A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to update. School has been a biYAtch. Urgh. And conditioning for LACROSSE season. Yay. That means a lot of running for me.
Disclaimer: Teen Titans are not mine. Teen Titans will be mine when I find a boyfriend that will confess hsi secret love for Teen Titans to me haha.
TT2
Thursday September 17, 2019
As one might have expected otherwsie, the next day was not awkward between Sara and Kyle. In fact, they seemed as if they had never gotten along better. The other teammates found this quite amusing, and would giggle like schoolgirls whenever they were in the same room together. Sara would glare hatefully, and Kyle would suggest with an acrimonious tone that they had something better to do with their time. Go suck eggs, maybe?
It had been a slow day. Clara was on the way to her room when she caught a bit of some noise coming from Taku's room. Curious girl that she was, she silently tiptoed towards his bedroom door and listened.
"Me and my star...Matthew goodnight," he sang softly, as an acoustic background played. He wasn't...playing the guitar?
Way to be original...Beast Boy played the guitar Clara thought with a silent and derisive snort. "He could've at least played something all his own," she whispered to herself.
"You know, by law, when you'll be forgiven," he continued to sing, and hit a sour note, but continued on anyways. "Maria, my star...Matthew goodnight. You know, my lord, when you'll be forgiven."
Clara's evil smirk began to fade. Her mouth was slightly ajar as she listened to the lyrics he was singing. Clara had heard them before, and knew they were not his own, but all in the same the subject was clear. Taku could be very profound sometimes.
He was singing of his brother and sister.
Clara entered the access override code to enter his room. He did not look up when the door opened, but she knew Taku was aware of her presence. His fingers were diligently strumming, as he continued as if she were not there.
"Wait, now, here, when will you believe?" he sang softly. "Me, I'm merely asking you to help me, when did I say to murder? Wait, now, here, please hear me out. Time consumer, time consuming, consume me."
He strummed the guitar a few more times, before heaving a sigh and setting it beside him on his bed and leaning back. For the first time in a week, he observed her thoroughly. She looked tired, somewhat happy (which was uncharacteristic of her), but tired. "So you've discovered my secret."
"What secret?" Clara asked. "You play guitar."
"I was kidding," he responded, raising an eyebrow at her. "Not too sharp today, are we?" Clara sneered at him. "Not that much of a secret, but the only people who know are the other members of the band I play in, and now, well, you. Can you keep it?"
Clara let slip a small smile, before ambling forward to take the empty seat next to him on the bed. "In fact, I can."
"Ok then," he responded jubilantly. "Any requests?"
Clara raised an eyebrow at him, and let a smirk slip onto her lips. "Do you know Unemployed Boyfriend by Everclear?"
TT2
Sara sat diligently on the couch, lazily stretched out, flipping channels every so often. She was bored. And no, this was not average boredom. This was tear-your-eyeballs-out-and-use-them-as-super-balls-for-fun bored. She would jump at the chance to do ANYTHING at the moment.
"Hey Sara, wanna come train with me?" Kimi asked.
Except that.
"Meh," was her half-hearted reply. Kimi shrugged and walked away. Sara was once more sinking back into the peace and quiet of the empty living room. Besides the jarring sound of the television, of course. Quiet...peaceful..relaxation...
"TITANS! TITANS!" Danny came into the room screaming. Seeing only Sara on the couch, he ran to the computer and slammed his hand on the emergency button. Sara sighed and turned off the television. Peace and quiet ruined.
"What's wrong, Danny?"
He opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, Kyle, Taku, and Kimi came sliding into the room. "Where's Clara?" Taku asked. Kyle looked around and saw she was not there, but dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "What was so important, then?" Taku snapped.
"Baron is gone! He broke out!"
"What?" Kyle screamed. "You've got to be f-" but Sara slapped her hand over his mouth to prevent unnecessary sayings. He shot an annoyed glance at Sara and she relinquished his mouth. "Thank you. You've got to be kidding me! There was no way he could've broken out!"
"Well, he did! I went in there and he was gone. I didn't stick around to see how, but I came up here to get y'all immediately," Danny stated.
