Mar'i saw the communicator on her bedside table when she woke the next morning. The post-it note attached to it read,
Please hang on to this, for goodness sake.
She deduced from the gothic styled handwriting it was from Raven. She opened it. The time read 7:32 am and the date read in the bottom right-hand corner, May 5, 2006. And this was the moment she decided she would stop trying to "wake up." She was still in 2006 in a girl named Terra's room.
After Robin had dismissed the team that previous evening, he and Starfire left the remaining Titans so they could go plan the training activities. Mar'i had a short conversation with Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven. While they weren't expecting this twist in their plans, but they assured her it might actually work out in their favor. They would have uninterrupted time looking for Red X which meant they might actually be able to figure out why he knew Mar'i's identity and simultaneously find the clock that would get her home. When she tried to convince them to get her out of training, they told her that was out of the question.
"Sorry, girl. Rob seems pretty set on this, " Cyborg said. "You're going to have to go along with it until we can figure something out."
"And 'sides," Beast Boy offered, "You said, you didn't know you, parents, very well. Maybe this is your chance to get to really get to know them! Even though... ya know, it's still SUPER weird."
Raven assured her they would do all they could, but it was up to her to keep cool.
That was the end of that conversation. The boys attempted to lighten the mood by trying to convince her to play a video game, but Mar'i wasn't interested. She retired to bed early that evening despite Beast Boy's protests of it only being 7:00 pm. She didn't even bother to change into the pajamas Starfire had provided and fell asleep the minute her head hit the pillow. Now even after 12 hours of much-needed sleep, she wasn't sure if she felt rested or completely numb. She had powers, apparently, and for someone who considered herself pretty secure in her identity Mar'i wasn't sure if she even knew herself anymore. If she had Tameranean abilities, why hadn't they surfaced until now? She didn't know, but she willed herself out of bed to get ready for her first session in an hour and a half.
Something in her gut told her to look outside her door. She opened it and found a pair of workout clothes folded neatly at her feet. A pair of black workout leggings and a neutral, gray quick-dry t-shirt. She grabbed them and promptly changed out of her day-old clothes into the workout attire. Though she wasn't entirely sure what these sessions would entail, it was obvious that sweat would be involved. She'd shower later.
After changing into the clothes, she brushed through her raven hair and braided it into a long, side ponytail the way her Mom used to when she was little and quickly splashed some water on her face. She took a deep breath and tried to hide the few flyaways that framed her face, but decided it was no use.
After remembering to grab the communicator, she made her way toward the common room since she didn't know where else to go. Thank goodness, Robin finally gave her permission to walk the hallways alone. She had Raven to thank for that who had convinced Robin the constant surveillance was unnecessary at this point. And as kind as Cyborg and Beast Boy had been thus far Mar'i knew they were probably getting tired of being her escorts up and down the halls. Upon entering the common room, she found Cyborg at what appeared to be his usual place, behind the stove whipping up some scrambled eggs.
"So, are you the in-house chef or something?" Mar'i mused as she took a seat at the counter.
"Might as well be!" Cyborg laughed as he stirred the eggs with his spatula. "Raven would only drink tea if she had it her way. Everything is tofu or some meat alternative for Beast Boy. And Robin is always 'too busy' to eat." Cyborg chuckled, "The boy would be 20 lbs soaking wet if I didn't feed him."
"And Starfire?" Mar'i asked.
"Oh, the girl can eat. She's got nine stomachs, but she only cooks Tameranean food. I wouldn't call it the most... appetizing." He grimaced and spooned some eggs on a plate next to him and slid it to Mar'i. "Did she- your mom- ever make you try any of it?" He handed her a fork which Mar'i took happily.
"Not that I know of, but I'm always hungry." She took a bite of the eggs and smiled. "Although I am happy to report Kori Grayson can make a pretty mean lasagna."
"That's reassuring." Cyborg spooned some eggs onto a plate for himself. "Well, you better eat up," he pointed to her plate, "You're going to need all the protein you can get before your first session."
Mar'i noticed how nice it was to talk about something other than the fact that she could disintegrate into inexistence. She also realized after seeing the steaming eggs on her plate how hungry she was. She promptly scarfed them down to the point where Cyborg couldn't help but watch the savagery in awe and slight horror.
"Oh yeah... you're definitely Star's kid."
Mar'i wiped her mouth.
"I"m pretty sure I only have one stomach though."
"The resemblance still stands."
Mar'i reached for the communicator in her back pocket and checked the time. It was only 8:30, but she took into account that finding the gym itself may actually take her half an hour in this tower. Cyborg took her empty plate as if reading her mind.
"You better get going. Take a right in the hallway and take the elevator down to the second floor. The gym will be on the left once you get there."
"Thanks, Cyborg."
"You'll do fine," he assured her. "BB, Raven, and I are going to get to work. We'll let you know if we find anything."
