Happy Holidays, everyone! Have a great holiday, whatever you celebrate (or don't celebrate. If not, enjoy some down time and good food!) Anyway, I hope you liked that last chapter. That was a topic that has been sitting heavily on my heart. This chapter will be a bit more light-hearted as we deal with the guys being…well, the guys. I hope you like this chapter! I don't own Teen Titans.
Chapter 17: Quiet Night In-(10)
Sweat dripped off the end of his nose. Black hair plastered to his forehead. Narrowing his blue eyes, Dick's arms began to tremble slightly. But he could do this. He WOULD do this. Just three more seconds. Three…two…one…Gasping for air, he lowered himself from his stance on the gym rings, dropping to the floor. He had held that stance for over five minutes. And that was his superpower-super stubbornness.
Cracking his neck, he stretched out his arms. Time for cool-down. Taking the wooden batons tucked in his belt, he began twirling the weapons while striking simple martial poses. Regular guard pose. Opposite guard pose. Diagonal body strike. Short strike. Overhead strike.
As he whirled around, speeding up his movements, he began shifted back and forth between his poses. Suddenly, with one final strike, he spun around and jerked his hand back. Blinking back at him was Garfield, eyes slightly crossed starting at the frozen baton less than an inch from his face. Holding his hands up, Gar let out a nervous laugh. "I'm innocent!"
"Gar-why are you always the one who comes to interrupt me whenever I'm in the middle of doing something!?"
"Sorry, Leader Man." Gar used one finger to push the baton out from his face, slightly looking down at Dick. Dick rolled his eyes and relaxed his stance-he hated being the shortest guy in the Tower. "As our dear friend, Cyborg would say-I have great timing."
"I'm sure he does say that."
Laughing good-naturedly, Garfield threw an arm around Dick's shoulders. "Look-Kori and Rae are out doing some girl's night and Vic and Karen are on some date-wanna go destroy his high score on Need for Speed Heat game? I mean-after you shower because you reek!"
It really had been a long time since he had spent time with Garfield one on one-since he started dating Raven they just didn't spend it together. "Sure, why no. I'll be there in 10."
After a quick shower and changing clothes into some comfortable (though expensive-hey, he did know Bruce Wayne after all) sweats, he promptly stepped into the Common Room at exactly 10 minutes after his conversation with Gar. "Dude, how do you do that?" The green man asked, holding a remote in one hand and looking at a watch on the other.
"Training, young Padawan."
"Ugh, you and your training." Shaking his head, Gar gestured toward the television. "So-you ready for a quiet night in? Guy's Night!" He laughed, some of his teenage joy shining through.
"So are we just stomping Vic or am I stomping you, Green Bean?" Dick chuckled quietly, flipping over the back of the couch and flopping onto the cushions.
Garfield gasped, pretending to be extremely offended. Just as he was about to retort, his communicator rang. "Hold that thought, Bat Boy. I gotta take this." Sniffing indignantly, he opened his communicator with an upturned nose and blinking at the screen. "Changeling speaking-and who may be calling-Yo-Vic! What's up?" His demeanor completely shifted as he glanced his green eyes at Dick before shifting over to allow the leader to see the screen too. Dick took in Victor's disheveled appearance, obviously not wearing his halo-ring. His human eye was swollen, face haggard and speech very disjointed.
"Cyborg?" Dick asked, unsure if he was in a public place or not. "What happened?"
"I happened! That's what happened! And you would know-you broke Starfire's heart! Like mine!" Victor howled, rubbing the top of his head. Judging by his disjointed thoughts and over-emotional response, Dick deduced he was intoxicated. "I dunno…" His face was too close to the screen. Realizing this, Victor backed up and blinked at the screen. "Karen and I had a fight and now she's gone."
"GONE?!" Gar gasped, scrunching his face in concern.
"Gone! With Star and Raven!" Victor gasped, flinging his hand backward and almost falling out of his chair. "And I don't think I handled it super well."
"Really." Dick muttered, earning a nudge in the ribs from Gar.
"Don't judge me." Victor huffed, frowning angrily at the camera. "It's not like your big 21st birthday. You were hammered."