"Look, Danny, you get down to the surveillance room and check out the tapes, and when Clara gets here, she can help you. Taku, Kimi, you two go inspect the cell room, look for something out of the ordinary," Kyle ordered at once, pointing fingers at each person as he mentioned all of them. "Anything that could possibly help...any little piece of something that can help us discover how he broke out."
Sara looked to her leader and cocked her head to the side, her brow furrowed. "And me?"
"We're going after Baron."
Sara and Kyle (as Hawk) were on the road several minutes later. She was flying by his side at top speed to keep up with his motorcycle, both of them just white and black blurs to people walking on the streets of Jump City.
"Thirty meters, dead ahead!" Sara shouted. "His attraction, its growing."
An attraction, in terms of magic, was a concentration of a person's pure being, tracked by their DNA. Sara had found a hair on the cell floor and used it to track his essence, or his attraction, to this very spot. An attraction, though was not the actual location of the person, but a place where he had been or spent a lot of his time. Kyle sharply stopped in front of a large building: The Pizza Place.
"He-he's been here," Sara stated uncertainly. "Oh my-" she had a small spasm. "He's been here recently, and he's been here a lot," Sara told him. Sara was suddenly blown back, and though she fell onto the ground and was in slight pain, she got up anyways.
"Sara!" Kyle called, running towards her. "Sara, what happened?" he asked, helping her up.
"I don't know, that's never happened before," she told him, rubbing her head. He swatted her hand away and checked to see if there were any noticeable wounds. "Well, it has...once. I was battling with Clara and she used a mind shield on me...but...Baron isn't capable of that. He would've unleashed the power by now if he had it."
"But someone close to him..."
"Nice to see you again," a voice hissed in Sara's ear.
She gasped and turned, but nothing was there.
"Couldn't keep you Titans away, could I?" the voice hissed into Kyle's ear. He didn't turn, merely pulled out his bo-staff and twirled it about his being. When it hit nothing but air, he ceased and rested it at his side.
"Let's fight."
Both heard the voice and turned. "Sara, back!" Hawk yelled. Sara nodded, reverse-stepping to rest her back against his. She gasped in a breath, as they slowly turned with each other to survey their surroundings. It seemed normal.
Suddenly, a black form fell down from the balcony of the Pizza Place and pressed his palm to the ground, creating a rift in the road. Sara saw this immediately and flew up, tugging Hawk's hand to bring him up with her. "Thanks," he said breathlessly.
"Anytime," she replied, setting him back on the ground. "Now let's show this scum what Titans are made of."
Hawk ran forward with a battle cry, raising his bo-staff and striking it at Baron. Baron deflected it with slashes in the back of his gloves. Hawk swiped at his feet and pegged him down. Hawk was about to bring his bo-staff down onto Baron's chest, but he disappeared and reappeared right behind him.
"HAWK!" Sara called. He jerked his head to the side just in time to avoid a punch to the back of the head. Sara came forward, a spell slipping off her tongue, and it hit Baron right in the back as he was busy battling Hawk.
Baron was down on the ground and Hawk had his foot on his chest, preventing him from getting up. "What do you want this time?"
"Nothing, I just like screwing with you!" Baron spat, before disappearing into thin air.
Sara came forward, lightly grasping Hawk's arm. He turned to her slightly, before shaking his head in disappointment. He would not understand why, and he would never understand the workings of Baron's mind, but once again he had slipped through their grasp.
TT2
Kyle and Sara arrived back home about thirty minutes later after one last patrol, to make sure there was no way they could possibly find him. They met in the main room, where Clara was sitting nervously, Danny was tapping his foot, Taku and Kimi were looking downcast, and the overall air of the room was gloomy.
"We didn't catch him," Sara announced to the room. She pulled off her cape and threw it on the back of the couch in anger. "Stupid, little, good-fer-nothing..." she began mumbling to herself, crossing her arms over her chest.
Kyle watched her through remorseful eyes. Sara did NOT take defeat well. "Danny, what did you and Clara come up with in the surveillance room?" he asked them.
Clara looked to Danny, silently pleading with her eyes. "Nothing. He must've somehow broken into the surveillance room and taken the tape," Danny replied softly. Kyle then proceeded to ask Taku what he and Kimi found.
Clara looked to Danny and smiled gratefully. It was always good to have a friend...
