A/N) ok, an update! Wheee! More Raven-Starfire friendship moments, more with Robin in Gotham and Beast Boy gives his parents a tour. Rob-Star fluffyness, you've been forewarned!
So school started and I have lots of work for that, but I also have started to play City of Heroes. I have my own chars but some friends have started a team of Titan look-alikes. My Raven has flight and teleportation and shoots black energy. I am happy. And the coolest part? Playing video games counts as research. Booyah.Fact I was recently informed of: Alfred is James Bond O.o; no, really! he's ex-intelligence. Bats learned how to be a detective by watching alfred. Isn't that just SO cool? ok, moving along.
Chapter 5
"Would you please hold still?"
The dark haired boy stopped fidgeting and stood still. "Sorry," the teen grumbled. Bruce had been right; he had grown. As a result none of Dick's formal tuxedoes fit anymore. Therefore instead of catching a nap before the evening's patrol or playing a few rounds of Gamestation, he had to stand in a stuffy tailor's shop and be poked, prodded and measured. "I hate these things," he muttered.
"Of that I am well aware," Alfred said wryly. Dick sighed. A fleeting thought occurred and he suppressed a chuckle. He almost wished Cinderblock or Plasmus would attack. Well...maybe not.
"That's it," the tailor said finally. Dick started tugging off the coat and pants; the sooner he was out of the monkey suit, the better. If he'd thought to bring his tux from Jump City he wouldn't have had this problem. The tailor chuckled at the youth's obvious anxiousness to be out of the suit. "I'll wrap this up and you can get back to your game station," the tailor winked, "Or girlfriend perhaps?" Dick blushed deep scarlet.
"Uh, no," he said and quickly exited. He hopped into the car outside and blew out a breath. He let his head fall back against the leather seat of the Rolls Royce. After dinner he and Batman had gone out on patrol. There was a new tension that Robin had not remembered ever being there before and it bothered him. He closed his eyes and thought back to the previous evening...
The boy wonder sailed through the air, black and yellow cape flapping softly behind him. He hit the peak of his arc and released the cable, landing with a soft thud on the Gotham rooftop. The air was thick here; full of fumes from cars, trucks and whatever the industrial parks spewed into the night sky. Added to this was a muggy heat that wasn't oppressive but just heavy enough to annoy after a long night on patrol. Robin took a breath and surveyed the city. Lights from downtown reflected off the dust in the air, creating a nebulous glow around the city's center. The acrid smell was both alien and familiar; a theme for the evening.
It had been a long time since Robin had patrolled a city. He'd done it a little bit in Jump City in the beginning, but his teammates had been reluctant to join him. Forcing them to patrol in at night and then be alert all day was like pulling teeth. However after a few nights it became rapidly apparent to Robin that Jump City wasn't nearly as rough as Gotham was. He'd finally abandoned the practice, finding that spending his free time training and responding to alerts worked much better in his new environment. Police Chief Perry was quite good at his job and the local police force wasn't nearly as busy as Gotham's was. While Gordon appreciated the assistance of Batman, Robin and Batgirl, Robin got the distinct feeling that Perry wasn't as receptive. One lesson Robin had learned from his time in Gotham was that ticking off the local authorities was a BAD idea. If he wanted the Titans to be a positive force in the city, stepping on toes was not the best of moves.
It was hard to break the old habits at first, but Robin had finally come to the realization that he best served the people as a sort of special weapon to be used on the more extreme cases. Raven had once likened them to firemen; it was a fairly good metaphor. Still, he was used to being constantly busy and worried that he'd 'go soft' sitting around in a tower all day. To avoid that he'd started a brisk training regimen for everyone, much to the chagrin of the others on the team. That had lead to further realizations. For one, fighting as a team was much different from fighting solo or even as a pair. Looking back, the Titans' first few battles had been abysmal.
Tonight's rooftop and back alley battles with the unlawful had been much more run of the mill than the 'super villains' he'd become used to. But like the air it had been both familiar and alien. Robin hadn't fought alongside his mentor for a long time. It felt strange as he fell into once-familiar patterns. The fights were also dirtier in Gotham; fewer enemies with unusual powers and many more with knives and firearms. Robin had dispatched them with seeming ease, but it still had taken him a bit to readjust to the city's dark violence.