"He's got ya there." Gar murmured, this time Dick nudging him in the ribs. Overexaggerating his pain, Garfield winced into the camera. "Where are you, dude? We'll come to you. Oh-wait, I recognize that tacky moose head on the wall. See you in a few." Clicking off the screen, he gave Dick a pleading look. Damn Garfield and his earnestness. "Ahh, come on, dude! It's Guy's Night!"
After flying to the bar Gar said he recognized (evidently it was Victor's favorite pool hall, which Dick was confused how he didn't know about this.) Stepping inside, he grimaced as a rough looking crowd scowled back at the heroes. Maybe halo-rings would have been a good idea-but too late now. Scanning the crowd, Dick noticed their best friend sitting in the back, surrounded by empty nacho trays and too many beer bottles to count.
"Hey, it's my friends!" Victor thrust his hands over toward his friends. "See, I told you they'd come! Hey guys!" Dick caught Garfield's eye-yeah, this would be a long night. As the pair walked up to Victor, he continued to talk to them. "Thanks…I love you guys! You know that? And I gotta tell Karen that because-well-whatever she is upset about. Man! Can you believe we had our first big fight? Well, as a married couple anyway. Over some dumb…I dunno…but she's mad and left and now my marriage is over. Wanna drink?"
The bartender glanced over, eyeing Garfield with suspicion. "Hey, I'm old enough! But we're good." Dick nodded in agreement as he continued. "I can't really drink a lot because it messes with my shifting." The green man thrust his nose in the air before turning to Victor. "Dude-your marriage isn't over. You just had a fight. Rae and I used to fight all the time and look at us now."
"Now you never fight!"
"That is so not true-trust me! It just seems that way since it is way less than it used to be!"
"Whatta you know?"
"I know Karen loves you-and you love her too. And one little fight isn't going to end your relationship." Grabbing one of Victor's large mechanical arms, Gar grunted under the weight while glaring at Dick. Reading his message, the vigilante sighed and went to Victor's other side and heaved him into a standing position. Staggering under his weight and imbalance, Dick grunted while they lead him out. "Look dude, you're a good guy and you and Karen are perfect for each other! Let's go find her and make things right, okay?"
Victor muttered something unintelligible and Dick sighed in annoyance. Garfield's strategy didn't work. And if there was one thing that he knew Victor responded to-it was tough love. "You're right. You've blown it." Garfield yelped at Dick's words but he merely raised an eyebrow to tell him to let him finish. As the green man fumed, Dick continued on as if nothing had happened. "Look, one fight doesn't end a marriage but not trying to save it will. You also have made a spectacle of yourself and the Titans tonight and if you don't pull your act together and sober up, Karen might become more upset and who knows what will happen."
"Whatta you know?" Victor gasped as the trio walked outside into the brisk, night air. The air seemed to revive the cybernetic man ever so slightly. Dick noticed the pupil in his human eye focus on the car in front of them.
"More than you right now. Come on, Vic." Dick patted him on the back as they finally made it to the T-Car. As he and Gar leaned him against the car, Dick tried to be understanding. He got it-relationships were hard. How many crazy things did he do while dating Kori? But still-he only really made a public mistake once-and he never wanted to relive that birthday again…not that he remembered any of it. And this was not how he thought guy's night would go.
Just as he opened the door, he heard the sound of a pocketknife unsheathing itself. "Hey-give us all your money." Seriously? Even though all three were in civilian clothes (despite him wearing his mask) it was obvious they were the Titans. Slowly turning around, he noticed four teenagers gasp as they recognized them. It was three boys and one girl, each dressed in all black to blend into the night. The lead boy furrowed his brow in determination. Dick had to be impressed by their bravery-or stupidity. "Now."
With a sigh, Gar leaned Victor against the car door. "Just stay here, buddy. Relax and take a breather." Straightening up, Gar raised an eyebrow at Dick as if to say, 'Can you handle this?'
"You wanted a quiet night in." Dick muttered, causing Gar to chuckle before suddenly shifting into a tiger and letting out a roar. Two of the teen boys squealed and raced away. The girl and lead boy paled as Dick leapt into battle. He tucked into a roll, popping up next to the teenage girl. He pulled the hair-tie off her wrist in one smooth motion and hit the teenage boy with it between the eyes (not to hurt him but to distract him.) Swiping her feet out from under her, he ducked into a backward handspring and pulled the boy into a roll by his scarf and slammed him on the ground. Springing back up, both teens were dazed on the ground. "You should go back to school and stop robbing people. Next time you may end up robbing someone who won't be as nice to you." Both children gasped, springing up and toppling over one another to escape the hero.