"Titans?" she asked as she skidded into the living room. She sighed and pulled out her communicator, speaking clearly into it. "Danny, where are the Titans?" she asked.
"Baron broke out. You and I are supposed to be watching the surveillance tapes to see how he did it. I should have-" but then Danny went silent. "Ho-ly. Crap."
"Danny? Danny?" Clara asked frantically. He had found the tape!
Clara took off for a sprint towards the surveillance room. No, no, NO! Danny could NOT have found the tape! Why didn't she remember to take it out? Why was she so stupid! Oh God, now her secret would be out and she would be called a heretic of all the things she stood for! "Danny!" Clara called as she skidded into the room and slowly ventured in.
Danny was sitting at the control panel, sitting in a swivel chair, his index fingers pointed up and resting on his lips as he watched the tape before him. "Danny...oh please, Danny..."
Danny turned and stood to look at her, his eyes as icy cold as se had ever seen them. "You...and Baron?" Danny looked back at the screen. "You haven't even known this guy for more than-what?-two weeks! Now you're making out with him on the floor of a jail cell?"
"Look, Danny, I know that looks bad-" but she was cut off.
"Save it, Clare. I'm calling Kyle on this one." He turned his back to her and pulled the communicator out of his pants pocket.
Clara's head dropped and she began to breath heavily. There was one thing she could do, but it was her last chance. "Danny, wait," she whispered softly, coming forward to rest her hand on his shoulder. "I know that looks bad. Hell, it looks awful. But think of how you feel when you see Kimi." His shoulders drooped a bit. "Think of how much you care about her." He sighed. "Well, I know...I can just feel that's how much he cares about me. And I care about him. I wouldn't go as far to say I love him, but, having known him for two weeks or not, he's different. He's not evil, he's just lost."
Danny turned his head to see the hand on his shoulder. Then, he looked up into Clara's large hazel eyes. "Really?" he asked quietly.
"Really," she affirmed.
"Then, I guess, I can't say anything else to that except I'll keep your secret," he sighed, with a soft smile.
"Really?" she asked excitedly, her eyes lighting up.
"Really," he agreed. Clara rushed forward and hugged him only momentarily, before pulling back and coughing awkwardly. "But, you have to promise me you'll be careful. You have to be careful, not just for your sake, but for the Titans."
"I will, oh, I promise!" she exclaimed enthusiastically. Danny smiled.
"I've got to be the biggest softy in the world for 'the eyes'," he commented. "No matter what woman does it, I can never resist saying no. You got lucky."
"I am lucky to have a friend like you," she whispered back, reaching forward and giving him another tight squeeze.
So now he knew why she was so happy.
TT2
It was pure coincidence when Sara and Kyle met up on the roof during the sunset that evening. He was in his "moody" state; he had his knees drawn up and was taking deep breaths, deep within the recesses of his mind. He was thinking.
Sara approached him cautiously, not wishing to disturb him, but merely wishing to watch the sunset. It greatly helped her to think, sometimes, and that's just what she needed to do at the moment. "Hey there," he greeted, though he did not turn around and she had been quiet as a church mouse.
"How'd you know it was me?" she asked softly, watching his face bathed in the glow of the setting sun. "I was trying not to disturb you."
"I can always tell when it's you," he told her with a smile, turning to watch her with a cocked head. "But I can't always tell why you're up here. Want to share?"
"I was bored," she lied with a small shrug. "I figured I would find you and we could carry on a conversation without our teammates giggling like schoolgirls at every word we exchange. They can be such little children sometimes."
"Tell me about it," he murmured, with an exaggerated roll of the eyes. He leaned back, lacing his fingers behind his head, sighing. Trying to occupy himself with the silence, he busied himself with trying to blow a lock of hair from his eyes. "That kiss...Truth or Dare?" he asked. In all truth, right now was the only time all day he had alone to think about said kiss.
"Yup," Sara responded nonchalantly, not at all aware of the fact that her face rivaled the color of her pink shorts. "Clara can be evil sometimes. I know she loves me, but she uses things against me."
"If it's any consolation, you're an amazing kisser," he breathed.
Sara's face now rivaled the color of Starfire's hair. "Thanks. You too. I hardly believe that was something you picked up when training with Batman."