Another, softer, thud of boots landing on the roof drew his thoughts back to the present. His mentor strode forward, eyes narrowed as he scanned the alleyways below. 'I have a long way to go,´ Robin reflected. Batman's footfalls were softer, his moves more precise, his accuracy more deadly, his detective skills keener. 'but I think I'm getting there.' Batman had been doing this almost longer than Dick had been alive, and certainly longer than Robin had existed. But Batman had had to start somewhere after all, and, Alfred Pennyworth the ex-secret agent aside, Batman hadn't exactly had a teacher. Robin knew he'd improved since he'd last been in Gotham. He'd collared three rather brutish characters that evening alone. And yet...
"You rely on them." Robin wasn't sure of the statement's meaning, good or bad. Robin nodded after a moment. It was true. He knew he'd been alone or with Batman all night but his first impulses had been to coordinate with a teammate. Despite his hard training, was he getting soft? Batman had worked alone before Robin had entered the picture. After he'd arrived on the scene, Robin had been trained as solo fighter who just happened to fight with an ally in close proximity. Tonight had been no exception either. The Batman was fully capable of handling the bad guys himself, making Robin feel just the least bit superfluous.
"That isn't a bad thing," Batman told him. The wind picked up, rustling their capes. The sound was almost lost in the rumble of the predawn traffic far below. The dark cowl turned his way and the white eyes of the mask narrowed as the Batman considered. "It's made you a leader," he said again in that even tone. One eye widened in a look of extreme amusement. "You wanted to tell me what to do." Robin winced; it was the truth. He'd barely stopped himself several times. Silence reigned as the first hint of dawn crept over the horizon, brilliant red-gold washing out the neon lights of the city.
"You're not me," Batmen said, eyes focused on the horizon. "Don't be bound by my example. You have to find your way as I had to find mine." Robin blinked a few times, not expecting such profound conversation.
"Master Dick?"
Dick's eyes snapped open. Looking around he saw that the car was headed out of the city. Alfred was looking back at him through the rear-view mirror. He hadn't even heard the Englishman enter the car and hadn't noticed it'd begun to move. Careless.
"Might I inquire as to what is on your mind, young sir?" The young man frowned, uncertain. He quickly decided that Alfred was probably the better person to discuss what he was feeling with.
"It's a bit odd to be back is all," he started to explain. The ex-secret-agent cum butler glanced back at him but said nothing, inviting further commentary. "I guess I'm just not used to being back with Bruce," He fidgeted for a moment. "I feel like I should feel at home but..."
"But you don't feel that way."
"Yeah. It's weird. I feel like I'm being ungrateful or something. I...do things differently since I met my friends." Robin keenly felt as if he'd somehow done something wrong. He knew he hadn't but he still felt an odd guilt.
"Master, Dick, you've done nothing wrong and you certainly aren't disappointing Master Bruce," Alfred said as if reading his thoughts. Dick smiled slightly; the man had done it so often when he'd first come to Wayne Manor he'd asked if Alfred was a telepath. Instead he'd been told the refined man's detective skills were a result of his previous job with British intelligence (which was just as impressive).
"Thanks Alfred." Robin wondered how the older gentleman always seemed to know what to say. Actually, it was fairly obvious; years of training with a much younger Bruce Wayne. Alfred parked the car and Dick scrambled out to help carry the groceries into the house. He smirked as he set the bags down and began unloading their contents. Fresh fruits, vegetables and a few cuts of meat promised that he'd eat well in the next few days. Definitely better than the Titans back in Jump City where Pizza was its own food group and a staple part of the their diet. Alfred's brow arched in an unspoken question. "Just thinking of my friends," he explained, "there is no way they'll be eating anything like this."
"They sound like a very entertaining group,"
"They are. They're good people." Dick sat at the kitchen table and snacked on an apple as he described his friends to the butler. "Beast Boy and the Flash would probably get along. BB's a bit of a cut up, and he likes hitting on girls. Cy can be a bit hot-headed but normally he's a really easygoing guy. BB's the least serious and I'm the most," Dick ducked his head in embarrassed acknowledgement of his obsessive nature, "Cy's somewhere in the middle."
"A good balance,"
"Yeah. The other two are Raven and Star. Raven " The teen shook his head. "She's very dark, and she's sort of cynical but she also probably has the coolest head out of all of us. She's not much of a people person so she keeps mostly to herself. Star is the exact opposite, always happy and cheerful. Star's really sweet. She can totally kick butt, but I don't think she has a malicious bone in her. She's new here so she doesn't really get the culture and I've been trying to explain things. You know, show her the ropes, teach her the slang, all that." He rubbed the back of his head idly.
