Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending, chapter 1: After the Fire Chapter 14: Quality Time, a teen titans fanfic

Coming up on chapter 14 of "Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending," my collaboration with Oobluebubbles. The names for Tara's friends just kinda came to me; hope I haven't infringed on anyone else's story; if so, please accept my heartfelt apology.

Hope everybody enjoys this chapter; things are about to start getting….interesting. As before, I don't own, etc. Please read and review, and thanks!

Chapter 14: Resurrection: Phoenix Ascending: Quality Time

A collaboration between OobluebubblesoO and Nitebreaker

"Tara, have you done your homework?"

"Yes, mom. Just now finished it." Tara closed her books and looked up at her mother. "Would it be okay if I went out with some friends of mine, later?"

Her mother, blond like her daughter, smiled. "Yes, dear. Just don't be out too late. Your father nearly had a heart attack last time, when you were at the bank and those awful people attacked. We know that wasn't your fault or anything, but he worries about you. So do I, sometimes."

Tara smiled in return. "Well, it really wasn't my idea for them to try to rob my own bank. But it was the closest ATM to our house…and ATM fees are on the moon."

"Just the same. If the Titans hadn't been there…." Her voice broke.

"It's alright, mom." Tara hugged her mother, comforting her. "They were there, and everything's cool now. Those weirdos are in prison. They won't be bothering us anymore, at least not for a while."

"Well, anyway. Are you planning on seeing a movie with your friends?"

"Yes, ma'am. Wicked Scary 4 just came out; Ashley, Madison, and I thought we'd take it in. Why?"

Her mother cast a sly glance at her daughter. "So. No boy has asked you out?"

Tara sighed. Actually, several had, but she just wasn't interested. How could she explain to her mother that her heart belonged to a certain green skinned superhero? How could any ordinary boy compete with that? "Greg asked me last week. But I dunno. He's nice, but, well….I don't want to lead him on or anything."

Her mother ruffled her hair. "Honey, I worry about you sometimes. It's normal for girls your age to be dating, but you don't seem interested. Is—is something wrong?"

"No, mom, nothing's wrong."

"You know you can tell me anything." She paused. "It's not like….you're not, I mean, like, attracted to other girls, are you?"

Tara blushed, laughing. "Oh, no, mom, it's nothing like that." Now it was her turn to pause. "There is this one guy. But he totally lives on a different planet, you know? And, and, I don't know how to, to, well. You know."

"Is he nice? What's he like?"

Tara blushed. "Well, he's super nice. Yeah, super nice is a good way of putting it. But he just doesn't seem interested." How could she explain? She didn't really understand it fully herself.

"Well, we do live in the 21st century. You could ask him out, you know. The world wouldn't fall apart." Her mother smiled. "Though I can't swear about your father…"

"Who's swearing? Hey, no swearing in this house. You wanna swear, go outside." Her father had just come in from work.

"Daddy!" She ran to him and hugged him. He always smelled so great, coming home from work like this…

"Yep, that's me. How's my little princess? How was school?"

"Still there. Though the chem class keeps trying."

"So who's this young man you're interested in now?

Oh, gosh. Now she was in for it. "It's nothing, dad. Just some guy I kinda like, but he doesn't even know I'm alive. Well, yeah, he knows I'm alive, but you know what I mean."

"So bump into him sometime. Literally. Spill his notebooks for him. That's how I met your mother." Tara's mother laughed, hearing that.

Tara smiled. Here was her way out. "I might just do that. Advice from the maestro…" Her father laughed and rumpled her hair still more. But it gave her an out…

The being—now known as Orb-knew a special kind of joy. Its friends, the Teen Titans-so much to learn about just that designation!-had assigned it a room there in "Titan's Tower." Being based on a generic human design, the room had a bed (for which it had no need), a desk (again, no need) and a "Tee Vee," as they called it, for which it had a great deal of need. Apparently, the Tee Vee functioned as a means of communication between humans.

It didn't really understand why each person needed their own personal room, but it accepted that. It would have been, what was the expression? "Tickled pink" to've shared the room with its friend, Raven. But apparently things were not done that way, and that was fine with it. It at least was here, in the same place, as its friend.

The leader, the one called Robin, was speaking. "Orb, is this okay with you? Is there anything you need, that we can get for you?"

{{This is fine, Robin. It is really more than I actually need. I have no needs, as such. I hope my presence here is…}} It fumbled for a phrase. {{Okay with you? I am not causing you any problems?}}

"No, no, you aren't causing us any problems at all. However, I must tell you of a human need, something called 'privacy'…."