It was now his turn to shine bright crimson. "It's not a skill, it's a talent. You don't learn it, you're born with it," he recited. "Or at least that's what my friend Stan says."
Sara giggled in her endearing little way, twisting her neck to look down at him. She turned around so she rested her torso against the side of his bent legs, and her arms were resting on his knees. "My friends are the same way. Except they have a little saying...it's not quality, it's quantity." Kyle slipped his sunglasses down so she could see his cocked eyebrow above one sparkling turquoise eye. "They try and make out with everything male they see."
Kyle let out a deep, rumbling laugh. "I know what that's like. Not to sound arrogant, but girls were rather fond of me."
Sara stuck out her tongue at him. He stuck out his in a retort. "Real original," Sara joked.
He smirked. "That's what I do best. Originality." Sara's grin fell into a soft smile as she watched the clouds roll on by, taking on hues of purples, blues, and soft pinks. Kyle was looking away, but because of his dark glasses, you couldn't know he was secretly watching Sara.
"The clouds are so beautiful this time of night," she sighed, resting her elbow on his knee and propping her chin up. "So delicate. Like if you jumped from the sky you'd just land on a soft, cottony heap of cloud."
Kyle chuckled at her innocence.
Sara ignored his small chuckle and gave up her position on his knees to lay down next to him. "Today was so hectic," she murmured, her head tilting slightly so her temple was resting against his. "As you can see, I don't take loss well."
"Neither do I, so its ok," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper.
"I just wish we could get our hands on him and keep him. We don't seem to be having much luck with that aspect," Sara told him, her eyes fluttering closed. She straightened out her legs and rolled onto her side so her forehead was against his temple and her parted lips were blowing warm breath onto his cheek.
"No, we don't. Hopefully with more training we will catch him, but this is a the type of villain that will get his own story. Hence the title of this fanfiction," Kyle mused.
"Hm?" Sara asked.
"Oh, nothing," he replied, his cheeks turning pink though she could not see him.
There was a long stretch of silence. Soon, Kyle let his guard down, and seeing the stars twinkle all around them, he began to feel drowsy. His eyes fluttered closed and within seconds he was fast asleep.
And three little teenagers by the names of Clara, Kimi, and Taku, quiet as Church Mice, watching the two from the rooftop door, all exchanged exclamations of success. One of them, whose hand was encased in black, smirked in satisfaction
Her drowsiness charm worked after all.
TT2
Kyle jerked awake three hours later. He groaned, his head pounding with pain, his back in need of a good cracking, and his eyes laced with a good amount of lethargy. He glanced to the sleeping Sara beside him and smiled softly. Suddenly, all of his pain just faded away.
"Sara," he whispered softly in her ear. "Sara?"
But she merely rolled over onto her side, throwing her arm out. It coincidentally landed on Kyle's waist. Kyle smiled to himself, before gently picking her arm off and setting it back to her side. He agilely stood, bending low to slowly lift her off the ground. Her blonde waves cascaded from her lolled head, her arms dangling.
Kyle adjusted her in his arms so she was resting comfortably. With an obnoxious yawn he opened the slightly ajar rooftop door with his foot and began down the stairs that led towards their rooms. There was an unusual bounce in his step that would've been noticed by anyone present, if they were conscious.
"You know, you can be smart sometimes," Kyle heard Clara snap sarcastically as he passed the living room, no doubt to Taku.
"I know," he replied proudly.
Her cynicism in that statement had been painfully obvious, but Taku wouldn't notice sarcasm if it danced three feet in front of him wearing nothing but Kyle's sunglasses.
Kyle snorted and continued on, until he had reached Sara's door. She may have been remarkably light for a girl her age, but his arms felt like they were going to fall off after carrying her down three flights of stairs. The door slid open and he eagerly set her down on the bed, pulling back the covers only to lay them across her sleeping form. Kyle smiled at the innocent image before him, reaching down to brush the flaxen hair from her closed eyes. "Sweet dreams, Sara."
He left the room swiftly and then let the door hiss as it closed. With a small satisfied smile still on his face, he passed by Danny's room and began towards his own.
Wait.
That didn't sound right.