Gymnasium; Titans Tower; 2006
Robin did a once over on all the equipment to make sure it all worked properly. He checked the clock on his communicator which read 8:35. He had been in the gym since 6:30 to do a simple workout to get his head straight before working with Mar'i. Working with his team was different. They trained together daily but that was only to perfect their skills at this point. This would be the first time in six years since he helped train anyone, nonetheless someone with no concept of their abilities. Mar'i was essentially a blank slate. But if he could help the four teenagers on his team, he knew he could help her. When the Titans first originated they needed help. They really needed help
Beast Boy, though he had been a member of the Doom Patrol prior, still needed a bit of fine-tuning. He would erratically shapeshift from an elephant to a cockatoo or some other small bird or rodent which typically resulted in a pulled muscle or sprain. Raven was afraid of unleashing all unholy hell on everything and everyone and it took Cyborg several months to figure out all the gadgets that had been installed into his cybernetic body. And for Starfire, combat was no issue, it was, of course, it was understanding that not everything was taken literally, especially when he was giving instructions during battle. Robin admitted they were still working on that but in the six years she had been on earth, she had gotten much better with time and with time and... practice. His mind replayed her saying for what had to be the millionth time since their night on the beach.
He internally scolded himself and attempted to focus on the bench press machine. He adjusted the weights absentmindedly trying to drown out the sound of her voice in his head. It was distracting. It was distracting in the best way. But it wasn't a distraction he could afford right now. But then again, was it something he could ever afford? He had to admit that if they weren't heroes... they could "practice" all they wanted.
"Stop it." He said this time out loud as he let go of the weights.
Will you help me to practice?
"Stop!"
He looked to his feet and saw a basketball next to him which he swiftly picked up and chucked across the room as hard as he could. He had to get her out of his head.
"That was the worst free-throw I have ever seen."
Robin pivoted toward the door and saw Mar'i standing there wide-eyed. Apparently, he sounded more frustrated than he thought he was.
"Just blowing off some steam," He lied, and Robin could tell by the look on Mar'i's face that she knew it too. Thankfully, she didn't pry almost as if she had this instinct not to. Why did she look like she knew something he didn't? Focus Robin.
"So..." She began, bringing him back to the moment at hand. "Should I stretch or something?"
"Wouldn't hurt," He answered. "You need to get your muscles warm. I can help." He started to walk over to help but Mar'i quickly held her hand up.
"It's okay. I got this."
"What?"
"I can stretch myself."
With that Mar'i rolled her shoulders, then neck and cracked her knuckles. Taking a deep breath and performed a backbend walkover. She landed gracefully upright on her feet. Robin blinked under his mask.
"Gotta say I wasn't expecting that."
Mar'i shrugged her shoulders. "I'm a gymnast." She explained as she sat down on the floor. "Well, was anyway." She stretched her legs in front of her and bent her chest to her knees.
"With that flexibility, I'd say you still are." Robin crossed his arms.
"I don't compete anymore." She sat back up and seamlessly moved into a split and brought her back leg up for a quad stretch. "Stopped to focus on school."
"So, you haven't forgotten everything."
She seemed to freeze momentarily then adjusted so she could stretch her other leg. "I started gymnastics when I was pretty young. It's not something you forget. Even with a knock to the head."
"I suppose that's fair," Robin answered as he checked the time again on his communicator. 9:00.
"Ready to get started?"
Mar'i stood up and put her hands on her hips.
"Do I have a choice?"
Even when she trained for her gymnastics meets, Mar'i was positive she had never sweated so much in her life. Robin had her do 3 sets of 10 burpees to get her heart rate up and had her run 2 laps around the gym. And as if he was trying to make her feel more out of shape, Robin did the burpees and the laps with her seemingly without breaking a sweat. As strange as it was (and it was super strange) to be working out with her sixteen-year-old father, it was kind of.. fun? Did he do this every day? Why was he so good at this? Did Batman teach him? Is this how he trained the rest of the team? The questions continued to stream through her head.
"Didn't know you were such an athlete." She huffed at the end of their second lap.
"Well, to be fair, you don't know me," Robin answered, frankly as he jogged over to the punching bag in the corner of the gym.
"Little do you know." She said to herself trying to regulate her breathing.
"Come on, let's keep working." he gestured to the bag and Mar'i begrudgingly dragged her feet over to meet him. Robin showed her how to properly punch without breaking her wrists but for the most part, encouraged her to give it all she had.
"We'll perfect your technique later," He informed her. "I'm just trying to gain an assessment of what you can do already."
"So," She breathed. "You want me to beat the heck out of this bag?"
"Exactly," Robin affirmed
"Easy enough."
Mar'i quickly learned it was not easy.
