Author's Note: I just want you to know that I'm burning the 3 a.m. oil for all you people out there...ha ha...extremely punchy right now, but anyway....
I would liketo announce that I am going to start answering reviews in this chapter as a way to show my appreciation to all my reviewers. First, I amafraid thatI am going to simply have to justsay"thank you sooooooo much" to pink-fuzzy-buddha,Knyt3-Owl, ally127, lil' LIK Star, PPTeenBubbles, ILIKEYOURSTORY, and afterdark since I would surely pass out trying to answer you all and I couldn't possibly give all of you the replies you deserve....So, please know that your reviews have made me extremely happy! :)
Okay, these are for those of you who reviewed last chapter:
Rose: Omigosh, I'mso sorry that I made youall depressed, but at the same time I'm so thrilled that my writing touched in such a way!Sadly, I don't think this update is much longer than the last, but I'm lucky I have this much....Anyway, at least it hasn't been months! ;)Thank you so much for all three of your reviews!
agelinajfan322: Hope your head's better now, because here's the update you asked for!
RaeBBfolife: Once again, awesome!!! I LOVEYOURBUNNY!!! Even the killer dust bunny that lives under my bed loves it!!! Yup, had to get the tofu in there.... :) ....He wouldn't be Beast Boy without it!
dancingirl3: Thank you! Voila! Your update! I love RaeBB, too, and I can assure you there will be more!
Well, thanks again to all you wonderful reviewers! Sadly, the next chappie could take anywhere from the middle of this week to the middle of next week to post, so please still keep your eyes peeled for it! Well, enough of me,let the reading start!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, Nightwing,or any other show related stuff....However, I do own this extended plot, Jump city's newspapers, and the Good Grocer!
Back to the Past
Chapter 7: Together Again
It was about three o'clock in the morning when Raven returned to The Tower. She stepped off the edge of the plowed road and immediately crunched mid-shin deep into the freezing, salt covered snow. She shuffled through it uncomfortably around the side of the building, the layer of ice on top scraping her legs with each step. Finally she reached the door and latched dramatically onto the rusty handle, relieved. Fixated, and with only one accord, to get inside, she caught herself reaching for the dying light of the spazzing, little buzzer by the side of the door. Groaning, she pulled her hand back and looked over her shoulder. No rubberneckers rubbernecking from the road. No spies spying from the dunes. Not a sound sounding, except the annoying crinkling of the plastic Good Grocer bag swinging from her hand in the breeze. Robin had made it a point to always take a "thorough" surveillance check of the premises before entering The Tower. Alright then, done. Whether Robin would have considered it "thorough" was different story, but she quickly decided that when one factored in the distraction caused by the subzero temperatures out there, it was thorough enough. So, without hesitation or guilt, Raven spun back around on the buzzer, gave it a good rap with the back of her hand, flipped up the now loosened buzzer's grimed-up electrical cover, punched the entrance code into the hidden keypad beneath desperately, and wildly threw open the heavy door.
Ahhhhh. As the door slammed itself shut, a gust of toasty air rushed down on her from the low-energy heater fan that had been hung just inside the doorway. She climbed the dark, narrow, little stairway before her to the top and took ten steps around the corner to the left. As she pulled down on the warn door handle into the living quarters, she could already hear the happy sound of movement from inside. Crossing the threshold, Raven looked through the dim light of the five battery-powered camp lanterns that were stationed throughout the room; a sixth hung in the bathroom that was off the hall. The lanterns and several emergency candles had become their only source of light, as power in the generator was being saved for the essentials. She saw that Cyborg had unburied himself from the garage to take a short break from his project.
"Hey, Raven," he greeted her. "It still cold out there?"
"Like you wouldn't believe." she replied tonelessly, as he began scrubbing out a pan in the kitchen sink. She felt herself grin a bit. Normally, she would have quickly aborted any such emotional activity, but she suddenly couldn't help herself as this huge bubble of pure happiness welled up inside her chest. Of the few times she had experienced this funny, foreign, little sensation, it always took her by surprise, and despite the tight feeling it caused around her sternum, she enjoyed it. At that moment, she was completely content with her life, more so than she had been in years.
