All too soon, the time came for the Titans North to begin preparations to move out of the Tower. Naturally, this would be a complicated task- it wasn't as though they could simply box up their possessions and throw them into a moving van before driving to Minneapolis. For one thing, the Titans West were loaning the new team a great deal of sensitive equipment- scanning systems, communications arrays, and defensive devices for the most part. These had to be carefully disconnected from the Tower's systems, gently disassembled and then packed into nondescript crates. There was also the issue of the case files and dossiers which needed to be shared, and had to be sorted through to decide what was necessary and what wasn't.

For another the entire process had to be conducted in near total secrecy. If criminals knew that the Titans North were moving in now, they would realize that this would be the best time for them to strike and eliminate the group before they could defend themselves. Therefore, the group's equipment and belongings would be shipped through a variety of different companies under a number of identities. This, Robin had explained, was standard protocol for the Batclan, used so that even if one or more shipments were destroyed or intercepted, the team wouldn't be crippled.

Finally there was the simple problem of manpower coordination. Everyone had to have an assigned task and a time limit. Otherwise, things would rapidly descend into chaos with some jobs having too many people and others not enough. So it was that, before anything else was done, Robin and Captain Marvel Junior assembled their teams in the Common Room and began to divide tasks.

Robin and Captain Marvel Junior would go through the files together and copy the relevant ones to an encrypted system designed by Oracle. Cyborg and Stargirl would carefully disassemble the machines and electronics before packing them in specially prepared crates which Fang would secure using his webbing. Jinx would be in charge of packing away the team's personal possessions- clothing, books, games, and so forth. Superboy, Starfire and Raven would help move the resulting packages to the main storage bay, and eventually take them out to sites throughout Jump City to be picked up by the various moving companies. These companies would be selected and contracted by Kitten, using shell companies provided by Waynetech.

Before everyone left the common room to begin work Jinx stood up, a frown on her face. "Um, yeah, Rob? You gave me one of the biggest jobs and didn't leave anyone to help me. Plus, I'm not real comfortable going through the boys clothes" She paused to shoot a smirk at CMJ, whose hand rested on her shoulder "Well, not when the boys aren't in them, anyway."

Robin smiled and tapped his communicator. "Oh, I didn't say you'd do it alone. In fact, I asked someone to come lend a hand- all the way from Fawcett City…"

A red blur streaked through the open window, bringing with it a tremendous gust of wind which blew the carefully prepared lists and inventory papers around the room, obscuring everyone's vision. When the air finally stilled, a man in a red uniform similar to CMJ's stood in the center of the room. He was tall and muscular, with a chiseled jaw and perfectly styled black hair. His eyes were extremely alert, darting around the room to take everyone in, while at the same time being warm and friendly. As his eyes settled on CMJ, the young hero consciously straightened up and pulled away from Jinx- a reaction which caused the former villainess to frown.

"C-Cap!" He stammered, forcing a smile onto his face. "I-I didn't know you were coming! Why didn't I know you were coming? I'm sorry the place is such a mess…"

Captain Marvel strode forward to put a hand on his former sidekick's shoulder. "Robin asked me to come and help you move" he said, his voice deep and full of authority. "I was happy to come- you barely said anything about your teammates in your emails, and I wanted to get to know them a little. So, here I am ready to give all the help I can to, uhm … please pardon me, miss, but I don't believe I caught your name."

"Jinx." The pink haired sorceress replied, glaring at her boyfriend. "I'm Junior's girlfriend… for the moment. Now, if you'll all pardon me, I have to get started on packing- in Junior's room, I think." With that, she flew out the window.

"Uh, Cap, it's not that it isn't great to see you but could I just have a minute with Jinx?" CMJ said, trying but not quite succeeding to keep the worry from his voice. The older hero frowned but, sensing that this wasn't the time to ask questions, gave a reluctant nod.

CMJ flew up the Tower, headed for his room- Jinx had said she'd start there, after all and she'd looked like she had vengeance on her mind. When he reached the window he had to dive headfirst into the room in order to dodge a bolt of pink energy. He hit the ground rolling, and came up just a foot away from Jinx, who glared as she readied another burst of magical power.

"Explain. Now." She growled. "Why didn't you tell your boss- your MENTOR about me? About us?"

"I haven't told the Cap'n about ANY of you" CMJ said with a sigh. "The captain… well… he's got a really black and white view of the world. He's all for giving people second chances, but if he knew that fully half my team was once on the other side of the law he'd worry about me. Not to mention that I'm dating one- he's had plenty of female villains trying to seduce him and I'm worried that he might think the same about you, if he didn't get to know you first. I wanted to introduce you first, then once he knows how great you are, tell him about us. Once he'd gotten to know what a swell person you are I knew he'd be fine with us. Plus, I really didn't want him finding out I'm team leader just yet- which would be kinda hard to hide without lying."

"Why not? You've done pretty well as leader so far." Jinx snorted derisively, but at least she let the energy around her fist dissipate. She felt a bit better knowing that he wasn't ashamed of her or anything. Taking that as a good sign, CMJ moved a little closer and ran a hand through her pink hair.

