Chapter One: Arrivals and Introductions

"John, John, STOP IT! You're going to kill him!" Mary Grayson shouted as he tried to pull her furiously angry husband off a screaming Warp. he struggled in her grasp, trying to strike Warp again as Warp wormed his way away from his reach.

"Get him away from me, he's crazy!" Warp wailed as the Titans charged in. They came to a dead halt and watched the scene unfolding before them in shocked confusion.

"Whoa, Mister, what'd you do to his face?" Beast Boy asked. John was breathing hard and gave no reply as he kept trying to get close enough to Warp so she could beat the tar out of him. Cyborg was going to prepare his Sonic Cannon, but stopped and stared wide eyed at what was going on.

"Let go of me Mary, I'm gonna kill him!" John screamed as he struggled harder to break lose. "Where are we? What have you done to us!"

"You've messed up my plans; that's what you get when you mess with my vortex regulator!" Warp snapped. "Not that it'll make much of a difference, you'll still end up dead anyway!"

He broke his wife's grip and flew at Warp in a fury. He began punching him so hard it looked to Robin as if he might break his wrists. He had been watching in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, he found his voice. "Dad, Dad, stop it!" He rushed over to him and gently grabbed his wrists, trying to stop him.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion as he stopped pounding Warp's face. He slumped down into an unconscious heap on the pavement. He stopped, and slowly turned his attention to Robin. His voice came out in ragged breaths as he tried to speak. "R-R-Richard, Little Robin, is that you?"

"This man, he is your Father?" Starfire asked, voicing the shock of the other Titans beside her. They were just as astonished and confused as she was. What was going on?

"Yeah Dad, it's me," Robin replied quietly.

A woman stepped forward, and smiled. "Hello, Dick," she said. To the astonishment of the others, he pulled her into a powerful hug. she returned it, slight smile on her face.

"Richard, ease up; your poor Mother can't breathe!" She said in a wheezing laugh. He let go with a sheepish look on his face.

Beast Boy was the first to speak. "Dude that was like…a Starfire hug!"

His mother dusted herself off and stood to her feet. "Well, look at you!" she exclaimed, taking in his figure, looking him up and down. "You've gotten taller." Cyborg laughed as Robin blushed bright red. "You sure sprouted, eh?" Mary laughed.

"She calls you Little Robin?" he asked, chuckling, "how cute!"

"Knock it off, Cyborg," Robin growled.

"Aw, have I embarrassed you or something?" Mary asked.

"No, no Mom, I'm fine," Robin replied.

"So, where are we son?" the man asked. "I don't recognize this place."

"Where were you when he entered the portal?" Robin asked.

"We were in Gotham, preparing for the show tomorrow," John said. "What's that look for?" John asked. You look disturbed."

"Nothing, Dad; it's nothing." Robin replied. "Oh, you're not in Gotham anymore," he added.

"Well, where are we?" Mary asked.

" Jump City," Robin replied.

"What's the date today?" Mary asked; a smile on her face and an eyebrow raised, the others noticed the mischievous look on her face.

"It's March 20th, 2005," Robin replied.

"What?" Mary asked. "What do you mean its 2005? What happened? What'd that guy do to us? It was 1999 yesterday!"

"He brought you to the future," Robin explained. "His name is Warp and he has the ability to time travel."

"So that's why you guys are all freaked out!" Beast Boy said. "Okay, that explains something."

"So that would make you," John began counting on his fingers, "nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, Holy cow, you're sweet sixteen today!"

"Dude, it's your birthday, and you didn't tell us!" Beast Boy shouted. Starfire was shocked, so were the others. Why had he kept this from them?

"He's sixteen," Mary breathed. "Ah! I don't know how to raise teenagers; I can barely handle being married!" The others laughed aloud at her comment. John hugged her.

"Well you've done pretty well so far," John looked at his son. "So, Dick who are these people, friends of yours?"

Robin turned to his friends. "Titans, meet my parents, John and Mary Grayson." Robin turned back to his friends, "Mom, Dad, this is Cyborg, Beast Boy, Starfire and Raven. We are the Teen Titans," he looked at his Dad and added, "Don't call me Dick, please."

"So that's what he meant!" Mary exclaimed. "It's all starting to make sense now."

"What makes sense?" Robin asked. "Mom, what's going on?"

"That man tried to kill you," Mary explained. "We don't know where he came from. He said when you died, the 'Teen Titans' would be no more."

"He came from our time," Starfire said. "Why would he kill Friend Robin?" she asked.

"I wasn't Robin back then," Robin said in a low voice.