They commenced a 10-minute punching bag workout which tired her quicker than she had expected. Who knew throwing all your energy into a bag could do that to you? After the punching bag, Mar'i bent over hands on knees to catch her breath again.
"I'm dying. How do you do this every day?"
"If its any consolation, you're doing much better than Beast Boy did on his first day, and he can turn into a cheetah." Robin mustered a laugh as he walked over to the bench on the sidelines and handed her a towel to wipe her face. Mar'i took the towel gratefully.
"I'm not that fast."Mar'i plopped down on the floor and wiped her face.
"No, but you're vo2 max is much better than his." He handed her a water bottle which she also took eagerly.
"So, are you planning to kick my butt now that I'm down?"
Robin shook his head.
"I'll save that for another day." He offered her a hand to help her up and when Mar'i took it she saw he was smiling. A genuine smile that caused her to pause. For that brief moment, she saw a glimmer of her Dad in him. There was still so much she wanted to know. Was the Dick Grayson she knew really the same person as this Robin? Why was he so serious all the time? Did he ever take that silly mask off? She took his hand and he helped her to her feet.
"There's more to it than throwing punches," He continued matter of factly seemingly not having the same visceral reaction. "We're going to work on building up your endurance. You can't take 10 in an actual fight. Speaking of which, you look awful. Let's take 10 now."
"Gee thanks. And already on it." Mar'i sat down on a bench off to the side to catch her breath and Robin took a seat next to her. Mar'i was sure this might have been the first moment she heard him trying to regulate his breathing.
"Recover as best as you can then I can show you a few combos. Starfire should be here in a few minutes too."
"I thought she was going to work with me the next hour."
"She is," Robin affirmed. "I thought it might be good to have her here if you needed to see an example. Sometimes things click faster if you watch a combination a few times." He cleared his throat and took a sip of his water.
"Right." Mar'i said and she started to feel herself breath normally again. "So, do you two practice together a lot?"
Robin promptly spat out a copious amount of water in surprise and Mar'i lept off the bench to avoid being sprayed.
"Sorry!" He apologized wiping his mouth.
"What did I say?" Mar'i questioned in confusion.
"Nothing. It's nothing." He ran his fingers through his hair and regained his composure as best as he could. And with she could feel him start to shut down and she didn't know why. The glimmer of Dick Grayson was gone in an instant and it was only Robin. Mar'i sat back down cautiously. He was frazzled and was he blushing? He stood up from the bench and attempted to swallow another cough when Starfire walked into the gym. Robin's face turn an even deeper shade of pink when she entered.
Oh. She thought. That makes sense.
"Good morning, friends!" Starfire chimed as he approached the bench and asked Robin "I trust the first hour of training has gone well?"
Robin seemed to be searching for words and tried to speak but nothing came out. Starfire stared at him puzzled.
Oh Dad, no...
Mar'i was starting to feel embarrassed for him. She couldn't let him crash and burn like this.
"He's kicking my butt if that's what you mean." Mar'i interjected trying to cover up Robin's obvious embarrassment. Robin who had been holding his breath breathed a sigh of relief to himself. Starfire returned a sweet, but knowing smile.
"Yes, he is quite good at that."
"Okay," Robin clapped his hands together attempting to divert the conversation. His face started to look a little less pink. "Let's move on." He directed his attention to Starfire. "Let's show her some basic self-defense."
Robin directed them to the middle of the gym and the three worked on some simple moves. Mar'i learned the hammer strike and how to use her elbows. If her attacker was male, going for the groin was completely acceptable. Robin, of course, didn't feel it necessary to practice that. Starfire practiced the moves with her and she had to say she was thankful she did. She felt less stupid and Robin was right, it was helpful to have someone else to watch and Robin was able to adjust Mar'i's stance and positioning as needed.
"Okay, now if someone comes up and grabs you from behind," Robin explained. "You'll want to focus on getting low and create a space for yourself."
"Uh..." Mar'i scratched her head. "Example?"
"Hmm..." Robin thought for a moment then looked to Starfire. He moved behind Starfire and placed his arms around her waist in a bear hug. Starfire's face flushed slightly. Mar'i deduced that while this was common for her parents, this physical contact was not the norm for Robin and Starfire. She couldn't help but wonder if he ever touched her when they weren't training, or if this was his one excuse where it was acceptable. Seeing her parents as heroes was strange, but seeing them awkwardly trying to fumble through adolescence was probably stranger. Mar'i didn't have time to ponder this much longer as the sweet moment didn't last.
"Promise not to hurt me?" He asked her.
"I will do my best."
Starfire quickly crouched down and nailed Robin in the head with her elbow. The two struggled until Starfire was able to free a hand and promptly grabbed Robin by the back of his head and thew him to the ground. Robin let out an "oof" upon hitting the floor and Starfire, once free from his grip immediately picked him up. Mar'i was horrified. Cyborg was right, Starfire literally could snap her in half.
