Chapter 10:
Chapter 10:
After a night of sleep and a fine breakfast with Big Tony, Anthony, and her father, Silver Nova boarded the private jet that she was to take back to Jump City. It was luxurious and for a split second, she felt like a movie star. Forcing back a pleased smile, she let the assistants pack her luggage in the cargo hold and she took her seat. Anthony boarded minutes later, smiling and evidently excited.
"This is the beginning of something great, Kyler, I just know it," he said.
"You're awfully confident," she replied, half-teasing him.
"I have been waiting a long time to take my place at father's side. This is the beginning of a dream of mine," Anthony said. "Are you all right, Kyler? You still seem so withdrawn." Silver Nova gave the young Italian a watery smile.
"You'll have to forgive me. A part of me really did love my teammates," she explained. "It's going to take a little time for me to work through it." Anthony's face became sympathetic as he took the seat beside her and took hold of her hand.
"Of course you did. You lived with them for a long time. Some part of you had to become attached—that's human nature. Knowing that, I have to say that it surprises me that you were able to bring yourself to do them all in," Anthony said.
"I'm afraid I might have done more than was necessary," she said, "especially with the little ones. I didn't need to go so far…" Anthony became serious at this and firmly clutched her hand in both of his.
"Mistakes happen, Kyler. We learn that way. You must have been under so much pressure…Let's turn over a new leaf for you. Let's start over, huh?" Anthony murmured.
"Start over…good idea," Silver Nova said softly, nodding her agreement very slowly.
When Anthony and Silver Nova touched down in Jump City again, they were picked up on the tarmac by a private car and chauffeured to Spring Hill. Silver Nova stared, wide-eyed as they drove up to the front door. Anthony smiled at this.
"Do you like it?" he asked.
"It's beautiful," Silver Nova said, stepping out of the now stopped car and squinting in the noonday sunlight. Three levels of brick-accented mansion loomed before her complete with tall pillars, marble steps and ivy slowly creeping up the walls. The doormen took their bags inside and Anthony look a long look around the surrounding grounds before following Silver Nova up the steps and into the house. The housekeeper met them at the door, as well as the head butler. They greeted Anthony warmly and were pleasant and cordial to Silver Nova. The housekeeper, Mrs. Norrington, escorted Silver Nova up two flights of grand stairs and down the hall. The third door on the right was to be her room. The housekeeper opened the door and then gestured for Silver Nova to precede her into the room. She had never seen such a gorgeously arrayed bedroom.
"Is this really for me?" she said softly.
"Yes, miss. The master has passed along very explicit direction that we are to make you as comfortable as we can. This room was a favorite of Master Anthony's mother. She found it very cheerful," Mrs. Norrington explained.
"That it is," Silver Nova said, finally smiling back.
"Dinner will be at seven, Miss, and Master Anthony asks that you dress," the housekeeper continued. Silver Nova was suddenly anxious.
"But I didn't bring anything to wear for a formal dinner," she said, biting her lip.
"You'll find suitable attire in the wardrobe on your left. If you require any alterations simply ring and I'll send someone up," Mrs. Norrington said. Silver Nova nodded and thanked her softly. Mrs. Norrington nodded back and quietly closed the door behind her. Silver Nova noted that her bags had already been brought up and placed on a luggage rack for her, and that the draperies and windows had been opened to let in the sunshine and the fresh air. She would have a view of the sunset from her window, and there was even a balcony accessed by a small pair of French doors on the other side of the room. Minutes later, there was a knock on her door. Silver Nova jumped a bit and said "Come in." Anthony smiled as he entered.
"How do you like your room?" he asked.
"I've never seen anything like this," she said.
"Then you approve?" he said.
"Of course," Silver Nova replied.
"Good. Mrs. Norrington told you that dinner is at seven, right?" Anthony asked.
"Yes. I was just about to see if I could find something to wear in the wardrobe there," Silver Nova said.
"You'll have no trouble there. Mother had impeccable taste and several of the gowns in that wardrobe were hers," Anthony remarked. "Would you like some help choosing one?"
"You're awfully helpful today," Silver Nova teased. Anthony took her hands in his and looked at the floor for a moment before looking into her eyes.
"I've grown up an only child, Kyler. Mother died when I was twelve and while my father is supportive, he's not exactly the most involved parent. I've grown up alone, just like you. I'll depend on you to tell me if I do too much or not enough because I really don't know what enough is and isn't. I've been very lonely, Kyler, and it's good to finally have someone to share this big empty house with," Anthony explained.
"Wow…" Silver Nova said. "I never knew any of that about you." Anthony seemed to be trying to smile away an errant tear.
