Yes, the Titans have a jet, okay? I just couldn't see them taking the T-Car all the way across the country. Also, just a little thing before we start, I actually had no idea how to spell La'gaan's name at first, so I guessed. It wasn't until after I wrote the chapter and was editing it that I looked up his name and I was SO HAPPY BECAUSE I GOT IT RIGHT ON THE FIRST TRY.
Chapter 3: Regular Reunion Special
Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Starfire were practically bouncing in their seats as their jet crept ever closer to Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. They could see the large mountain known as Mount Justice appear out of the clouds, and Beast Boy had to repress a squel of excitement.
Starfire looked out of the window with wide, green eyes. When she also caught sight of the enormous mountain, she turned to her leader with an excited smile.
"Is that not the Mountain of Justice, Robin?"
Said person only fidgited in his seat and took a quick glance out the window. He saw the green, tree covered mountain and his hand gripped the armrest a little tighter.
"Yep, that's it." he managed to get out, and Starfire smiled brighter, oblivious to her friends nervous and erratic behavior. She turned back in her seat gleefully and watched the scenery fly past once again.
Robin, on the other hand, could barely compose himself as the mountain ahead seemed to loom over the town below it. He never remembered it being that big, and with a nervous gulp, settled for turning away from the window, thinking about how he ended up in this predicament.
After his conversation with Raven, he made the decision resolute to help his former team. The rest of the Titans had been ecstatic, and couldn't hold in their excitement even as Robin sent the message of them accepting their offer. Surprisingly, the message back had been imidiate, saying that they were overjoyed to have their help in this case. The team insisted that their involment would help immensely.
So here he was, in the T-jet flying towards what he used to call his second home. He should have been excited. Robin would be seeing faces that he hadn't seen in two years, and some that were new to him.
But instead he was a jumpy ball of nerves, for once not being able to control what emotions rose to the surface. If any one of his teammates was actually paying attention to him, they would be quite suprised to observe his erratic behavior that wasn't accustomed to the leader of the Titans.
Under his gauntlets, Robin's hands were slick with sweat, and he tried hard to resist the urge to take them off to wipe his hands. His forehead was in a similar state, but every few minutes he found himself reaching up to wipe the salty substance away. It seemed to become a habit with the long ride to Happy Harbor, but once again, not one of his teammates seemed to notice through their own blissful excitement.
It made him jealous. Here was his team, all of them giddy with unchecked excitement as they flew across the country to meet people they had never seen before. Then the person who was familiar with them was getting to the point of a complete mental breakdown because of his own nerves.
The only one who seemed to slightly catch on to the growing pit of unease in his stomach was Raven, most likely feeling his emotions in the confined space. Once in a while she would cast him a sideways glace from where she was meditating, but then continued to do her own thing without comment. For this, Robin was slightly greatful, as it seemed at least one of his friends had a glimmer of an idea of how nervous he actually was.
It wasn't so much as his friends he was worried about seeing, but his mentor. He prayed to any God's that may have been listening that Batman would chose to remain sparse until he had a firm grasp on the stressful situation.
Finally, the jet rested over a small clearing near the base of the mountain. After a couple seconds of waiting there was a barely audible metallic hiss, and the ground opened up to reveal a small cavern with a metal floor. The aircraft slowly lowered itself down, Beast Boy giving a excited whoop when the landing gear touched the floor of the hangar.
Glancing out the window Robin caught sight of the Team. He unconsciously sunk back in his seat as the happy and ecstatic faces looked towards the jet, which was still powering down. It was then that Robin noticed how much the Team had changed.
M'gann now had a butch haircut instead of her flowing auburn hair, and it appeared that she was also more physically mature. She had also adorned her cloak, and Robin fleetingly wondered if it had become a more intimidation factor than fashion sense. Then there was both Wally and Artemis, who overall, hadn't really changed. There was some facial differences as their physical appearance matured, and they seemed to be a bit taller, but that was about it. Raquel, Connor, and Kaldur on the other hand held little difference from when he last saw them in person. Finally, there was Zatanna. She looked more mature, maybe a bit taller, but Robin didn't give her a second glance.
Out of all that he was nervous and jittery about, seeing Zatanna again was not one of them. He couldn't care less if she liked or loathed the new Robin. And if she somehow thought that Robin would treat her like he did all those years ago, like nothing happened, she was sorely mistaken.
Then he caught sight of the two newer members, Lagoon Boy, aka Lag'aan, and Wonder Girl, aka Cassandra 'Cassie' Sandsmark. And, yes, he had done research on those two before flying out here.
Blame the paranoia for strangers, for that one.
He was going to just ignore them, as he wasn't planning to stay long enough to get a proper friendship going with the two of them.
