Special thanks to Jynxed Keyboard for enjoying the March of the Titans oneshot and reminding me that it exists with his/her review. Yeah, I rather like the concept too.

II

"Ya know, Star," Beastboy distracted the statuesque woman from me, which was a good thing as I was still trying to recover from the best kiss of my life. My opinion of the survivalist was rapidly shooting upwards. "He's an American; they just shake hands instead of kissing." And then it began to plummet.

"Oh!" Starfire looked a cross of alarm and embarrassment. "My apologies!" She quickly grabbed my hand. It wasn't so nice as a kiss, but the sensation of her hand in mine was something I could easily get used to.

"Ah, no, it's not a problem at alllllllLAAAAAAHHHH!" To this day, I am amazed that the bones in my hand didn't shatter under the sheer force she applied. I'm actually a bit surprised I still have a hand.

"Whoa, Star," Cyborg had begun moving the moment the ridiculously strong beauty had gripped my hand, and lightly grabbed her wrist as she squeezed. "Human hand. Fragile."

"Ah!" She snatched her hand away, eye wide. "Again, my apologies!" She clasped her hands in front of her in obvious remorse, then apparently thought better of it and hid them behind her back. "Have I brought you much harm?" The knee-jerk and probably justified 'What the Hell?' died on my tongue as I took in her worried expression. To take any action other than making her happy again would be akin to kicking a one-legged puppy.

"It's... fine." I gave what was likely a very unconvincing smile and wiggled my throbbing fingers to show her they were okay. "Just, uh, surprised me, is all." She looked uncertain for a moment, then beamed it me with palpable relief.

"Thank X'Hal." She sighed. "To crush you when you did not deserve it would be an unfortunate way to begin our new friendship." Um. There were a lot of way to take a statement like that, and only some of them were kinky. The casual way she said it forcefully reminded me that she was a Titan, and not because of her good looks. If the rest of her was as strong as her grip, she truly could crush me like a piece of rotten fruit, if provoked. At least it seemed like it would be easy enough to stay on her good side.

"You're swelling." Raven was suddenly by my side, pressing an ice packet into my undamaged hand. "And frankly, it's embarrassing." She informed me flatly. Her complete monotone made it difficult to tell what part of that, if any, was meant to be a joke. Beastboy found it hilarious. I got the distinct feeling he found most things hilarious.

"Ahem." The Sergeant Major cleared his throat obtrusively. "If you're done talking to a girl for the first time in your life, I believe some proper introductions are in order." Right, the mission. I snapped to attention.

"Yessir." He stared at me coldly for another moment, then rolled his eyes and jabbed a thumb at Raven.

"As you may have noticed, junior, the Titans have recruited a pair of new members. The ray of sunshine here is Raven R-"

"Just Raven, for now." The pale woman interrupted. Frohst raised an eyebrow at her, then shrugged.

"Fine, that's your prerogative." He turned back to me. "As I was saying, Raven is an experienced field medic, and she knows more about psychology than a room fulla shrinks. Whether it's your mind or your body that's messed up, she can fix it. She's also a natural with languages; between her, Starfire, and Beastboy, there isn't a country on the planet they can't communicate with." He paused, then smiled slightly. "Just don't piss her off, or she'll kick your ass so hard you'll shit out your shoulders."

"Seriously, dude," Beastboy cut in. "I've met hippos with less bite." His amused grin instantly turned apologetic when Raven gave him a sidelong glance.

"You'll be fine so long as you aren't an idiot." Raven assured me, giving the survivalist another meaningful look.

"The other new member," Frohst seized control of the conversation before it could get of the rails. "Is Koriand'r kacha Tamaran, aka Starfire of Tamaran."

"It's a lovely little country nestled between Mongolia and China." Cyborg supplied. I'd never heard of it, but the location did help explain her odd way of speaking. The Sergeant Major snorted.

"Yeah, prime vacation country." He said sarcastically. "The little lady is strong as an ox and strikes like a cobra, and is the team's close combat expert. Don't let the pretty face fool you, either; she's a prodigy when it comes to languages and problem solving. Hell, she didn't know a word of English six months ago." Huh. Firstly, that was beyond impressive. Secondly, where was Frohst getting all this intel?

"Please, you are giving me too much of the credit." Starfire protested modestly. "Raven, Victor, and Beastboy have all been most excellent teachers." She referred to the survivalist by his codename, but the others by their actual names. Interesting.