{{I am somewhat familiar with the term, as it is used here, with you. I will not be going into others' rooms, unannounced, and I know to keep from going into the place called 'the bathroom.' It is not something I have any need for, anyway.

My physical being will remain here in this room, unless you wish me to go elsewhere, or there should be some other compelling cause or need. Should you need or desire to contact or converse with me, I will be here. But I am curious about this 'City' in which you live. Might I not sometime explore it? Would that be okay?}}

"Well, for right now, let's just stay here, okay? We'll arrange to show you the city sometime, but if you were to appear anywhere in the city right now, you'd probably freak someone out."

"What I mean is, you'd cause someone distress. We have to prepare both you and the people you'd encounter for such. Understand?"

{{Yes. I may explore with my senses, may I not? But I will not appear anywhere else but here, for now.}}

"That's great, Orb. Just perfect. I only wish all aliens that come here were as well mannered as you—ow!" Starfire had punched him, albeit lightly, in the arm. "Present company excluded, of course," he said, pointedly.

They filed out of the room, Raven lingering a moment. "Orb? Will you be okay, here, by yourself?"

{{But I am not by myself, Raven. You are here. Your friends, my newfound friends, are here. Why would I not be okay?}}

Raven shrugged. The Orb made a note of the gesture, wondering what it meant. "It's a human thing, I suppose. You were much more alone, on Ganymede, than you are in this room. But, as a friend, I suppose I worry about you."

"You—you do? Why? What about?"

{{You are unhappy. This Malchior hurt you more deeply than you admit. But the ongoing hurt has little to nothing to do with him. Does it?}}

Dammit, when did a form of life so totally alien to man get this, this perceptive? "Well, you….are right, I suppose." She sighed and half-turned away. "I see Robin and Starfire, and Beast Boy and Terra, and I wish I had something like what they have. And I don't. Nor do I think I will ever have that, that special someone in my life."

Raven sighed again. This could go on for a while. "It's complicated, Orb. Maybe tomorrow I can explain it to you better, but for right now, I have some things I have to do. I will not be in the Tower, or in communication with you, for a while. Unless you need me, I mean. I have to go on what's called 'patrol' with the others. Terra will be here, in the Tower, but I will not. Will you be okay with that?"

{{Yes, of course. Perhaps someday I may accompany you on this 'patrol'. It sounds like fun.}}

"Not exactly. But we'll see. Well, bye for now. I will check in on you when I return."

"Yes, Orb?"

{{Please tell the one called 'Terra' that she does not have to worry. I will not let anything happen to her. Or any of you.}}

Raven was taken aback. She hadn't really thought about Terra, all alone here in the Tower, powerless should Slade—or anyone-attack. "Uhm, I will tell her. And thank you." With that, she left.

"So, Tara, I hear you had some excitement in your life the other day."

Tara ducked her head and groaned. "Please. I could use a little less such excitement."

"Did you get to meet him?" Ashley was irrepressible.

"Meet who?"

"Don't play innocent with me. You know who. Did you?"

Tara sighed, looking down at her tray. She was sitting with her two best friends in the lunchroom of Makamura High, but had barely touched her food. She just didn't have any appetite. Then, "Yes, I did. Happy now?" She hadn't told them about the meeting in the mall not long ago.

"What'd he say, what's he like?"

"Well, he's green, he changes shape, and he fights crime. That's pretty much all I know."

Ashley rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. You must've gotten some more than that. Is he nice, or….."

Tara rolled her own eyes. This had "long day" written all over it. "Yes, he's nice. He's very polite. He even kissed the back of my hand, just like in the old movies." There. That oughtta keep 'em going.

Ashley goggled at her. "He kissed the back of your hand?"

"That's what I said."

"He kissed the back of your hand?"

"How many times are you gonna repeat that?"

"But—but, Tara, you actually got some, well, some lip action goin' there! Yeah, maybe not as good as lip on li-*"

"Look, do we really have to go over it? The whole thing was a nightmare. I mean, those freaks busting in, tying us all up, and, and—"

"And getting rescued by the boy of your dreams! How many times does that happen to people? Tara! Did you at least give him your cell number?"

"No. It wasn't that kind of a situation, I tell you! Besides, he was busy, he had to take those robbers to jail…"

"Now don't tell me you wimped out."

"There wasn't time. He was on duty! Now, if we're done here, I've got a class to go to."

"Oh, pooh. You're no fun. I wish I'd been there. I'd have seriously sucked some face."