The Titans stared at him, he wasn't Robin back then? What was that supposed to mean? Mary could see he didn't want to talk about it, so she decided to change the subject. Before she could, Beast Boy interrupted.

"Wait a second, your name is Dick?" Beast Boy asked; confused. "I thought your name was Robin!"

"Another story for another time, Robin said tersely. "I'll explain it all later."

"So this is the future, eh? Not bad, not bad at all." Mary looked at him. "Could you show us around?"

"Sure Mom," Robin twitched a smile. "Let's get Warp off to jail; then let me show you guys around." They quickly carted Warp to the jail and then Robin took them out on the town.

The Titans were very surprised by his behavior. They had never seen him act this way around adults. Sure, he was kind, polite, and well mannered, but this was different. These people were his parents, so they claimed and he affirmed it. Starfire was puzzled more than the others. She realized she knew very little of Robin's past. He had never talked about his parents at all. And now to have them here in the future from the past raised more questions in her mind about who he really was.

For three hours he showed them all there was to see in Jump City. Starfire was growing more and more impressed by him every minute. He had an excellent memory and a vast knowledge of the city. His parents walked beside him, quietly taking it all in. When they were finished, Robin stopped. "Well, guys, what'd you say we go home now?"

"That's fine with me," Cyborg said, "Besides, the Tower needs lockdown anyway?"

"You live in a Tower?" John asked. "Sweet Mother of Pearl, I'm jealous!" he laughed. Mary smacked him in the head. "Mary, knock it off, it's just a joke!" he rubbed his head. "That hurts!"

"You want me to kiss it and make it go away?" Mary asked, winking.

"Of course," John chortled, pulling his wife into his arms, he kissed her, hard. Robin's blush was so bright red that Cyborg and Beast Boy burst out laughing.

"Dude, they make out in public!" he slapped Robin on the back. "Your parents totally rock!"

"Shut up Beast Boy! I'm embarrassed enough as it is!" John pulled away. Mary, seeing her son's face, blushed almost as bright red as he did.

"Sorry, Little Robin," Mary laughed. "Couldn't help it."

"How many times have you said that?" Robin asked through gritted teeth. His friends couldn't help but laugh at him. Their family dynamic was just too funny.

"Yo Rob, we hardly know 'em and we love 'em already!" Cyborg smiled. "Come on y'all; let's get home so your parents can see your room."

"My room…" he let his voice trail off. "Yeah, we should get home; I'll need all the strength I can get to face Slade tomorrow."

"Slade?" John asked. "Who is Slade?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Robin said quietly. Mary looked at him. There was something, she couldn't quite place her finger on it. 'He's hiding something from me,' she thought. 'What is it?' She said nothing as she followed his friends to Titans Tower.

John let out a low whistle. "Nice, very nice; now I'm really jealous." Mary gave him a dirty look. "What was that for?"

She didn't answer him. Mary simply stared in silence at Titans Tower. "So you five live here all by yourselves?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Cyborg replied.

"Please, call me Mary," she gave Cyborg a warm smile. He too, noticed that Robin was grinning at her as well. He realized he had his mother's smile. He realized, like Starfire, that they knew very little about their leader's past life. Now he wanted to find out.

"Come on y'all, let's go inside." They all entered Titans tower. Raven followed them, keeping a neutral look on her face.

Raven had been silent the entire time. She knew, vaguely, what he was hiding from his friends and his parents. She had been inside his mind and had seen something horrible. She knew from what she saw in his mind that his parents were dead. How would he tell them? How would he tell his friends? She would have to ask him later, but with his parents with him in the future, their present; it seemed to reinvigorate him in a way she had never seen. He wasn't just Robin anymore. He was someone else and she had no idea who he was. Hiding behind the mask, he hid his soul from them.

Starfire stopped Raven as the others went into the house. "Why has he not told us these things?" she asked.

"I don't know, Star," Raven replied. "I'm sure we'll find out soon."

"He has never hidden things from us before, except of course, the Red X incident."

"How do we know that was the only thing he's hidden from us?" Raven asked. "He's never said anything about his parents to us before."

"That is true Raven, now I wonder who is Robin? Who was he before he met us?"

"I don't know," Raven replied. "Like I said, I'm sure we'll find out."

"I hope so," Starfire said simply. "But I still wonder who he really is." She smiled. "Come, Friend Raven, we should go inside."

They walked inside Titans Tower, to their enigmatic leader who was shrouded in continual mystery. They both wanted answers, and they hoped he would give them some. Robin's life was a mysterious puzzle, and the Titans were going to put the pieces together.