"Beastboy and Cyborg," The Sergeant Major plowed ahead, ignoring her. "You're already familiar with. Titans, this is Richard Grayson, aka Robin." I stood a little straighter, more out of habit than anything. You don't slouch when a superior officer is introducing you to someone. "He's received advanced training in tactics and planning, and he's the protege of the Batman himself, with all that entails. He's also got an inflated ego and a small tree up his ass." It took quite a bit of self control to not react to the jabs.

"Expression, Star." Beastboy informed the redhead as she leaned around me with wide eyes. She made a small sound of realisation, and my face turned a lovely shade of crimson, much to my annoyance.

"He's definitely the guy you're looking for, though." Frohst continued. "His skills cover your own skill gaps, and he's more than capable in a fight. Now, everyone acquainted?" He paused for less than a second. "Good. Cyborg, lay out the situation for us." The large man blinked at Frohst for a moment, then shrugged.

"Alright." He walked over to the table, and the rest of us followed. Upon closer examination, I could see little scratches in the table's surface. "Now, Slade's set up shop in an old mine about six kilometers from here. From what BB's observed, he's got about two hundred people on hand, all from the nearby towns. This," He pointed to a small circle scratch that was just to the side of a long oval. "Is the main elevator, right outside the big trench. It's operational, so Slade's got some kind of power set up."

"Isn't that to be expected?" I asked. Not much of an illegal base if it doesn't even have electricity.

"Slade's... kinda particular." Cyborg explained. "He doesn't do anything by halves, especially if they're easily noticed. So, he doesn't just hook up a generator, he builds an entire power grid that he can run without anyone finding out. If he's powering something as obvious as the main elevator, it's because he doesn't care who finds out he's here and he's got way more juice than he can use."

"He's not just hiding out." Raven added. "Slade doesn't do anything unless he has a reason. He doesn't put roots down unless he can draw something from the environment, and he doesn't build an army unless he's going to war."

"Plus," Beastboy held up a finger. "We're not entirely sure about the army thing." Victor rolled his eyes.

"Yes. We are." He insisted. "We've been over this, B."

"Dudes, hear me out." The shorter man turned to me with pleading eyes. "What if the mine was originally shut down because they dug too deep and found something lurking in the depths of the Earth?" There was, much to my shock, no trace of joking in his tone. "And now, Slade's here to try and unleash it! We could be up to our necks in mole men at any moment!" My God, he actually believed it.

"No." Raven stated firmly. Beastboy crossed his arms over his chest and went to sit on the cooler, fuming. Apparently, that's all it took to close the subject.

"Anyway," Cyborg shook his head. "A straight up assault isn't usually Slade's style. Even in his mercenary days, he always preferred to work from the shadows. We're thinking that the army is for guarding, rather than attacking."

"And so the question becomes," Starfire spoke slowly, staring at the scratches on the table. "If not the mole men, what does Slade have that is so important to protect?"

"And," I added, the wheels turning in my head. "Who does he expect to attack him?"

"Us, probably." Cyborg grinned. "This ain't the first time we've tangled with him and sent him running." I frowned.

"Wait, he's expecting the Titans?" I shook my head in disbelief. "And you're just going to run right in? The whole thing's probably a trap!"

"Yup." Victor nodded in agreement and confirmation.

"Would hate to disappoint him." Beastboy chipped in. "Besides, dude loves to multitask."

"Yeah he does." Cyborg shrugged. "Even if it's a trap, he's still got something else going on there and it's up to us to stop him."

"Besides," Starfire smiled at me. "He does not know about you, and that is to our advantage." Well, damn. Coming from her, I was almost convinced right then that it wasn't suicide.

"Hell," Frohst sighed, leaning on his hands on the table. "Good enough for me. What's the plan?"

"We use the trench as our insertion point. According to BB, Slade and his mooks are sticking mainly to the central shaft. We enter at the far end of the trench and make our way to there via the ancillary tunnels."

"Place is more hole-y than the Pope." The survivalist joked. How reassuring to know that he had puns in addition to his insane mole people theories. Victor pulled a face at the horrible humour, but didn't comment, tracing his finger over some more scratches.

"Knowing Slade, he's probably got an Ops center set up in the most central location, so we make for that and kick his ass." That... was an incredibly simple plan. Personally, I'm a fan of details and covering the contingencies. Cyborg picked up on my apprehension. "With Slade, it's best to keep things simple. He's way too good at picking apart anything complicated." Frohst seemed fine with this.