"You'd a' gone for Cyborg, though. Computers are your thing."

"So? Hunky man AND funky machine, all in one! Can't beat that!"

I could've, thought Tara, and I oh so wanted to. Just grab him by those elfin ears and kiss those wonderful green lips till he was semiconscious. And I would'a enjoyed EVERY minute of it. I wonder, she mused, would that count as full frontal facial rape? Hope not! Or should that be, hope so? Gah! Too much to think about.

And that's only what I would'a done in public. In private….I wonder how hard it is to get that uniform of his off of him, anyway?

Back at the Tower, the Orb felt about with its senses. The other Titans had left to go on the "patrol" (oh, how it longed to be able to do that with them! But for now…), but had left the one known as "Terra" behind. The Orb sensed her sitting at a computer terminal, researching positronium. It knew about positronium, of course, although it had only recently acquired a word for it. It knew about the probe, the machine, overhead, in orbit around the Earth. It knew its purpose, and prepared itself to take steps when the time was right.

At one point, Terra had left off researching positronium and was conducting a web search (such a fascinating thing! A place where so much knowledge waited for the taking! It would have to connect to this "internet" and see all there was to see, for itself, but for now it would wait) and searched for the whereabouts of an entity called "Slade." The Orb could sense her levels of anxiety increase considerably when she found the information on him. Evidently, she was deeply afraid of him, and felt powerless against him. She felt…it searched its mind for the term…vulnerable to him. That he could hurt her in some way, or hurt the ones she loved.

It started to communicate with her, to tell her she had nothing to fear, that it would protect her, but paused. Humans, it seemed, were not completely comfortable with the notion that it could sense them, see them, as they put it, when it was not physically present. So it refrained from doing so.

Now it sensed her leaving the computer terminal and going to the room she shared with the one called Beast Boy. She straightened the room up some, dusted the desk and table. She had already moved most of her clothes into his closet; her own room was virtually bare now.

To the Orb, this was how it should be. Terra loved Beast Boy; she should be with Beast Boy, even as it loved the Titans and was now with them. But there was an element of her love for Beast Boy that was different than the love it shared for all its new friends, an element it couldn't comprehend. Raven had tried to explain it only a few hours ago, but it still didn't really understand. Perhaps in time it would.

Now she left the room she shared with Beast Boy and wandered down towards what the one called Robin had called the "Tee Vee room." Her path took her right by the room they had designated for the Orb. She knocked lightly on the door. "Orb? Are you alright in there? Can I get you something?"

{{I am alright, Terra. I do not need anything. Do you wish to talk?}}

"No, I was just passing by. Thought I'd check on you, see how you were," she started to say 'how you were hanging,' but corrected herself in mid-sentence, "doing. That's all."

{{I am doing well. It is a marvelous feeling, to have friends so close by. Do you not think so?}}

"Yeah, Orb. I hear ya." She sighed, and half-turned to go. "Well, I'll be…"

She looked startled. "No, Orb, I'm…..no, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't afraid. I guess I am afraid. Somewhat."

She bit her lip. "Not…..really. Yeah, I mean, you're….an unknown life form. Here on Earth, we have lots of stories, fictional stories, about alien or unknown life forms eating us or something. It's kinda hard to overcome. But talking to you helps."

Terra stared. "You know, that's a pretty good question. I guess, the best answer is, we like feeling fear when we know it's fake. But only then. Any other time, we don't like to be afraid, because that means something's out to get us." She paused. "I can't really explain it any better than that." Unconsciously, she had stepped further into the room.

{{Would it help if I told you that you have no need to be afraid of me?}}

She smiled. "Thank you, Orb. Yeah, it helps a little. It's not like I'm, you know, really terrified of you anyway…"

She stared again. "How do you know about that? Are—are you reading my mind?"

{{Not really. Not in the sense I think you mean. But as you speak, you radiate thoughts. I detect those, and am learning to decipher them, so as to better communicate with you. I do not…see anything other than what you are talking about. But you spoke of fear. When you did, I received the image of the one you call 'Slade.' You are extremely afraid of him.}}

"Yeah, Orb. I am. He's…bad. Very bad. I'm afraid he'd hurt me, again."

{{You are fearful that he would thrust a part of his body into yours. Against your wishes.}}

Gad. How'd this conversation get this deep, so suddenly? But, she realized, the fear the Orb was talking about had been uppermost on her mind for some time now. "Yeah, Orb. We call it 'rape,' and, yeah, it's something to be afraid of. Especially since, well, since I defied him and turned against him. I feel like he'd….want to hurt me in the worst way he could." Her voice sunk to a whisper. "I'd rather he kill me than do…that."