The jet finally powered down, and as soon as the doors opened Beast Boy flew out in the form of a Capuchin monkey, with Starfire quickly bolting out the hatch, right on his tail.
"Hello, new friends! It is absolutely delightful to be here!" the Tameranean exclaimed, getting a little too close for comfort and Beast Boy landed on her shoulder and let out an excited screech.
"I can practically feel the rainbows coming off of her." Artemis muttered under her breath, earning a sharp jab in the ribs from Zatanna, who sent her a slight glare when the archer looked at her in question.
"You worked with friend Robin before he created the Titans, did you not?"
"Sure did, babe." Wally said, getting a sharp glare from Artemis for the pet name. He laughed sheepishly, while diverting his gaze from the two of them.
"Oh, that is glorious! He is one of the best of friends!"
"Are you his girlfriend?" Zatanna asked out of the blue, and the Team looked at her a bit shocked, while Starfire seemed confused. Beast Boy jumped down from her shoulder, morphing back to his human form, while a mischevious and curious glint entered his eye.
"I...am his friend, yes, and also a girl. Why do you ask?" Beast Boy looked up at her, a wide, goofy grin spread across his face.
"She means are you dating him, Star." the changling explained, and a blush quickly enveloped her face, both at the notion and her own naivety.
"No, w-we are not in that form of relation. I do not believe Robin has the 'girlfriend'" she quickly stammered, and the Team looked at each other knowingly. "Why do you ask?"
"No reason." the magician answered, although there was an almost smug tone to her voice.
Back in the jet, Cyborg was finally done with shutting down all of the jets functions, and hurriedly went out to see the Team. He took no notice of Robins frozen form, or the fact that Raven hadn't exited the jet yet as he went to get properly acquainted.
"You sure you're ready?" the empath asked quietly as she took in Robin's rigid body still glued to the seat.
There was a solemn silence, and then Robin took a deep breath before letting it out. His chest puffed out just the slightest bit, he stood from the chair and faced Raven.
"No, but I can't just keep them waiting." he started towards the hatch of the jet, but before he could even catch a glimpse outside a shrouded cloak was in his view.
"Robin, you don't have to do this if it will be too stressful. Don't think that just because the others want to meet your other friends that you have to go through with it. It's not too late to go home."
"Raven, I get it, but I can't just back down now. Besides, as a hero, I vowed to help anyone who needed it, and whether I like it or not they do need our help with this one. Sure, I may not exactly be thrilled about who they are tracking, but I can handle it, really." Raven gave him a very sceptical look, a warm smile graced his features. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
Even as he said it, Robin knew that the words weren't true, and it seemed so did Raven. But instead of pushing it further she simply turned slightly, and gently started to float out of the jet.
Finally steeling himself, he took one more deep breath before hurriedly following the empath out of the hatch; and into the awaiting fire.
As soon as he exited, all attention seemed to be diverted to him. It was as though a beacon had been set up as soon as his feet hit the pavement floor of the hangar. And Robin could barely take the attention, intentionally diverting his eyes in a very shy, very 'un-Robin-like' way.
As he walked closer, the ebony could practically feel his previous teammates burning stares. They seared into his skin and it was all he could do to not curl up on himself.
But luckily, Starfire presented a brief dip in ice water as she flew over the the leader with a beaming smile on her face, Cyborg and Beast Boy following closely behind her.
"Robin, why have you never told us about your other friends? They are delightful!" she exclaimed, while the boys behind her nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, man, why didn't you tell us you were on a team before the Titans? I mean, it wouldn't really matter that much, but it would have been nice to know." Cyborg asked, sending very questioning look at him, as did the other two.
Robin opened his mouth to answer with some half-truth or excuse that they wouldn't question, but the girl floating beside him answered for him.
"People are entitled to keep things from those they hold close, and you should respect Robin's choice to do so."
Every Titan looked at Raven, relatively shocked, while the other teen superheroes could only look on confused to the reaction. Raven only raised a quizzical eyebrow at her fellow friends and teammates.
"What?" she asked flatly, shrugging her shoulders slightly. Robins lips twitched upward and he saw the other Titans mumbling their excuses. He cast a sidelong look at Raven, who merely shrugged once again and started floating closer to the other team.
Robin followed behind, shadowed by his friends as they walked together as a team. This brought out some more confidence, and more of the Robin everyone was used to started to shine through the nervous, anxious kid that was just before them.
Everyone gave Robin a warm smile, and the Boy Wonder felt himself replicating the action. Kaldur held out a hand to the Titans leader, and Robin confidently took it giving it a gentle shake. All of the apprehension he had seemed to completely disappear as he shook the hand of his previous team leader.