"Now, if you would pardon my forwardness," Anthony said, opening the wardrobe. "This gown would be lovely on you tonight." What he produced from the depths of the wardrobe was a full length, crème white cocktail gown. It was sleeveless and had a long, sheer wrap to cover her shoulders and arms. Silver Nova was awed.
"It's perfect," Silver Nova whispered, lightly touching the fabric.
"Good. Glad I was able to help. I'll leave you to rest before dinner. Feel free to acquaint yourself with the house. There's a den, a library, and dozens of other rooms to see. I'll see you at dinner," Anthony said, grinning as he excused himself and softly closed the door behind him.
"Good to see you all made it here in one piece," Bumblebee said as her friends arrived at Titans East's tower in Steel City. They were the nearest Titans outpost to Gotham, and it would be here that the Titans would launch their strike against Big Tony. The Young Titans smiled broadly as they went to greet their Eastern-based friends. Hummingbird hugged Bumblebee and then seconds later quickly pulled back in surprise.
"Auntie Bumblebee! Why didn't you tell us?" she cried. Hummingbird took a step back to reveal the just noticeable bulge in Bumblebee's belly. The leader of Titans East blushed as Herald shuffled up behind her and kissed her ear. He reached around her waist and affectionately stroked the belly as she smiled back.
"We married real quiet-like," Herald said with a grin.
"Apparently you didn't waste any time, either," Nightwing joked.
"Oh, I am so happy for you!" Starfire cooed.
"Thanks, guys. Let's get everyone settled and we can get down to business. I imagine that Kyler and Alden don't want to be in the position they're in for any longer than necessary," Bumblebee said.
"That's for sure," muttered Catalyst, hoisting his bag and shuffling off toward the elevator.
"He's taking this awfully hard," Mammoth said, concerned. Catalyst was closer to him than many of the other children were and he took special notice when something wasn't right.
"He'll be okay when he has Kyler back. Don't worry, Uncle Mammoth," Hummingbird said, stretching up to kiss his cheek. Mammoth smiled softly and turned to shake hands with Cyborg and cover Jinx in a warm hug.
"It's been too long, old friend. How have you been?" Jinx said thoughtfully. Mammoth smiled at this. Not a big smile, but a smile nonetheless.
"Better. For a while there I wasn't sure I was going to make it, Jinx," Mammoth said.
"I know. You didn't return my calls or transmissions. You had me scared," Jinx replied.
"I got them and believe me; sometimes they were the only thing really keeping me in this world. Well, them and the kids. They're really something else, aren't they? Now Bee's havin' a baby, too. She says I'm allowed to spoil it for them," Mammoth babbled.
"We're always here if you need us, Baron," Cyborg said, resting his hand on the hulking man's shoulder. "You're a member of our family as far as I'm concerned."
"Thank you, Cyborg," he said. Seconds later, the largest of the Titans was bulldozed by four giggling bodies as Rumble, Thetis, Rosefire, and Proteus decided to cure Uncle Mammoth's depression by force, throwing him off-balance and knocking him laughing to the ground.
"We missed you, Uncle Mammoth!" Rosemary cooed, grinning broadly as she felt the resonance of his laughter in his chest.
"We heard that you weren't feeling so hot lately and we decided you were going to feel better if we had to tickle you into it!" Rumble said. Mammoth rested his arms across the kids' backs, pinning them against his massive chest and making them laugh harder as they attempted to escape.
"Try tickling me now!" Mammoth laughed, holding the kids just tightly enough to pin their arms without restricting their breathing. Above the kids, Mammoth heard approaching footsteps and smiled as he opened one arm to allow Nightwing to reach in and lift Rosefire with both hands.
"All right, let's let Uncle Mammoth up off the floor. I think he's duly cheered up," Nightwing chuckled. Mammoth slowly got to his feet and dusted his knees.
"The kids were right; I needed that," Mammoth said. Nightwing released his daughter and she ran to join the others.
"I seem to remember them being a lot smaller the last time they tackled me…Rosemary's gotten tall," Mammoth commented.
"And rail-skinny, just like her mother," Nightwing said, chuckling and looking fondly at his little girl.
"How's little Ginger?" Mammoth continued.
"Noisy and active. All of our kids talked early and walked early and it looks like Ginger is going to be no exception. You ought to see the dark red layer of fuzz she has for hair," Nightwing said.
"I can't wait to meet her," Mammoth said.
"Uncle Nightwing, Uncle Mammoth--Auntie Bumblebee is asking for everyone to come to the ops room so we can discuss strategy," Hummingbird said as she entered the room. Nightwing and Mammoth started for the door and Hummingbird grinned as Mammoth pulled her under his arm and hugged her.
"How do you like being the leader, huh?" he asked as they walked along.
"I like it. It has its ups and downs, like any job, but overall, I can safely say I'm happy with it," Hummingbird replied.