Alfred noted the far off expression on young Master Grayson's face and smiled to himself. Master Bruce entered the room a few minutes later, just missing the tail end of the conversation. He took one look at Dick and crossed his arms and leaned back against the counter.
"So," he said, alerting Dick to his presence. The Boy jumped in his seat and whirled around. "Who's the girl?"
"Ok, this is going...better," Beast Boy thought to himself. It was finally sinking in to his parents that he was a superhero. Of course this was causing all sorts of other problems. Now that they actually believed him, they weren't too happy about it; after all they'd specifically sent him away from Africa so he wouldn't be in harm's way.
"This is the tro- er Evidence room. We keep some things we take from the bad guys here since it's a bit safer than if it were locked up in a police station or something." He explained, sweating a little. Robin called this the evidence room, but he and Cyborg called it the 'trophy' room. Even if he and Cyborg joked about it sometimes, they really didn't think of anything they took as 'prizes'. If his parents thought that he thought it was all a game... He took them on a quick circuit showing them Control Freak's remote, the puppet master's body stealing thingie ( "Thingie? That doesn't sound like much of a technical term, Gar."), numerous pieces of Slade's robots, and Mumbo's broken wand among other things. His parents made few comments causing their son to begin to sweat nervously; they had begun the 'silent phase'.
The 'silent phase' was when they (silently) scowled disapproval just prior to lecturing and grounding him. Perhaps if he showed them how much the team actually trained they'd lighten up. Or at least believe that they didn't just run around playing a very dangerous game of cops and robbers with the city criminals.
"Come on, I'll show you some of the training rooms," he motioned for them to follow and headed down the hallway. "I never thought I'd be glad Robin has us train so much," he thought to himself. He pushed open the doors and flipped on the lights in one of the smaller rooms. "As you can see we have a lot of exercise equipment and remote drones we train against." He grinned. They didn't. Crap. Well, if they weren't convinced that he knew what he was doing, maybe he could appeal to their scientific sides.
"Uh, so let's go see the mainframe." They stepped into the elevator and Beast Boy was acutely aware of his parents' eyes on the back of his head. He tried to whistle, but the sound echoed in the elevator and the temperature seemed to drop a little bit more. Oh they were pissed. Double Crap. The elevator doors opened and he sprinted outside and down the hall.
He reached the mainframe door and paused. Cyborg had seriously restricted his ability to access any of the Tower computers unless they were under attack – then they had bigger things to worry over than the youngest Titan downloading a virus into the system. He quickly tapped in his access code and shut his eyes and we hit the last key, hoping that he'd gain access.
"Access Denied. Invalid entry code."
He could practically feel the disapproval over his shoulder. Quickly he typed in his code again.
"Access granted." He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and walked in.
"Must have hit the wrong key," he explained with a smile. "So uh this is the mainframe. It runs all the tower system and we have a link to the Authorities and we can access the Justice League's crime files. Well, if we ask J'on nicely."
"J'on?"
"Yeah. He's one of the original Justice League members. He sort of organizes everyone up there in the Watchtower." Beat Boy smiled, "He's a shapeshifter too! Except he's a Martian. I've only spoken with him once and he was looking for Robin, so we really didn't talk long. I was able to do an alien on Star's homeworld so I've wondered if I could maybe do one of the animals from Mars. How cool would that be! I mean-" Seeing that this line of conversation wasn't exactly the best, he stopped. "So, this is our really powerful computer."
"You know, I wonder how fast it could sequence DNA," his father mused. Marie shot him a dirty look which said 'don't encourage him. We're mad remember?'
"Well we've used it to match DNA before," Beast Boy supplied. He shrugged, "I dunno, Cyborg already had Robin in there so he took a sample from Larry. The screen popped up a couple minutes later. Maybe five? That whole situation was kinda weird. Alternate universes, magic fingers, crayon Godzillas and bending rules of reality..." He trailed off and waved it all away. "It gave me a headache." His father blinked a few times, wondering if he'd actually heard "crayon Godzillas".
"You have a computer that can check an entire strand of DNA to see if it matches another, in five minutes." His mother asked evenly. He gulped and thought maybe showing them the mainframe wasn't such a good idea.
"Uhm, yes? Cyborg would know better. He and Robin do all the technical stuff."
"A group of teenagers has a supercomputer." His mother said as if she couldn't quite grasp the idea.
"Let's go see the Garage," Beast Boy declared and hurried out of the room in a streak of black and purple. "Cy!" he called desperately on his communicator. His friend answered.
"Yo, B."