"Welcome back, Robin. We are thrilled that the Titans have chosen to help us, as we are having quite the trouble. With your experience, we will surely have this Slade behind bars in no time."
Robin gave a quick, curt nod before letting go of the Atlanteans hand. His smile was a bit forced now, as even the mention of the man's name was enough to set him on edge, but he held up the friendly front.
"Well, I guess it's time for some proper introductions." Robin announced, and gestured to his friends standing behind him. All of them seemed to stand straighter and prouder at the statement, which didn't go unnoticed by some of the members of the other team.
"This is Cyborg," he gestured to the cybernetic teen, who gave a slight wave at his introduction. "Beast Boy," the changling's smile was bordering on being as wide as the Joker's at this point. "Raven," the empath merely took off her hood and studied the people before her with a scrutinizing gaze, making some of them shift uncomfortably. "And finally, Starfire." she gave her brightest smile and started to float in the air slightly at her introduction.
"It is nice to meet all of you," Kaldur began, "I am Aqualad, but you may call me Kaldur off of the field. This is Superboy, also known as Connor, M'gann, Artemis, Kid Flash or Wally, Zatanna, Rocket, Wonder Girl, and Lagoon Boy, although he insisted that you call him La'gaan off the field."
Lagoon Boy, now known to the Titans and La'gaan, stepped forward to stand beside Kaldur with one eyebrow raised.
"Robin, right?" with the ebony's curiosity slightly peaked, he slowly nodded his head. "Hm." he continued, looking down on him and studying his features. Robin tried really hard to not snap at him or fidgit on his feet at the small inspection. Seemingly done with his inspection, he gave a small nod of his head towards him. "Thought you would be taller."
Beast Boy nearly burst out laughing at this, and Cyborg gave one hearty chuckle to their leaders expense. Most of the other teens also seemed amused, except for Starfire, who was only confused as to how Robins height would be so humorous.
Robin sent a glare at the changling and elder, who immediately shut up, but still had hands on their mouths to keep from bursting forth in laughter.
"Yeah, I got to agree, didn't grow too much while away did you, little birdie?" Wally asked teasingly. The Titans were expecting another glare to be sent the speedsters way, but as a second of silence passed, they heard a very brief laugh.
They all looked at their leader a bit in shock, seeing Robin laugh at his jibe but resent all the others.
"Well, at least I know you're still as charming as ever, KF." he announced sarcastically, and, if possible, the speedsters smile grew at the teasing, friendly comment that he was used to from the bird.
"Yeah, Baywatch hasn't changed a bit. Maybe matured just the slightest, but he's still just as annoying as ever." Artemis proceeded to throw her arm around her boyfriend, both giving the other loving smirks. Then Artemis turned her attention back to Robin, a bit more serious. "But I think we can all see that you've changed quite a bit."
Robin tensed a bit at this, but nevertheless answered the unspoken question anyway.
"I had to. I was on my own for almost a year before I met these guys. Kinda had to toughen up to survive." an edge had crept into his voice, but went unnoticed by the Titans and they gaped at their leader just giving away information from his past. Even Raven seemed a bit suprised, as she knew that Robin was just as secretive, if not more, about his past than she is.
"Wait, seriously? Dude, how'd you get food, shelter and that kind of stuff?" Robin remained quiet at that, and Wally instantly knew that wasn't the right question to ask when the birds seemingly happy mood seemed to dissipate. His face turned stony, and he suddenly found the metal floor very interesting.
"We're sorry, I'm sure Wally didn't mean to be that…blunt." M'gann apologized, floating forward a bit. Robin looked up, but didn't say anything to the Martian. He scanned the rest of the teens in front of them, and scowled when he saw their pitied glances.
"Don't worry about it." the tone was sharp enough to be a knife, and everyone except Raven seemed compelled to take a step away from the now angry ebony. But, unfortunately for Robin, the 'reunion' was about to get even worse.
The intercoms in the cave ceiling crackled to life, and the familiar, monotonous, feminine voice rang throughout the cavern.
Everyone seemed to stiffen, Robin most of all, and they all held their breaths as the crackling finally died down, and all of their gazes landed on the rigid Boy Wonder. Raven unconsciously floated closer to the teen, as an act of comfort or protectiveness, no one really knew. But Robin couldn't focus on anything other than what he had just heard echo around him.
"Recognized: Batman, 02"
It's just a regular reunion special now, isn't it!? The Titans met Robins old Team, Young Justice met the fabled Teen Titans face to face, the Boy Wonder met some new faces, and now…here comes Batman! I can't tell you how excited I am to be writing and editing the next one, cause trust me, it's gonna be interesting!
Hope you enjoyed! See Ya later, nerds!
:-P