"How's your mom feeling? She's gotta be near her due date," Mammoth bantered. He'd missed the Logan twins and was happy to have them around.
"It's still November, right? She's still got a month to go and she's ready for it to be over. She can't stand being grounded like she is," Hummingbird said. "Caleb's been drawing and coloring pictures for the new baby for weeks and won't show them to me. He says it will give away whether it's a boy or girl and mamma swore him to secrecy."
"Let's get settled in, Titans," Bumblebee said, bringing the meeting to order. "We've got a lot of work to do and not much time to do it."
"First thing we need to remember is to stay calm and make responsible choices. This has a lot of emotional ties for all of us, but if we blow this, it could be a disaster for Silver Nova and Eclipse," Nightwing began.
"With that said, there are enough of us that we can move in groups by family," Hummingbird said.
"We really have enough people for that?" Arsenal asked.
"According to my notes, the only team with more than four members at this point is going to be Uncle Tempest's team, and that's only because he gets Mas y Menos," Hummingbird replied. Mas y Menos smiled and high-fived Tempest.
"Muchos gracias, niña," Mas chimed in.
"Yes, thank you, little one," Menos added in English. The twins had long ago learned English and spoke and wrote it fluently, but often spoke their native language anyway simply to confuse their less than bi-lingual teammates.
"Cool," Changeling said with a grin.
The plan was surprisingly simple: Teams would be assigned to observe both Big Tony and Anthony, and others would be assigned to move in as assault teams when either father or son executed any kind of criminal activity. Another team would serve as the backup team should something go wrong. Bumblebee would remain at Titans Tower and monitor all teams from the communication system there, relaying messages and making sure that the plan went smoothly.
What wasn't going to be simple was keeping everyone patient, especially Catalyst.
"Toby?" Hummingbird said, slowly walking up to the edge of the pool where Catalyst was seated in a chair pretending to read a book to keep his mind off of the mission.
"Yeah?" he replied without looking up.
"Are you okay?" Hummingbird asked, sitting cross-legged in front of his chair.
"I will be when Kyler can quit pretending that she killed everyone. It's breaking her heart, you know that?" Catalyst said.
"Yes, I do. I can only imagine just how much it's taking for her to actually utter the words. I just hope that the plan is working and that Big Tony and Anthony believe her cover story," Hummingbird said.
"Did we hear from them yet?" Catalyst said, still not looking at her when he spoke to her.
"No. Toby, none of us can help it that this is happening. This is the only way that we're going to be able to catch Big Tony and Anthony in the act of trying to establish a foothold in Jump City. Hopefully this way we can also eliminate the Gotham end of the operation, but we're going to have to work together," Hummingbird said.
"Yeah, yeah," Catalyst said, finally standing and removing his reading glasses. "This is all easy for you to say. You're not sending Jason out there to get shot at by the mob."
"So what if I was?" Hummingbird said, following Catalyst as he left the pool area. "I trust Jason to get the job done to the best of his ability. Yes, I'd be worried about him coming home in one piece, but all the same, I'd trust him, and I think you need to do the same for Kyler."
"You just don't get it," Catalyst said, walking away from her.
"You're right, I don't, and I wish you'd tell me," Hummingbird said as she followed him.
"I'm trying to tell you, Livie!" Catalyst yelled.
"No you're not! Just tell me what's going through your head!" Hummingbird yelled back. In the upper level ops room, Changeling started for the door to go downstairs and pry the twins apart and was stopped by Nightwing.
"What?" Changeling said in confusion. "You don't think I ought to go down there?"
"I think they need to slug this one out, Gar," Nightwing said.
"They're not your kids, Dick," Changeling said. He'd never taken that defensive stance with his friend before.
"I know, but I've been the leader of the team before. Livie needs to make Toby understand that he needs to talk to her, even if he doesn't know what to say. It's gonna come out. Just let it ride a few more minutes," Nightwing replied. "If it gets any worse, Star and I will go down there with you and help you take care of it, okay?" Changeling relented and he and Nightwing watched over the railing as Hummingbird and Catalyst continued to yell.
"I want her back, Livie!" Catalyst shouted.
"I know, Toby. We all want her back," Hummingbird replied, trying valiantly to lower her voice. "This was the only way that we could help Eclipse. You want Kyler to have her dad, don't you?"
"Stop patronizing me," he said, starting to grit his teeth.
"I'm not patronizing you, I'm trying to get you to understand why she went undercover," Hummingbird said.
"I love her, Livie!" Catalyst wept, finally breaking down and falling to his knees and then sitting down hard on the tiled pool border. He brought his knees up and rested his head on them, running his hands through his straight, pale blue hair as he cried. Hummingbird knelt down next to him and wound her arms around his shoulders.