"Dude, can I show them the garage,"
Cy noted the hint of panic in Beast Boy's plea. "Meet ya there. Not going well, huh?"
"It could be going better. They believe me now, but they're kinda angry."
"Think a trip in the T-sub would help? It's still configured for orbital launch-"
"No! No, I don't think so," he lowered his voice as his parents drew closer. "They freaked when I showed them the computer. I don't know what they'd say if they knew we went into space."
"Ok, then. Cya in a few." The connection closed and Beast Boy stuffed the communicator back into his pocket and offered and exaggerated grin.
"Friend Raven?"
Raven looked over the edge of her book at Starfire. "Yes?" The two girls were quietly reading in Raven's room. Raven a mystery novel Cyborg had insisted she'd like and Starfire a book from her home world. So far the novel was fairly boring and Raven was sure she knew who the killer was. She casually flipped through the book towards the end and was, unsurprisingly, correct.
"How do you think Beast Boy is fairing?" Starfire closed her book and set it on the bed between them. Raven shrugged and let her own book drop. It was unfortunately boring and couldn't hold her interest any longer.
"I'm not sure. I was half expecting his parents to go ballistic." She held up a stalling hand, "it's another way of saying "freak out" or "get very angry." In any case they haven't yet asked him to move out."
"I sense a 'yet' unsaid." Star replied. Raven closed her eyes and nodded once.
"You do not wish for him to go." It was a statement, not a question. Raven looked back at Star.
"Do you?" she countered. The Tamaranian shook her head.
"No, I do not wish for Beast Boy to leave our home. For all that he can be annoying, he is my friend. Do you think his parents will demand that he return with them?"
"I don't know. They're...odd." The empath frowned in thought. "They could, but at this point I'm not sure he'd go with them."
"That could be...awkward. I do not wish for him to have to choose his family over his friends." Starfire's sad expression brightened into a small, forced smile. "Perhaps it is fitting that I am re-reading the legend of Dariand'r."
"The what?" Raven asked in spite of herself. Starfire brightened, huge green eyes shining. In a flash, she'd scooted over on the bed so she sat next to Raven on the pillows at the head. She placed the surprisingly heavy book in Raven's lap and opened it to the first page. She turned a thin, translucent coversheet to reveal a rather beautiful painting of a group of Tameranians hiking in a rocky area with a few tall, dark purple trees.
"The Legend of Dariand'r," Starfire squealed. "It is what you would call an epic. It is one of my people's greatest stories and my most favorite tale!" She pointed to the female at the head of the line that looked like Starfire herself. "Dariand'r was a brave and valiant warrior and the leader of her tribe long, long ago. Her people where under attack by a great and terrible enemy and prayed for deliverance. She was given a vision by X'Hal and undertook a quest to gain great power and save her people." Starfire pointed to a pale orange Tameranian youth with very dark orange hair who was hiking further down the line. "He is Hallos'ar, a child of an enemy tribe who was raised by Dariand'r's. He has to make a choice between the family he has always known and the family he is actually related to by blood." She snatched the book back and excitedly flipped through to find another picture. With a small cry of glee she handed the book back to Raven. In this picture the same boy stood between two clearly different tribes, looking torn.
"What happens?" Raven asked.
"At the very end, Dariand'r ends up marrying the leader of his tribe. Since they are now one, there is no problem." Starfire sighed, eyes becoming watery and distant. "It is the most romantic of stories," Raven arched a brow and began leafing through the rest of the book. The characters were lovely but Raven couldn't read a word of it. In fact the only thing she knew was that star read top to bottom in columns from left to right. She found another picture and Starfire squealed.
"Who's that?" The Tameranian wasn't wearing much but he was well built by human standards and had long, flowing black hair.
"Risholfor, who Dariand'r marries." She clasped her hands together and sighed again. Raven smirked and continued leafing, stopping to gape a the next picture. It was...bloody. After the relative calm of the previous pictures to see such a graphically depicted battle was startling. And they were using weapons.
"Uh...." She pointed at the page, awaiting explanation.
"The battle of Halfersed! It is one of the most glorious battles ever in Tameranian literature! This legend you would call an Epic? It has several glorious depictions of combat."
"Ok...They're not using starbolts."
"Oh, no." Starfire shook he head, "That is what X'Hal grants to Risholfor and Dariand'r and their people to defeat the great evil. That happens later."