"Oh Robin, did I injure you?!"
"I'm good." He assured her as he dusted himself off. "Mar'i, do you want to give it a try?"
"With her? I'm good." The turned to Starfire. "Thanks for not killing me yesterday."
"I welcome you." Starfire beamed and she pulled out the communicator to check the time. "It is 10 o'clock!" She turned the device for Robin and Mar'i to see. "I believe it is now my hour with Mar'i." She looked at Robin. "May I take from here?"
"She's all yours," Robin said gesturing to her.
"Perfect," She replied. "You may leave."
Robin shifted uneasily. "You want me to leave?"
"Yes."
"But Starfire-"
"You have done enough, Robin. I am certain you require some much-needed rest."
Robin opened his mouth to argue but decided against it.
"Okay, but I don't want a repeat of yesterday. Call me or any of the others if you need us."
Starfire said she would and Robin left the gym leaving the smiling Tameranean and an uncertain Mar'i.
Starfire watched the door to make sure Robin was gone then sat down on the gym floor cross-legged.
"Let's begin." She patted the floor in front of her gesturing for Mar'i to sit. Mar'i sat down in front of her so the two were facing one another. Mar'i started to feel her anxiety rise. This was the part of the training she was most unsure of.
"You are anxious." Starfire said matter-of-factly but empathetically.
"I guess..." Mar'i began. "I don't know what happened yesterday. I don't know what to expect."
"Nor should you," Starfire took Mar'i right hand in her's. "Tameranean powers are controlled by one's emotions. Though I am not sure what you were feeling, it was an emotion powerful enough to exude the great energy that is inside of yourself." Starfire took her free hand and produced a star bolt. "Now that we know you possess this energy, it is now our task to learn how to control and harness it for good. Tell, me what were you feeling yesterday."
Mar'i watched the green light dance in Starfire's hand as she thought back to the previous day. She was feeling a lot of emotions. She was stuck in the past for crying out loud. But as she remembered the moment with Red X in the basement, she remembered she felt,
"Angry. I was angry. I couldn't allow Red X to keep hurting everyone."
"Excellent," Starfire seemed satisfied. "That is a common response to injustice. I experience it myself when we are in battle."
"But, you're not angry now." Mar'i said still watching the starbolt. "How are you doing that not if you're so calm?"
"That leads to our first lesson," Starfire explained and held Mar'i's hand up. "It all starts with joy."
"Joy?" Mar'i repeated, unconvinced.
"Indeed, It is the foundation that fuels our power. What is something that brings you joy?"
Mar'i wasn't sure where Starfire was going with this but she did her best to think of something that brought her joy.
"I guess, gymnastics?"
"Good!" Starfire encouraged her. "Anything else?"
"Solving a difficult chemistry problem I suppose? That's the last thing I remember doing before I- before I ended up here."
"Why Chemistry?" Starfire asked. "I am told most earth students disagree with you."
"You're not wrong." Mar'i agreed with her. "But I want to be a forensic scientist when I'm older. I want to help to solve crimes, so I have to be really good at it. And, I am good at it."
"Hmm." Starfire was thoughtful. "I am still new to understanding earthly occupations. What is a forensic scientist?"
"They analyze physical evidence from a crime scene." Mar'i felt herself getting excited as she explained. "I'm from Goth- I'm from a place that sees a lot of crime. I want to make sure the people who commit those crimes don't get away with it ever again."
"You sound like Robin," Starfire said and smiled to herself.
Without warning a green light quickly shot from Mar'i's hand that Starfire was still holding. It came as quickly as it went, but it was there. Starfire put out her own starbolt. Mar'i lept to her feet and grabbed her hand in disbelief. She looked at Starfire with wide eyes.
"What was... Did I- Did that come from me?"
Starfire nodded.
"But, how?!"
"You find joy in helping people. It is a joy that fuels our power at the core, and anything else we feel is just another layer. Yesterday, you felt a righteous fury because people you cared for were being attacked. This is wonderful, Mar'i! You have already made such progress."
Starfire gave her a bone-crushing hug.
"I feel like I haven't done anything." Mar'i protested sincerely.
"You would be surprised. Come, it has not yet reached the hour. Let's keep practicing!"
The two sat down again and continued to think of joyful things. The spark in Mar'i's hand would flicker on and off occasionally as they would name them one by one until the hour was up. And with that, the lesson was over.
"Well done!" Starfire concluded their lesson and helped Mar'i stand up. "I believe it is time for lunch. Would you like to accompany me?" Mar'i felt like she couldn't move she was still in awe of the last hour.
"Maybe in a bit..." She said.
"Very well, you can find me in the common room if you need anything." Starfire turned to leave but Mar'i stopped her.
"Starfire... what brings you joy?"
Starfire looked at her. A huge smile spread across her face.
"Many things. But today, it was spending time with you."