"Dude, could you have been any rougher with them? They're just kids!" Gar huffed, back in his human form.
"They gotta learn somehow. They seem as hard headed as you."
"Ugh. You sound like Raven-oh, crap. He's gone." At Garfield's words, Dick swiveled around and groaned in frustration. Victor was gone-nowhere in sight. He hated babysitting and being DD. He sensed Gar turn toward him as he said, "I blame you, dude."
Ignoring his youngest teammate, Dick slid into the car and sat behind the wheel. Victor wouldn't have gone far-even with his enhanced abilities and speed from his mechanical parts, he was too inebriated to make it more than a mile in such a short amount of time. Gripping the wheel, he began to tap his thumbs rapidly as he thought. There were seven establishments he had been with Karen in the past two years since they became an official couple. The last three places they went together were the BBQ restaurant, the clothing store that was currently closed for the evening, and a small art gallery where they had an impromptu date six weeks ago. Nodding to himself, he glanced over at Gar who had slid into the passenger seat.
"You okay? You've been sitting there for over two minutes without blinking."
Realizing how dry his eyes were, he blinked twice before turning to his friend. "So the three most likely places he will be are Tyler's BBQ Pit, Monica's Boutique, and the Galleria Italiana. Those are the three closest places that he has been with Karen in the past two years within a mile radius. He couldn't have gone further." Turning the key, he noted Gar's horrified face. "What?"
"Dude, did you chip us?!"
"What do you think cell phones are for?"
Punching the gas, he drove around to each establishment. At the first place, Tyler's BBQ Pit, the heroes were greeted by Tyler himself. "Well, I haven't seen him in over a week! But that Cyborg sure is a good guy! He is my best customer. He always brings in publicity for me and he sure knows his way around a plate of ribs."
"Animal." Garfield murmured, just low enough only Dick could hear.
"Thanks anyway!" Dick smiled, flashing his patented 'Nightwing' charm that Raven teased him about from time to time. They also didn't find him at the clothing store or the art gallery. At each place, the people only had good things to say about Victor and Karen and how kind and considerate they both were toward others.
Leaning his head back onto the headrest of the car seat, Dick sighed. "Having trouble?" Gar asked, munching on some popcorn from the art gallery. Dick rolled his eyes-seriously?
Flipping open his communicator, Dick ignored Gar's questions. "Oh-now you're checking our chips? And you didn't make us swallow them, right? Dick? Uh, Dick? You didn't make us-" Hitting a button on his communicator, he sent a signal to track Victor's communicator. Looking at the map, he frowned. Wait-that couldn't be right. It was inside…the T-car?
"Oh…" Gar's voice got very quiet as he looked at his friend with a guilty look. Dick groaned as Garfield held up a nacho cheese-covered communicator. "I may have pick-pocketed Vic so he couldn't drunk-dial Karen."
"Way to go." Holding the bridge of his nose, Dick breathed out slowly. Just what he needed-to involve Karen. But the next logical place he would be is with her. "Fine." He murmured to himself, opening up his communicator again. The sight that greeted him was strobing lights and the sound of pounding music. Karen squinted at him, her eyes red and face puffy from crying. "Karen? Is Victor with you?"
Karen's lips began to move but Dick couldn't hear anything. "What? Karen, can you hear me? Is Vic with you?" Gar leaned over Dick's shoulder, the flashing lights reflecting off his eyes. Karen began to say something, her voice barely audible. "What did you say?"
"She said she's going to go some place quieter." Gar nodded, Dick feeling a ping of jealously of his animal hearing. Being regular sucked sometimes.
Rolling his eyes, Dick watched as the camera moved with Karen across the dance floor until she was in a (slightly) quieter hallway. He noticed Kori and Raven's faces peering in the corners of the screen. Karen and Kori both appeared sweaty and tired from all the dancing, while Raven's dour look tipped Dick off that she had a headache and felt trapped in the club. "What, Dick? I'm not in the mood and if you are trying to cover for Victor, he's got to do it himself." Dick paled-she was definitely mad.