"When do we move out?"

"Tonight."


Time passed pretty quickly. I spent a while going over the plan and available information with Cyborg and Frohst, refining it as much as possible without getting too complex. Avoiding contact with the enemy until we had our target was priority one. We also decided that Frohst and I, being unknowns, would enter from the opposite end of the trench and keep hidden to maintain the element of surprise as long as possible.

Cyborg was satisfied with this plan, but the lack of detail bothered me. Since Beastboy was the one who had been observing the mine, I went to see if I could glean a few more notes about its layout from him. The other Titans had wondered off to the side rooms at various points during the extended planning, so that's where I went. I hadn't paid attention to which one he'd gone to at the time, but luck was with me and he was in the first one I checked.

To my surprise, Raven was there as well. I'd gotten the impression that she disliked him, but there she sat on a pillow, right next to the pile of cushions that Beastboy was slumbering within. She looked very zen, her legs crossed in a lotus position, arms bent at the elbows with her hands curled upwards, and her eyes closed. I almost thought she was sleeping too, but I noticed she was muttering something under her breath.

"Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos...Azarath..." She stopped abruptly, eyes snapping open and locking on me. For that instant, she actually looked angry. Then, all traces of emotion slid from her face and she assumed her usual flat expression. "Robin." She greeted quietly.

"Uh, sorry." I said awkwardly. "I didn't mean to interrupt your, uh..." Relaxing? Resting? The proper word escaped me.

"Meditation." She provided, rising to her feet smoothly. I noted that she didn't use her hands to get up; she'd had some fighting training, I'd wager. Which, considering her job, wasn't exactly unexpected. "And I was almost finished anyway. Starfire is in the other room." Well, that was certainly an abrupt change of topic.

"Uh, ok?" The pale woman paused for a moment.

"I assumed you were looking for her." She explained, still keeping her voice low. "She respects honesty and openness, by the way." It seems I'd been pretty obviously taken with the tall woman earlier. Bruce would certainly not approve of such transparency. Still, I filed the information away for later. "That's all the hints I'm giving you."

"Actually, I was looking for him." I gestured to the pile of cushions. " I was hoping to get some more information on the mine." Raven looked to the sleeping survivalist, then back to me.

"You think he's withholding something from us?" Despite the fact that her tone didn't change in the slightest, I thought I heard disapproval in her voice. I held up my hands diplomatically.

"I just wanted to make sure we've got all the intel we possibly can. There may be something he didn't mention because it seemed inconsequential at the time, or because he forgot to." I said placatingly. "I don't think he'd intentionally keep something from the team." She held my gaze for a few seconds more, then nodded slowly.

"Alright." She said, settling back down on her pillow and returning to her meditative pose. "He'll be awake in twenty minutes; you can ask him then." She closed her eyes. Being so obviously and casually dismissed rankled me slightly, but I turned on my heel and quietly exited the room.

I avoided seeking out Starfire, as I wanted to make sure I had complete control over myself before I spoke to her again, and occupied myself with the plan and drilling Cyborg on the team's strengths and weaknesses. He was tight-lipped about any of their pasts, but that didn't bother me much. I'm not exactly open about my history either. Eventually, Beastboy came strolling into the main room and I went over the mine details with him, Raven keeping a close eye on the conversation. Unfortunately, it yielded nothing that would add to the plan, so all I got for my troubles were mine-related puns.

Dinner was a... colourful affair. Beastboy is strictly vegetarian, and Cyborg is apparently pure carnivore. They don't seem to understand the sentiment of 'live and let live'. Or, at least, not towards each other, anyway. Again, Frohst seemed unsurprised by the Titans and their behaviour. I was beginning to suspect just why that was.

Not long after the remains of the dinner battle were cleaned up, it was time for the mission. We assembled in the central room, if one could call it an assembly. Now, with mercenaries, you can always expect them to be less formal and disciplined than men like Frohst and me, but the Titans hardly seemed to even be paying attention! Starfire and Raven stood off to the far and of the room, idly chatting in low tones, while Beastboy hovered over Cyborg's shoulder as the black man messed with the cooler. Only the Sergeant Major and I were anywhere near the door or a state of readiness. After a few minutes of waiting, I was beginning to grow annoyed when Cyborg spoke.

