Chapter 2
Staring at the giant T in front of her, Claire was feeling a lot of different things. She was full of anticipation, but there was also guilt, for leaving her home the way she did, and dissapointment. The tower that had once stood as a shining beacon of justice and strength, seemed to have fallen into disrepair and neglect. It wasn't falling apart or anything, it just wasn't as grand as she had expected. I've come this far…… she thought, I can't stop now. She walked carefully along the shore until she reached the crossing point. There was a small boat standing ever ready to ferry what few visitors the inhabitants of the tower had across, a little further upshore was a small stand. Claire approached it and stood for a minute at the desk. Finally she cleared her throat and called out,
"Hello?" A aging man stuck his head round the corner at the back of the stand, he was in his mid sixties, with grey hair and grey stubble to match. He smiled widely at Claire,
"Hello, little girl! Are you lookin' to get across the lake?" he asked
"Er, yeah," said Claire unsure of how to handle the old man.
"You visitin' the Titans?" he asked cheerfully
"Yeah," replied the girl slowly, trying not to sound sarcastic.
"Do you want me to take you?" he said
"If you would, please"
"Okay follow me," he said, dissapearing for a second then emerging round the side of the shack and walking down to the little boat. Claire followed him, feeling self-concious. Once they were both in the boat, the man leant across to fire up the ancient motor. "My name's Charles," he said, stretching it out to make it sound posh, "but you can call me Charlie, everybody does. "Charlie's ferries" that's right" Claire smiled and nodded at him.
"I'm Claire." she said, only to be polite.
"What you wanna see the Titans for, Claire?" he said. Claire didn't really think it was any of his business so she made her answer as vague as possible,
"I'm hoping to find someone."
"Oh, I get it" said the old man winking hard and nodding at Claire, but thankfully he didn't pursue the subject further. They finished the rest of the short journey in silence.
Claire stepped out of the boat and craned her neck to see the whole tower. She heard the man behind her say,
"Don't you worry 'bout payin' me nothin', I wouldn't dream of charging such a pretty girl." Claire hoped he wasn't being sarcastic and thought she was rude, because paying him hadn't even crossed her mind. She spun around, but the man just smiled broadly, turned the boat around and sped off.
Claire turned towards the tower again and a cold wind blew over her, making her shiver and pulling at her long black hair. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms to warm herself, as she was only wearing a t-shirt and jeans. The shirt was black with a blue Batman logo on it, to match her crystal-blue eyes. She walked cautiously up to the door, all kinds of scenarios playing in her head, ones involving booby-traps (they were super-heros, after all) and ones where she would find the tower empty, or with a secret lab inside. Maybe they would turn her away completely….. She pressed the buzzer at the side of the door, telling herself to be brave.
"Who is it?" crackled a voice over the intercom, making her jump. She leant in to speak into the wall panel, still imagining the booby-traps.
"M-my name's Claire" she said.
"What do you want?" the voice didn't exactly sound angry, so she continued.
"Um, I'm looking for someone"
"Er,okay, so why did you come here?" said the voice after a long pause.
"'Cause I think he might live here"
"Who is it that you're looking for?" said the voice with suspicion and intrigue.
"Er I don't know." said Claire, wincing because she knew she sounded stupid.
"Okay," said the voice slowly, obviously starting to think that she was crazy.
"Can I come in? Please?" She was always forgetting her pleases, and having to add them on afterwards. She could hear talking on the other end, and a voice saying "Ain't got nothing better to do". After a another long pause she heard the door unlock. She slowly pushed it open, looking cautiously around it. There in front of her was a giant man, who appeared to be covered in metal plates that glowed a faint blue. Claire couldn't help but stare.
"Y- Are you Cyborg?" she said.
"Yeah, let's go up to the main room, the others are waiting." he said. Cyborg led the way upstairs, his feet clanking on the metal steps. Claire's eyes were as wide as they could be and her mouth was open in astonishment. She could see that, once, this tower had been a great hive of activity, technology, and efficiency. She almost walked into Cyborg's back when he stopped to wait for the automatic doors to open.
Inside, she could feel the eyes of everyone on her, and she tried to make herself look creditable. Cyborg left her side and walked to stand next to a thin, green man. Opposite them stood a very elegant woman, with a faintly grey complexion and purple hair. She was the one who spoke first,
"Okay, kid, so what are you doing here?" she asked. Claire wilted under her gaze, but bristled at being called "kid".
"Like I said, I'm looking for someone."
"But you don't know who?" said Raven, raising her eyebrows.
" No, but I think it's one of you.You are the Teen Titans aren't you?" she knew they were, and could instantly identify each one. The green one was Beastboy, and the woman was Raven.
"Not anymore, we broke up." said Beastboy. Claire was taken back for a second.
"So you don't know where Robin is?" she said.
"We didn't say that. Just tell us what you're really doing here? Why do you think you're looking for one of us, as weird as that sounds?" said Beastboy. Claire looked around her at all the suspicious faces and sighed.
"I ran away from home." she said. "I came here 'cause there are some things I need to know that my mum won't tell me"
"And why do you think you'll find them here?" said Raven
"Because, my mum, she spent some time here" Claire didn't want to give too much away.
"What do you mean? Here in Jump City, or here in the Tower?" said Cyborg, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Here in the Tower." This seemed to have a deep affect on the three Titans, who instantly shot astonished looks at each other. Raven was the first one to draw herself together,
"What's your mother's name, Claire?"
"Correy" Raven and Cyborg stared in amazement at Claire, eyeing her up and down, taking in every aspect of her, Beastboy however was frowning in confusion.
"We don't know anybody named Correy" he said. Cyborg bent down and said something in his ear, something that made his eyes widen and stare at him just like the others had.
"You're Starfi-" he began but black energy sealed over his mouth, silencing him. Claire looked at Raven.
"Well, we'll call Nightwing – I mean Robin - for you if you call your mother" she said, holding out the phone. Claire took it reluctantly, and dialed for home.
