyes playfully at the girl. "Tell the truth."

The brown girl perked up in an instant. "Okay! It was awesome!" She ran over to the tan boy and stood behind him. She stood on her toes and threw her arms around his neck. She still kept a little space so she wouldn't disturb the scarab, "So Garfield and I were running downtown like this as we make our way to the docks!"

She took her arms down and placed a hand on each side of his hips. Her brunette hair swung as she peeked from behind the boy in a slight crouching position. "Then we look from behind the shipping containers and someone was like GET THEM! So Garf transforms into a lion and beats the absolute crap out of them. Then I come in as back up and I'm like YOU GUYS WANNA DIE TODAY!? Then Kid Flash came and then there was an explosion! It was so exciting! I never fought alongside anyone before."

Jaime snickered at her cliff notes version of the story. "An explosion, Kid Flash? Seems like you had a better time than I did."

"It's not supposed to be fun. It's a job." Damian walked in and he seemed more irritated than ever.

Summer removed her hands from Jaime and placed them on her hips. "Yeah, I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand. If you keep looking at the world through some dark lens then eventually it's going to become that."

"You don't know me, and I'm not gonna take advice from some girl that literally jumps through hoops to hide her past." He walked past her to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water.

The girl approached him in a confrontational manner. "Listen 'son of Batman', not everyone wants to go around boasting about their history or who they trained with."

He'd not back down from the girl, but approach her instead. "Me being Batman's son has nothing to do with my skill set or background. I pulled your file, and I'm not impressed. A month of intense training for you would only equate to one day with me."

Summer clapped her hands together slowly, "Good for you. You know if you wanted to dig up some dirt on me, you might wanna find all of my information before jumping to conclusions. You could never compare your simple story to mine. I was too young when I first found out what the threat of death felt like. Hell, I still am."

Robin wasn't having it with her. He had training to do, so he wouldn't let this continue any longer. "Still tiptoeing around your past I see. I wasn't comparing myself to you. I'd never insult my grandfather's training like that. Speaking of which, I've got training to do."

"Let's go then. Let's go to the training room and see who's better. Since I know what kind of cheap shots you throw I'm ready for you! First time you fought me I was just shaking off the dust! If you're gonna keep disrespecting me around here, then allow me to show you the mistake you've made!"

The two walked up to each other until they were just a few inches from one another's face. Both Summer and Robin pulled off their masks and looked into each other's eyes. At this rate they wouldn't make it to the training room in time.

Starfire from her room could hear the shouting. She turned away from her computer and listened. She was just about ready to pull her hair out. The two of them had no quit in their arguing for the past few days.

They truly did need to see their similarities if they ever hoped to respect each other one day. Before the red head left her room, she pondered how she should fix this. This was beyond bonding with one another at an outing. They needed something else.

The ginger walked back over to her phone and picked it up. She dialed the number and waited for the person on the other line to pick up.

"Hello?"

"This is Starfire. I should probably be the last one calling in for a favor, but I could really use your help right now." She placed her finger in between her teeth and waited for a response. It was nerve wracking. She never called this person for any reason.

"Wow, um, how urgent is it?" The person replied confusingly.

"My team could dismantle itself in a matter of days. I heard that you were good with this kind of thing. Trust me I would not be calling if I felt like I had any other option." She removed her finger and placed her hand over face. Her hair shrouded the sides of her face.

"Alright, I'm a little over 3 hours away at the moment. Whatever the problem is we'll get it straightened out, okay? I'll be busy today, but I can start tomorrow."

Starfire paused for a moment before replying, "I... appreciate it. I am looking forward to your arrival, thank you."