"Cap's a really hard act to follow, and our team still has a few issues we need to work out." He replied softly. "I wanted to be able to invite him to see us when we were really ready- to impress him with how much I've done. I want him to know that I can do this, that I can be a good leader."

"Well, too late for that now. He knows about you and he knows about us." Jinx said, leaning her head against his chest. "But I guess I can forgive you- I know what problems you capes have trusting us ex-criminals. But as penance, you're going to take me to the big rock concert in Gotham next week, got it? We should be able to fly there and be back the next morning mister Speed-of-Mercury."

"Yes, dear." CMJ said with a smile.

"AND you're going to let me style your hair before we go. It's a punk show and you need to fit in." Jinx said this with a catlike grin.

The young hero sighed. For some reason, Jinx loved putting his hair into outrageous and undignified styles. She knew that his hair would return to normal the next time he transformed, and had previously left him shaved, mohawked and spike-headed as the whim took her. But it made her happy, and he did need to make it up to her, so all he said was "Yes, dear."

The afternoon passed quickly, as the heroes performed their tasks. CMJ and Robin were particularly busy, since the main Titans team had a lot of files to sift through. They wanted the new team to have information on any and all major super villains and criminal organizations known to operate in the northern part of the country. That covered a lot of ground and Robin had never thought to organize his files based on geographic area, preferring to group criminals based on danger level and name. As such, the task required Robin to flip through the files one by one and pick out those that he felt were relevant, while CMJ copied those Robin passed on and hoped that the Boy Wonder didn't overlooking anything dangerous. It seemed to take forever, but eventually the job was done and the two former sidekicks made their way to the Common Room.

There they found their team mates seated in front of the massive television, watching as Superboy and Cyborg battled to the death on one of the many, many fighting games in the metal man's collection. Raven and Batgirl were on the far side of the couch, quietly meditating. Kitten and Stargirl were discussing plans for the move, while Starfire sat nearby and listened. Robin flopped down on the couch next to Starfire and kissed her forehead.

"Hey, sweetie. How was your day?" He asked tiredly.

The alien girl frowned, and tentatively licked her own arm. She looked up at the ceiling for a moment, as though considering what she'd found. Turning to Robin, her brows knit with confusion, she asked. "Robin, for what reason do you refer to me as a sweet? I do not taste any differently than I normally do, do I?"

Superboy looked away from his game with a leer on his face, plainly about to say something. Without even turning away from her conversation with Kitten, Stargirl smacked the Boy of Steel in the side of the head with her cosmic rod. Scowling, he turned back to his game, muttering about how he was never allowed to have any fun.

Robin glared at his friend before turning back to Starfire. "It's a term of endearment, Star. Y'know, like Honey, Sweetheart, cupcake, sugar, sweetie pie…" The Boy Wonder trailed off as he saw his girlfriend furiously writing things down on a small notepad.

"Curious" she said as she closed her notepad. "Why do Terrans use items of confectionery as terms of endearment? If I were to refer to a Tamaranean male as a kup'ta berry, I believe he would be most offended."

"So would I!" Robin said, growling with mock anger. "I'm the only one you give pet names to!"

"I see." Starfire laughed, deciding to just accept the strange custom. "So you wish to be my kup'ta berry? A small, somewhat tart berry with extremely bright coloring and a thin peel?"

"Hey, sounds about right to me" Cyborg quipped as he performed a devastating combo to finish the match. "He's small, brightly colored, thin skinned, and so tart he's downright bitter! Hey, Rob, better make sure no one accidentally makes you into pie!"

Robin scowled at his friend, while the others laughed. Finally, Starfire leaned over to kiss him. "Do not be angry, my kup'ta berry" she said in a low, husky voice. "I think that it is a good name for you. I have never been able to resist kup'ta berries- they are my very favorite sweet."

"Well, okay." Robin replied, mollified a bit. "But just don't call me that in public okay? Other people might not understand what it means."

At that moment, Jinx and Captain Marvel entered the room. Jinx always enjoyed teasing her boyfriend by flirting, innocently, with other guys. She'd told him over and over that it meant nothing, but she still got a kick out of his reactions- CMJ was far too polite to openly show he was angry, and so he generally just fumed with an expression on his face that she found absolutely adorable. So, when she walked into the room she already had one hand on Captain Marvel's shoulder, and the other on his chest. The older hero didn't seem to mind, as such, he just seemed a bit confused- which, in retrospect, should have been her first clue that something was wrong.

"Hey, Junior" she purred, glancing at her boyfriend. "Just thought I'd have some fun with your boss. Y'know, see what the full-on Marvel experience is like. Whattaya say, Captain? Feel like showing a girl a good time?"

That's when things went wrong. Jinx had expected her boyfriend to settle into his normal angry sulk, and for Captain Marvel to either go along with the gag or to rebuff her. Either way, she'd let CMJ suffer a little longer but then settle next to him and reassure him that he wasn't getting rid of her that easily. To her eternal regret, things did not turn out that way.