"Oh, Richard…" Kori snatched away the communicator away from Karen, narrowing her green eyes while saying his name with quotation marks. Dick was impressed she used them correctly. "Why is it that all men are the jerks? All of them-yourself included." She obviously had had a few too many as well but alcohol affected her differently since she was alien. It made her brutally honest. "Well, except you, Friend Garfield." Dick caught Gar's eye, who merely shrugged his shoulders. All the women did seem to think he was a good guy.
Suddenly, Raven grabbed the phone from Kori and glared at her boyfriend. "Don't take it too seriously, Garfield. She's always doted on you." She snapped her eyes on Dick, her nose wrinkling in annoyance. "Look, Karen is upset and Victor just needs to shape up and apologize. She came to us and needed to blow off steam and Kori decided to take her dancing." It was a struggle not to laugh at her obvious distaste for the activity. "Karen and Victor just need to make up so we can go home and I don't have to be at this disgusting establishment anymore."
"Haha-way to be a kill joy, Rae." Gar joked, laughing gleefully at her discomfort.
She started blankly back at him. Dick stifled a laugh at Gar's nervous expression. "Fix this." She snapped, obviously at her ropes end. "So I can go home." Just as she snapped the communicator shut, Dick heard Kori yells, "And tell Victor-" before it got cut off. Shaking his head, he sealed his communicator and glanced at Gar.
"Girls are so weird." Gar murmured, scratching his head in confusion.
"Well…" Cracking his neck, Dick restarted the engine of the car. "Guess we'll have to find Vic the old-fashioned way." Giving Gar a sideways look, Dick noted his blank expression-something he obviously picked up from Raven. "I mean we will just have to look for him."
With a roll of his eyes, Gar snapped his seatbelt back into place. "No shit, Sherlock." Heat flooded his face but he ignored Gar's comment as he drove on. He continued to drive around to each of Victor's usually spots. The auto-mechanic store he bought all his parts. The children's school for students with disabilities he volunteered at once a week. The butcher's shop that he frequently bought his steak and ribs. Each time-no Victor.
"Maybe he's at home." Garfield mused, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Ya know-waiting for Karen so they can talk."
"I don't think so." Dick countered. "He hasn't had the time or the functionality at the moment to make it home. Trust me. I've been trained for years to track people."
A dubious look crossed Garfield's face but he shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, whatever you say, dude." Dick felt a prick of guilt running through his chest. This was supposed to 'Guy's Night' as Gar kept cheering. "Did you know…" Gar started, bringing Dick back to the moment. "That Raven likes to watch Korean dramas?"
Dick gasped-there were very few times that took him by surprise, but this took the cake. "Wait, what? She likes Korean dramas?" How did he not know this?!
The rest of the evening went on. Despite the obnoxious, fruitless task of searching for Victor, he had a good time. It had been a while since he spent time with Garfield. He hadn't realized how much his little brother had grown up-and he missed it! Not just from falling in love or spending more time with the perpetual grandma that was Raven-but how he had grown as a person. Garfield seemed to understand the world. Seeing the world through his optimistic eyes, Dick realized how this was a special time in their lives. Living with their best friends, despite drastic changes in their lives like marriages and break-ups? Dick was beginning to see how good he had it.
After talking about everything and nothing for over three hours, Dick finally parked the car in an abandoned parking lot where Garfield and Victor first started their one-time food truck experience. "That's it." Resting his head against the headrest, he closed his eyes. "I guess I'm not the detective I thought I was. Let's just go home…"
Wearily, Gar blinked at him. He looked just as exhausted as Dick felt. "Yeah, you're right. It's late…well, early. It is really 4am? Geez! Yeah, let's go home. Victor's a big boy. He can handle himself."
After a somnolent drive home, the pair took the elevator and walked up into the Common Room. As the doors swished open, Dick let out a irritated groan as Garfield pumped the air next to him. "I knew it!" He whooped, reenergized as he leapt down into the kitchen. "I was right!"
Victor gave them a groggy smile, sipping a cup of coffee. A huge, medium-rare steak sat on a plate in front of him, half-eaten. An empty hamburger wrapper sat next to the plate. "Trying to sober up, Vickie?" Garfield laughed, gently patting Victor's back. The cybernetic man winced, growling wordlessly at the changeling. Turning to Dick with a fang poking out, Gar laughed good-naturedly. "Maybe I should be Sherlock-and that makes you my Watson."