"What? How do you know?"

{{Because I would not let him.}} There was a sense of astonishment in the Orb's mental "voice," as though it were simply stating a fact that should be obvious to anyone. {{I would stop him. You are my friend. I would not let someone hurt either of you that way.}}

"Thank you, Orb." She sniffled, wiping away a tear on her shirt sleeve. "It's good to know I've got you in my corner, too. And, yeah, I wouldn't want anything to happen to Garfield, either." She smiled slightly. "I've got big plans for that boy." Then she blushed scarlet when she realized the Orb had probably "seen" some of her plans. Particularly the ones where they were naked. "Uhm, keep this between us, okay? I mean…"

{{I believe the expression is, 'Mum's the word.'}} So delightful when she laughs, thought the Orb. It amused itself with the thought that the one called Beast Boy would probably think the exact same thing. Progress was being made.

The probe had completed its analysis of this solar system. It could sense the organic beings on its surface, attempting to attach primitive reaction units to it, in order to move it. Phase I of its programming was complete. The Slade-entity continued to copy data from its databanks, but that was of no consequence. Its limited intelligence told it that one group or another would no doubt endeavor to take parts of it away. That, of course, would not be allowed. So far, the Slade-entity believed itself to be in control of it. It served the probe's ancient Masters for it to continue to believe that. But that state of affairs was soon coming to a halt.

Progress was being made.

In the city, Raven and Beast Boy had called a brief halt to their rounds, and entered a local McDonald's for a rest. "Hope this doesn't offend you, Beast Boy," Raven mentioned as they entered the restaurant. "I mean, they do serve meat in here…"

"Not a prob, Rae. I'm used to it." They both ordered, Raven getting a salad, while Beast Boy stuck with just a soda.

Sitting at the table, they enjoyed a brief rest. "Garfield? Mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"Of course not, Rae. You know you can ask me anything."

"Well, yes, but….why did you suddenly decide to go with dairy products? I mean, in the past, wild horses couldn't change your mind."

Beast Boy sighed. "Well, Rae, it's something I noticed: have you noticed that, whenever we order food, Terra gets exactly whatever I'm getting? Like the other night, she got a tofu pizza, same as me."

"Well, yes, but so what? I mean…"

"It's like this, Rae. I—we're planning a life together. A life, Raven! That's a long time. I, I don't want her to feel limited by my choices." An image flashed through Raven's mind of Terra, far advanced in pregnancy."I want her to have proper nutrition, and I'm doubtful if a tofu-only diet would give her all the vitamins and minerals she'd need." He paused. "I still won't eat meat. But nothing died to make milk or dairy products. Unless you count the eggs. And, uh, I haven't been an egg for at least eighteen years now." He blushed and ran his fingers through his hair.

She laughed. It was so good to hear her laugh, he thought. "Well, that's….very thoughtful of you, Mr. Garfield Logan. Soon to be Mr. Terra Markov! So. How are things going with you and her? I mean, she's staying in your room…I'm not trying to pry, but—well, I guess I am, in a way."

"We're not having sex or anything, Rae. Not yet. It's just, we enjoy being with each other. And, and I think she feels safer when she's with me." He leaned back, his expression darkening. "Slade….Slade hurt her, Raven. Deeply. Almost as bad as Malchior hurt you, but I guess he was just more honest about it. Isn't that a trip? Hey. Maybe we could fix Malchior up with Slade. They'd make such a cute couple." They both laughed at that. "About the sex part….we both talked it over and thought we'd just wait a while. Not necessarily till the ceremony. Just…we just both want to be really ready, y'know? Although," here he leaned forward, so she could hear his lowered voice, "a few times, when she thought I was asleep, and she….kinda rubbed up against me? Raven, it was sexy as hell. And that's with both of us fully clothed." He blushed.

"Don't ever let her know you were awake. It would ruin her whole day. Here she thought she was being soooo stealthy." Sluuurrrrpp! went her straw in the bottom of her smoothie cup.

"Raven?" Something in the tone of his voice caught her attention. He reached over and took her free hand. "I, I just want you to know that, no matter what happens with me and Terra, you'll always be very special to me. Always." He paused. "I don't know if that means anything to you, but it does to me."

Raven blinked the tears away. "Thank you, Garfield. It does mean a lot to me. It really does." Just not enough.

To be continued