"Now we're getting to it," she said softly. "It's okay, Toby."
"I'm sorry," Catalyst sobbed.
"Don't worry about it. You needed to say it and get it out of your system," she replied, still hugging him. A moment more passed before she released him and sat down next to him.
"You know, you alluded to the fact that I've never sent Jason into a dangerous situation. Actually, I have. Back on Tamaran, Calypso could have easily used her powers to make Jason kill himself. I ordered Jason to stay behind at the palace. I knew he could handle just about anything but I hadn't counted on Calypso actually getting her hands on him. I've never been so mad at myself for putting him in that position," Hummingbird explained.
"But we all made it, didn't we? You and the little guys all got back just in time and Coral clobbered her," Catalyst said.
"Exactly. In retrospect, we all made it back. We were all safe. Trust Kyler the way I trusted Jason. Eclipse will be there to save her and we're her primary surveillance team, so don't sweat it, okay? You're going to be there to swoop in and save the day if she needs you," Hummingbird said. Catalyst finally smiled.
"Thanks, Livie," he said, leaning his head on her shoulder.
"What are twin sisters for?" she replied.
Upstairs in the ops room, Robin poked his head into the room from the corridor that led to the bedroom area.
"Is it over yet?" he asked Changeling and Nightwing.
"Just now," Nightwing chuckled.
"Good," Robin said, emerging into the room with Rosefire in tow.
"Do they fight like that a lot, brother?" Rosefire asked.
"You've been with us a while, you should know already that they don't. I think that Toby's just under a lot of stress because he's worried about Kyler," Robin explained. "I can't say I blame him. If it had been Livie going out there I'd have flipped…at least at first. I mean, he's going to be part of her recon team. If I knew I was going to physically be there watching out for her I don't think I'd be so worried." With this said, Rumble emerged into the room with a huge grin on his face. He was accompanied by his father, Arsenal, who announced, "Lock and load, Titans! Let's roll!" There were miscellaneous cheers as the team gathered equipment, double checked plans and vehicle assignments and then distributed hugs and handshakes before they parted ways. Robin wove through the sea of people to get to Hummingbird, who sank into his arms and kissed him.
"Be careful, Jason. I love you," she whispered.
"I love you, too, baby," he replied, applying a playful kiss to her forehead.
"Take good care, my Emily. I shall miss you most dreadfully," Rorek said, holding Thetis' hand and then smiling in pleased surprise when she threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek.
"I'll miss you more. Remember our sonnet, okay?" she said. He nodded, still a bit shocked from her kiss. In the sonnet in question, Shakespeare's 43rd, the author speaks of being able to see the beloved in his dreams and if his dreams were so beautiful, how much more so the beloved would be in the light of day, and how much more joy it would bring him when he saw her again.
"I could never forget it, my darling," Rorek said lovingly, stroking Thetis' hair with a trembling hand. "All days are nights to see till I see thee / and nights bright days when dreams do show thee me."
"Good luck everybody!" Arsenal called as he, Rumble, Herald and Aries headed for the door. They were assigned to keep watch over Big Tony and his thugs and so they were headed to Gotham, followed quickly by Nightwing and his family, who were assigned to make sure the rest of Gotham's underworld didn't get any ideas. Cyborg's family team was assigned to do the same for Jump City, while Tempest's team was assigned to Anthony, and last but not least, Changeling and his children would be keeping an eye out for Silver Nova and Eclipse. As each team took to the roads or the skies, Bumblebee tested the radios by calling to each team's leader.
"Testing, testing," Bumblebee called into her headset and pressing the appropriate buttons on her wireless keyboard. "Calling all teams, sound off!" Bumblebee laughed at some of the responses she got as she sat back in her chair and listened.
"Team Nightwing here! Suppose I can beat my wife and kids to Gotham on my cycle while they fly?"
"Team Arsenal checking back—good luck with that, Dick!"
"Team Changeling here. The kids and I say we've got five bucks on Starfire beating him by at least 30 minutes."
"Team Tempest here—You're on, Gar; we'll take that bet on Nightwing's side. No one knows Gotham the way he does."
"All right, you guys, pay attention to your missions. Kyler and Alden are counting on you," Bumblebee chuckled. As soon as she went back to monitoring the screens in front of her, a faint communicator signal crackled through.
"Infiltration a success…proceed as planned," Eclipse's voice said.
"Whoo!" Bumblebee cried. She pressed the relay button and replied, "We read you, Eclipse. Good to hear your voice! Count on extra reinforcements and proceed. You guys are in good hands." There was a pause and then open space on the line for a moment and Eclipse's voice returned, sounding pleased, "Th-thank you! When I arrive at the summer estate I'll have to tell Kyler. She'll love to hear that."