He backtracked and stopped right in front of Danny's room. He pressed his ear against the door, and listened intently to the small sounds emitting from inside. Kyle furrowed his brow and continued to listen. It seemed Danny was having a...nightmare, of sorts?
Suddenly, thunder cracked, lightning lit up the sky, and rain began pouring outside. Danny grunted and let out a small terrified scream. Two more booms of thunder came. "Oh God," Kyle breathed. He entered the access code to Danny's room and cautiously entered. Danny was thrashing about his bed, sweat dripping down his face, his features contorted into a look of pain and misery.
"Kimi. Kimi!" he called out in his sleep. Kyle watched in fright as his teammate continued to thrash. He kicked off half his covers, revealing on his chest three parallel scars above his left pectoral muscle and a healing bullet wound in his right shoulder.
A bullet wound?
Kyle ran to Kimi's room and avidly knocked on the door as thunder shook the tower to its core once more. "Kimi!" Kyle called breathlessly. The door slid open with ease and a tired Kimi appeared. She raised a single eyebrow. "Danny's having a nightmare. He keeps calling out your name."
Kimi's face fell. "Oh X'hal," she gasped. She darted back to her bed and slipped on her robe over her pajamas, tied it tight, and began flying towards Danny's room.
Thunder crashed once again.
"Danny," Kimi cooed, taking a seat next to his thrashing form on the bed. She looked to Kyle, and he immediately knew it was time to give them their space. "Danny!" she called to him, her hand reaching over to smooth out his blonde hair. Kimi took a deep breath, and interlaced her singers with his. "It's just you, and me, and all of the people," she began singing softly to him. It was their song, and whenever she sang it to him, he was calm. Hopefully it would work this time. "And I don't know why, but I can't keep my eyes off of you." He calmed down as she continued singing, his head leaning into her soft touch.
His silver eyes peeked open, already glazed. "K-Kimi?" he asked. He looked around. "Where am I?"
A bolt of lightning appeared the same time thunder sounded. Danny visibly jumped. His scared eyes, eyes of a traumatized nine year-old, looked up at her. "Kimi," he breathed, lunging at her in an embrace, his arms snaking under her armpits and his head burying into her collarbone.
"It's ok, Danny. It's just me. It's just me," she murmured, rocking her body slightly to calm him. "No one else."
"I feel like he's coming after me again," Danny whispered, and the rain continued to beat harder and harder against the window pane.
"He can't hurt you. He's gone, he's finished," Kimi told him. "He was finished that night, he can't hurt you anymore."
"Mommy, I think I heard something next door."
"Kimi, I am sure it was nothing."
"Mommy!" the little girl gasped, as a light drizzle began from the sky, soon turning into torrents of rain.
Danny's breathing became softer, but he was still visibly shaken. Kimi pulled back and kissed his forehead. "Danny, remember all those times you told me to stay strong? Through everything we've been through, through all the good times and the bad. Well, I need you to stay strong. Don't let this hurt you anymore."
She called the police immediately.
The mother clung to her child, as she whimpered seeing her best friend on the ground, blood spilling from his shoulder and bruises and marks all over his body.
"Kimi, get out of here. Run. Go home, hide under the covers of my bed, and stay there."
Kimi, as they both pulled away, traced the three scars that never faded, reminding him of that horrible night. That horrible life. The horrible things he put up with until he was nearly nine years old. "Danny, I'm not asking you to suck it up. Never would I ask you to do such a thing, but please, try to forget it. It's in the past."
"He is drunk! Or at least, he was..."
Kimi ran her fingers through his soft hair. "God, that dream...it's as vivid as if it were yesterday," he told her, his voice cracking noticeably. "And I have you to thank. If it were not for you, I might not be alive."
"Do not think of such things!" she commanded. "You would be well alive. And who cares for 'if'? All that matters is here, now. You're safe. You're safe with me."
"Kimi...don't leave me..."
"Kimi, don't leave me..."
Kimi sat next to his form and propped herself up against the headboard. He slid back down into the bed, and his eyes fluttered closed as she continued playing with his hair. She would only stay until he fell asleep.
And Kimi couldn't help but think his father got what he deserved, for putting Danny in such a state.
TT2