Rather than sulking or fuming, CMJ leapt up and began bouncing up and down, his face manic with glee. "OOOOH! OOOH! Cap! Can I tell her? Let me tell her? Pleeeaassse?" He cried "Come on! I've been so good and this is SO perfect!"

In response, the scarlet-clad hero chuckled. "Now now, why tell her when we can show her? Just stand aside for a moment, please miss." A burly arm pushed Jinx a few feet away, before Captain Marvel turned his head up. "SHAZAM!"

The crack of lightning, the roar of thunder, the cloud of smoke… all had become familiar to the Titan's North over their time in the Tower. When the smoke eventually cleared, though, Captain Marvel was gone. Standing in his place was a young boy, perhaps eight years old, wearing a red sweater and brown pants. He looked up at Jinx and gave her an exaggerated wink- a wink that would have been more at home on the face of a dirty old man than on a boy too young to shave.

"So" he said, his voice high and full of barely suppressed laughter. "Pick you up at eight?"

Jinx stood silent, her eyes wide and her mouth agape. The room was quiet for a moment before Raven snorted- and as though that had been a signal, the young heroes all burst out laughing. Fang and Kitten leaned against one another for support, while Batgirl fell off the couch and landed on top of Superboy's back. Through it all, Jinx stood stock still, trying desperately to think of some way to recover her cool. For once she was unable to come up with a single joke, witticism or wry remark to salvage her dignity. Finally, she just started to laugh along with the others- after all, it was pretty funny when she thought about it.

After a while, the laughter died down and CMJ stood up. Moving over to Jinx he kissed her chastely on the forehead before bending down to look her in the eye.

"Jinx" he said in solemn tones "You've come to mean the world to me, but... You know that even if we live to be one hundred years old, I will never let you forget this, right?"

Jinx sighed and lowered her head into her hands. "I understand."

With their belongings packed and their equipment already en route, the Titans North took their leave of the Tower. By special arrangement, the team would be carried to their new home aboard the Justice League's Javelin ship. This had been arranged by Robin and designed to make sure the team appeared strong and trustworthy as they entered their city for the first time- after all, what better endorsement than to be given a ride by the most famous super-team on the planet? The Titan's North assembled on the Tower's roof and made their last goodbyes before boarding the ship.

As the Javelin took off, Robin heaved a sigh and turned to look at his team. "I was going to suggest we start planning our search for Beastboy" he said, heading back into the Tower "But I don't think any of us are feeling up to that just now. It's been a long, long day and I think we'd do better to get a night's rest before tackling the problem."

"I agree" Raven said "But before we all go to sleep, Cyborg and I found something among Beastboy's possessions which I think could cheer us all up."

"Oh yeah!" Cyborg exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "I forgot about that! Guys, we found greenie's photo album! I vote we all crash on the couch and flip through it! Whattaya say?"

"Glorious!" Starfire cried "I would very dearly love to review the images of our missing friend! Perhaps there shall be images of him in his infancy- I am told that these can be most adorable and most amusing! May we do so, Robin? Please?"

Robin shared an amused glance with Batgirl. It was always amusing to him the way his team mates would make him feel like an indulgent father, and it was plain that the silent girl shared his amusement. "Well" he drawled, letting the corners of his mouth twitch up a bit "I don't know… have you kids done all your homework? Cleaned your rooms? Washed behind your ears? You did? Well then I think…"

Robin was interrupted by the blaring of the alarm. "I think we've got trouble" he said sourly "and that the photo album is gonna have to wait."

Racing to the Common Room, Robin activated the Titan's computer to search for the source of the disturbance. It didn't take him long to find it. "Robbery in progress at the Shirakawa Robotics! It's…" Robin trailed off, his face showing his bafflement. He re-checked the computer, and eventually had to admit that what he saw appeared to be accurate. Clearing his throat he resumed speaking, although he still couldn't believe what he was saying "The perpetrator is... the Condiment King? I guess? Um… Titans, go!"

A/N
A shorter chapter than normal, but I have a reason. You see, I just moved- not to a different house, not to a different area, not to a different city, not even to a different country. I moved to a different continent. I have forsaken my (relatively) balmy Mediterranean home for the brisk (read: freezing) Canadian winter.

Aren't I clever?

This chapter, therefore, is shorter than normal since I'm a bit busy settling in/preventing hypothermia. Sorry about that.

Yes, I'm using the Condiment King. Originally, the next chapter was supposed to feature someone else (who may or may not make an appearance). But the background for Starfire's pickle addiction (back in chapter one) got me reminiscing about the guy, and I thought he'd be fun to write. Plus, he really feels like he BELONGS in the Titan's Rogues Gallery- he's got that weird mix of ridiculous and effective that meshes with the likes of Mad Mod, Ding Dong Daddy, and the Puppet King.

Next chapter: Action! Puns (oh the puns)! Schmaltz! And Silky's magical tap-dancing skills! Okay, maybe not that last one…