They were all living together in the Tower again. At first, settling in with each other had been a little awkward, finding things to say when silence became uncomfortable or waking up to find someone already in kitchen after 20 years of constant solitude. But, that didn't last long as routines became more regular and words came easier. They all woke together at 5 p.m. when night had fallen, so as to keep public notice down, and had helped one another adjust to their newly nocturnal hours with a few jokes here and there.
A plan had been made to find Starfire by tapping into the memory of Warp's continuum splicer and route themselves go to the same time she had gone. When Cyborg had first explained what would need to be done, they had all burst out laughing. The idea of it sounded no less preposterous than H. G. Wells' Time Machine. However, after thinking about it, as fantastic as this proposition sounded, really, what did they have to lose?
So, now, Cyborg spent his time down in the garage, slaving continuously over his work table, surfacing only in the morning, to turn on the generator, or to quickly get something to eat. At the same time, Robin, who they all now called "Robin" thanks to Raven's handy work that first night, shut himself in his old room for hours at a time, working out kinks and details for their upcoming excursion. In the meantime, Raven prepared her mind with meditation, made a few trips to the store when Beast Boy said he couldn't, and helped Robin plot their procedure.
Now, she walked from the doorway over to counter behind Cyborg and set the translucent plastic bag down.
"Got the papers and Beast Boy's tofu." she notified him as she removed one of the newspapers from the bag and unfolded it. "Went to the Good Grocer, it was sorta creepy: the line checker recognized me almost immediately seemed genuinely overjoyed to have me there. He acted like it had made his night or something. It almost sort of made me feel good in a weird way…."
"Yeah, he probably had some kind of digital camera on ya. It'll be interesting to see which paper those pictures'll end up in tomorrow." Cyborg replied, a smirk on his face as he set the clean pan on the counter next to the sink.
"Looks like someone from the City Times saw you in the park yesterday when you went to see Fixit." Raven said holding up the opened paper over the counter as Cyborg looked over her shoulder.
"Yeah, figures." he replied, his mouth slanted a bit disappointment. "Phew, man, I couldn't believe that ol' mechanic was still there. We talked for a while. It was good to see 'im. He was happy to give me the parts for my charger and the T-car and he wished us good luck finding her."
"Ah, more fan sitings?" Robin's voice entered the room through the darkness and he joined them at the counter. "I never thought it'd be this difficult to keep things quiet. Who'd known people who had seemed to completely forget we ever existed for 20 years, would become so suddenly interested again?"
"You know the saying: 'out of sight, out of mind.'" Raven answered, a solemn frown on her face.
At that moment they were all surprised as the entrance door flew open and none other than the fourth Titan dashed through it. "Hey, guys!" Beast Boy yelled excitedly as he slammed the door shut behind him. They were all watching him now as his eyes suddenly fell on the box of tofu, which was still wrapped in the Good Grocer bag in the middle of the counter. "YES! TOFU!" he shouted lunging for the carton. "Thanks, Rei!"
"Sure." She replied tonelessly, despite the mildly shocked look on her face.
"Jus' finished with the pan, B. Do you want it?" Cyborg asked, as the changeling rummaged through a dark drawer at the other end of the kitchen.
"No, that's ok." the green Titan replied rather off-handedly as he held up a silver utensil to the light. Deciding it was spoon, he continued, "Thanks, but I think I'll just go eat it downstairs, I'm too hungry to wait." And with that he was gone into darkness.
As soon as the sound of his footsteps going down the stairs had died away, the other three Titans regrouped and looked at each other in silent confusion for a moment.
Robin was the first to speak: "Do either of you know what he's been doing out there every night?"
Raven and Cyborg shook their heads "no".
"Yeah, I've been kinda wonderin' that myself, and if he's not out then he's downstairs. I guess it's not really my business, but I don't see him much, an' I don't wanna ask him… Beats me what he's doing downstairs though, he never used spend much time there before." Cyborg finished with a slight shrug. "Anyway, gotta get back to work…. See ya later guys."
"Yeah me, too," Robin said picking up the newspapers, and both he and Cyborg parted directions, disappearing into the dimness, leaving Raven alone in the kitchen.