"What?" He sounded shocked, and perhaps a touch angry. "Did you seriously change my password, grass stain?" Beastboy cackled evilly. "So not cool, B."

"That's what happens when you don't secure the network, dude." The survivalist chided him smugly. "Some handsome, strong, brilliant stud of a hacker-"

"Annnnnd bypassed. Booyah."

"Dude, what?" The smugness instantly morphed into disbelief. "I used, like, special characters and numbers and everything!" Cyborg chuckled.

"Well, you know, that's what happens when you don't secure the network, B." He echoed, managing to sound almost twice as self-satisfied as the shorter man had. "Some handsome, strong, brilliant stud of a hacker comes along and-"

"Yadda yadda yadda." Beastboy cut him off, waving his arms in annoyance. "You're the king of the tech geeks, bow before Cyborg, blah blah blah."

"Hey now, no need to be dismissive of my amazing skills. Just because you couldn't tell COBOL from Perl, there's-"

"Are we leaving anytime soon?" Raven suddenly spoke over him. "Or should we just come back when you two are done being five years old?" Thank God her patience was ever so slightly shorter than mine, elsewise I might had ended up yelling at the pair and looking like an ass in front of Starfire. Not that the yelling would be unjustified; we did have a mission that could mean life or death for untold amounts of people to get to, after all.

"Alright, alright." Cyborg pulled the cooler away from the wall, revealing a hidden hole. He pulled some kind of PDA and a helmet from it. He scrutinized the former. "Sensors topside says nobody's around and the sun's just starting to set, so we can get underway."

"Then let's move." Frohst rumbled impatiently, jerking a thumb towards the door. "Giving Deathstroke extra time to himself never works out for us." The Titans gave various nods and gestures of agreement and we headed out to the car. The brief confusion about seating arrangements was ended when Cyborg slipped behind the wheel and Frohst called shotgun. Yeah, no one really wanted to dispute him on that.

Luckily, the car was roomy enough that we were still relatively comfortable with four of us stuffed in the back seat. Raven and Starfire called window seats, citing such reasons as a desire to feel the wind from the window and an intense need to be able to look out at something that wasn't the rest of us. I'll let you puzzle out who said what. This left Beastboy and I sandwiched in the middle, and the survivalist was kind enough to let me be the one to sit next to the beautiful redhead, giving me an exaggerated wink and about a dozen nudges with his elbow while doing so. Not that I was actually going to try and talk to her in a small, enclosed place with all her teammates and my superior officer there.

As such, I did my best to remain facing forward at all times and maintained the perfect veneer of professionalism. The ride was mercifully short, even with Beastboy telling knock-knock jokes that went stale in the second grade the whole way. I assumed it was his way of preparing for the mission. Some people psych themselves up before heading into a combat situation, while others seek to center themselves. It made sense to me that Beastboy would center himself by telling jokes, convincing himself that it was just another day. Imagine my horror when I later found out that he doesn't do it to keep calm, but because he suffers from the delusion that he's actually funny.

We parked about a mile from the mine, and Beastboy and Cyborg hid the car away quite nicely. From there, we hoofed it under the cover of darkness. It didn't take us long to reach trench, which looked completely and utterly deserted. That made me a touch nervous. From what I'd been told about Slade, it seemed unlikely that he would leave the place unguarded. Which meant that we simply couldn't see the guards. Or perhaps he had some other type of monitoring in place. Either way, I didn't like it.

"Ok then," Beastboy whispered when we reached the first insertion point. Without him pointing it out, I would have assumed it was yet another sheer drop and missed it. Looking down, though, I could just make out a tiny ledge about ten feet down, leading to an opening that, apparently, led into the mine. "Frohst, Robin, Star, this is your entry. The rest of us will circle round the other side and enter from there." I blinked.

"This is actually Star's first mission with us." Cyborg answered before I could ask. "Which means she's also an unknown to Slade. Plus, her communicator will let your group stay in contact, so Frohst and I thought it best she go with you guys." He looked to the other Beastboy and Raven. "Alright, let's move." I sent a quick glare at Frohst as he watched them leave. Yeah, thanks for cluing me in. I looked to Starfire to gauge her reaction to this, only to find her standing with her back to the edge of the man-made cliff, staring at me.

"Come!" She commanded, raising her fist. "Our righteous work begins!"

And then she stepped backwards off the edge.