Raven blinked then turned her attention back to the book and began to search for more pictures. "Riiiiight," she said, stretching the word out. More battles and heroic poses of main characters and some quiet scenes followed. Finally towards the end Raven paused on a picture of some sort of celebration. From Starfire's girlish squeal she deduced it was the wedding of the two main characters.
After studying the page for a moment, a thought made her chuckle.
"What?" Starfire asked. Raven looked back at her evenly then decided it'd be worth the reaction to just tell Starfire the thought she'd had.
"This guy sort of looks like how you described future Robin. Er, "Nightwing" as you said he was calling himself." As predicted Starfire's reaction was a priceless combination of stuttering and blushing. Raven decided she might as well go all the way and add "and you know, she kinda looks like you,"
"I had not noticed," Starfire said quickly, but it was clear to Raven that she had had that thought. She quickly collected her book and hovered a few feet above the bed. "Perhaps we should see how Beast Boy and his parents are doing?" she tried changing the subject.
"Sure, why not," Raven shrugged. Star flew to the doorway and waited for Raven. "So what else happens in that story?" she asked. From the pictures she gathered it was something along the lines of the Illiad, Lord of the Rings and ancient mythology mixed together.
"Oh! The battle of Var'noss and then the meeting with X'Hal and the conquest of the plains of Gorbash, The Vardengesh of Knorbak, Sa! De X'Hal Dariand'r kol Fargehth Boh'gats! Greaundgher degesh, Kus kedefoh Neradh- er" she stopped in midair and blushed as she realized she'd begun to rattle on in her own language - and that Raven had stopped walking beside her about ten feet back. The empath smirked slightly and caught up with Star. "I could perhaps translate it for you, if you wish to read it?" Starfire offered. Before Raven could respond, Starfire squealed and held the book close to her chest as a most wondrous idea occurred to her. "Perhaps I could teach you my native language!" She beamed and spun in midair. "Oh, please let me share my world with you as you have with me! I think you will enjoy the glorious battles and honored deeds of my ancestors, and the righteousness and honor of X'Hal and-"
"Ok," Raven finally agreed. Starfire's boundless enthusiasm and good humor washed over the empath like a wave. Raven thought agreeing might stem the tide but instead it only increased. She was suddenly crushed psychically by Star's cheer and physically by her bone-crushing hug. "Can't....breathe..." Starfire released her immediately and Raven staggered a step, the world spinning. She deliberately adjusted her cloak and drew the hood up, feeling the need for the extra isolation just then. Star darted into her room and came back without the book.
"Let us go see how our friend and his parents are getting along," Star suggested. Raven nodded and the two continued down the hall.
A/N)
Whoo! Thank you for reading! Smack the button!
Thank you to:
Keystone ( going to not only continue but finish the story. Hope freshman year is going ok. It's easier being a college freshman I found)
Slayergirl1362 - hope you liked the raven-star buddy bits in this chap. I updated the other one too!
Sweet Nymph- rob-star fluffyness and some hints o' Rae-BB. Nothing TOO much more extreme than whats on the show. I just can't do total fluff in this one. Too much plot.
Ladymoonfire- Glad you decided to read it I really, really try to keep it close to the show. Glad someone thinks I'm succeeding.
Wild Spirit of Darkness2 – you'll just have to wait and see
Carrot the LuvMachine – Thank you! I love the way they write Star in the show. She's got such a distinctive speech pattern. It's so cute!
Eevee-shadows – some slight robstar, raebb hints. Nothing more than whats in the show. I'm writing a total fluff fic now but I want to really try and be more general with this fic. Glad you like it! hope you liked this update!
Instant Coffee – school started that Monday, but I don't have classes Monday, heeheehee. I just picked up issue 14 of the regular comic. I gotta track down the latest issue of TT Go! Sorry for the wait on this chapter. I have projects and home work and cc; research.
Katergator- Thanks!! Homework is the suck, totally. I intend on Star greeting Robin that way because it makes me chuckle with an evil glee that disturbs others. I try and catch TT weekdays but more often then not I'm still doing school stuff. But I have all the episodes in video downloads. Mmm Torrents are a wondrous thing.
Bob-chan- heh a bit longer than I would have liked xx but here you go! Yeah, the babypictures are going to make a return. Raven and Cyborg need to make comments on non-green BB. Speaking of which, you can see non-gree BB in the current issue of the comic. Blonde?!?
Defafaeth Mechqua, Scorpio Serpent, neo-link tails, Black-blue-072, Lost Inside, El Zero, Blowfish the monkey tamer, darthjag, velvetiine, silvy and cheza is me.
thank you thank you thank you!