"Not even close." Dick rolled his eyes as he approached Victor. "What happened, Vic?"
A strange look crossed his face as he took another sip of coffee. Smacking his lips, he winced again as he set the cup down. "Sorry y'all. About last night. I went overboard and got out of control. I've never gotten that drunk before…"
With a snort, Gar shook his head and began to count off on his fingers. "What? Please. Your bachelor party. That time Roy slipped…whatever it was into our punch at that Christmas party. Dick's 21st birthday party-"
"DON'T TALK ABOUT THAT PARTY!" Dick and Victor both yelled at the same time. "No one is EVER supposed to talk about that night, got it, Salad Head?" Victor continued before grabbing his head in pain. Garfield rolled his eyes, crossing his hands over his chest.
Before Gar could continue, Dick quickly changed the subject. "It's fine, Vic. But are you okay? With Karen?"
Victor's face got extremely somber. "Yeah…I'm okay. I am super embarrassed and don't really remember anything. And I'm going to apologize to her the moment she gets home." Looking up earnestly, he smiled. "I'm sorry I caused so much trouble."
Catching Gar's eye, Dick shrugged. "You're fine. It was actually kind of fun." Garfield's face split into a gigantic smile.
"Guy's Night!"
At that moment, the door swished open to reveal Kori, Karen, and Raven all dragging themselves inside. It was almost 5am-how long were they dancing? Kori tiredly floated around, fidgeting her fingers through her hair. Dick chuckled to himself-she always got antsy when she was overly tired. She would always fight it like a little kid, despite being well into her 20's. When the girls noticed all the guys staring at them, Raven nudged Karen forward. Evidently the guys weren't the only ones who had a long night to think.
The Titan's East former leader took a breath to steady herself as she walked toward her husband. She leaned forward and sat in the seat across from him. Running her thumb over his metallic hand, she looked at him through her eyelashes. Dick held his breath-he knew it would be fine but confrontation between his friends always made him uncomfortable. "Vic…" She started, catching his eye. "I'm sorry I got so upset over such a stupid remark. And it's okay, I'm not mad anymore. You didn't realize it would upset me when you said all that stuff. I was kind of a mess after dinner last night."
"You think you were a mess?! Do you see me right now?" Victor exclaimed, laughing along with everyone else. "I'm sorry too. I never meant to heart you and never want to! And I will…." Dick noticed him draw out the word as he uncertainly looked at his wife. Karen raised an eyebrow and Vic scrunched his own. "Will….not?" Karen smiled, causing everyone to exhale in relief. "Will not ever say that again!" With a nod of her head, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek.
"Thank you, Sparky. Love you! And I won't ever get that upset again." With a squeeze of her hand, she stood up and waved at all her friends. "Well, I don't know about y'all, but I gotta crash. See you…later in the morning." With that, Karen (followed closely by Kori) plodded out the room.
"Finally." Raven muttered, giving Garfield's hand a quick embrace before walking out.
Turning toward his friends, Dick raised an eyebrow with a half-smile. "Well, that went well."
"Right? But do not do what now? Should I ask?" Victor asked, rubbing his hand over his head before taking another bite of his steak.
Dick and Gar grimaced at one another before the team leader shook his head. "Nope. One thing I learned from dating Kori-don't let her know you forgot. It will only make things worse." Victor groaned, resting his forehead on the edge of the table. Gar shrugged, throwing his arms around both the heroes.
"Yay…Guy's Night..."
Hope you guys liked this chapter. It was just a fun little story about friendship-which is what the Teen Titans is all about for me! (Well, besides awesome characters and killer stories!) Anyway, can we also talk about how guys and girls stick with one another during fights and choose sides? I could see Kori going super protective over all her friends. Anyway, thank you again for following, favoriting, commenting, and reading my story! Have a wonderful holiday season. Until next time!
Eris: Thanks so much, I'm glad you liked the past two chapters. I truly enjoy writing the more delicate and serious stories about the Titans. These topics are important and show that though the world thinks it is so advanced and unbiased, we still have a lot of work to do. Those are all great ideas and I may have a few ideas up my sleeve. Plus, if that is okay with you I might use some of your ideas in future stories. You are always so encouraging. Thank you again!