Chapter 2
Cyborg
The Titans spent a good ten hours reliving their golden years. It was the happiest any of them had been in a long time. But as daylight began to fade, a sadness fell over them. The happier they got, the more it reminded them that they would be dead soon. However, Cyborg was looking more worried than the rest,
"You okay, Cyborg?" asked Robin.
"Yeah man, fine, it's just I keep thinkin' 'bout my parents." he said. Robin knew what he was talking about. He blamed them for the accident that had gotten him his mechanical body. He knew it wasn't their fault, but he had lashed out and he hadn't spoken to them in years.
"I just keep thinking that maybe I should go see them." said Cyborg. "But I don't wanna leave you guys."
"You should go." said Raven, surprising everybody.
"Yeah, we'll understand. I mean, it's your parents, man." added Beastboy.
"Really?" said Cyborg, obviously still unsure.
"Yeah, I know they'd want you to go." said Robin. Cyborg nodded,
"Okay, thanks, man." He stood up and the others followed him to his helicopter. "Raven, you stayin' here?" Raven nodded, and Cyborg smiled at her, then he reached out and pulled her into a big hug. He whispered "Take care of him, okay?" in her ear, and a dent appeared in the body of the chopper. She stepped back into the group, and Cyborg turned to Beastboy,
"I'm gonna miss you, man" he said.
"Me too, big guy" was the reply. Cyborg turned to Starfire and she flew up to wrap her arms around his neck. He hugged her back and she drifted sadly back to the floor. He and Robin exchanged a look,
"You were the best friend a guy could ask for." said Robin, extending his hand. Cyborg took it, then pulled his old leader in for a brief hug, then let him go and said,
"Goodbye guys. Be happy, okay?" then he just turned and stepped into the chopper. The roters slowly began to pick up speed, and the Titans watched him fly away into the sunset.
The whole journey, Cyborg was full of anticipation. Would his parents really be pleased to see him? Would they have changed much? Has he? All these things circled through his head as he landed on the roof of a beachfront appartement block. He had bought them an appartement when his company had taken off. He had been trying to quell the guilt he still felt for being so unreasonable with them. He used to make his mother cry, he knew she loved him, but he couldn't get used to his new body.
His body found it's own way to their place, and he stood looking at the generic front door. He was just about to turn around and go back when the door was wrenched open to reveal a tall man in his sixties, looking fierce and holding a baseball bat. The minute the man saw him however, his expression turned to shock and relief. The baseball bat slipped from his fingers and hit the floor with a dull clunk.
"Victor…" Whispered the old man, and he hugged his son to him. He was only a few inches shorter than Cyborg was. Cyborg hugged his father, full of love for the old man. His father pulled back and stuck his head into the appartement, keeping one hand on Cyborg's arm, as if he was afraid he would disappear.
"Lily! Come take a look at this!" he called. A moment later a short woman drying her hands on her apron, appeared. Just like the old man, she dropped her apron and stepped, shocked, towards her son.
"Victor, is it really you? Are these old eyes playing tricks on me?" she said. She lay her hands on his cheeks, and he held her wrists.
"Hey, Ma" he said quietly. The old woman's eyes began to tear,
"Victor…" she cried, and she threw her arms around him. The old man gave them a few seconds before gently prising her away.
"Pull yourself together, woman" he said softly and affectionately. The woman regained her composure and smoothed down her apron.
"We're gonna need some coffee." she said, and she walked back indoors. The man stepped back over the threshold, holding the door open and looking at his son expectantly.
"You coming in?" he said, and Cyborg ducked his head and stepped inside. The kitchen was off to his right, separated from the living room by a row of counters. The living room had a matching navy couch and recliner, both facing the TV. The far wall was one big window, framing the sunset-filled sky. He wandered a little further in, and he saw that their mantlepiece was weighed down solely with pictures of him. He smiled as he remembered all of them, and he followed the timeline up to where he was about 13. After that there were no more pictures, because that had been when he had had the accident, and after that, he wouldn't allow his picture to be taken, then he left home for the Tower. He heard a tray being put down behind him, and he turned away from the photos and his memories.
"Thanks" he mumbled as his mother took a mug for herself and sat down on the couch. He sat down on the other end and his father took the recliner.
"Nice appartement." he said.
"Well, you paid for it." said his father.
"We would have preferred a phone call, though" said his mother.
"I know, and I'm sorry."
"It's alright son" said the old man. "So, tell us, how come you're…" he gestured at his face.
"Not made of metal?" Cyborg said, "It's only a synthetic fibre, I'm still titanium on the inside. I designed the new parts myself."
"You always were so smart." said the old woman proudly but sadly. There was a small pause,
"So, what's with the baseball bat?" he asked.
"Oh, it's nothing. Some punk kids have been going around robbin' people, since they know they ain't going to jail." said Cyborg's father. Cyborg was shocked,
"What? That's terrible! Using the end of the world to terrorize people. Do they live in the building?"
"Yes, but don't work yourself up about it, son. Different people have different ways of dealing with things they can't control."
"I know, Dad, I just think I can help them see the error of their ways" he said innocently getting to his feet. "Can you show me where they live?"
"I don't think so, son. You always were a fighter. There's no reason to scare these kids on the last day of their lives."
"But they shouldn't be allowed to just get away with it."
"I know, but just let it go, this one time. You can't help everybody." said the old woman. Cyborg sat back down reluctantly. He looked out the window, it was properly night now.
"So, what are the Titans like? In real life?" asked his father. Cyborg smiled, and told them all about life with the heroes. They talked all through the night, dancing round the delicate subject of their relationship over the past decade, or rather, the lack of it.
They were just talking about the time Cyborg had taken on a kid four years older than him because he had taken a little girl's doll, when Lily, Cyborg's mother's face fell. The two men had their backs to the window, but she was facing it. She put her coffee mug down and slowly walked towards it. The men stopped talking and turned around. Through the window, they could see the early morning sky was filled with a giant fireball. The comet. The went to stand and stare at it, one on each side of the small woman. They both took her hand, and stayed silent as a faint roar filled the air. Their grips tightened. The noise got louder, and the small woman got tears in her eyes.
"Mom? Dad?" said Cyborg.
"Yes son?" answered the father.
"I'm sorry, about everything. I'm sorry I blamed you for the accident, I'm sorry I never called, I'm sorry I was a terrible son."
"No, Victor, don't ever say that. You were the best son a mother could have." said Lily. The cutlery in the kitchen began to rattle in the draw, and a vase fell to the floor and shattered.
"I love you" Cyborg whispered.
"We love you too son, so much." Then his dad pulled everyone into a giant hug, as the roar of the approaching comet became deafening, and the windows broke. Lily slowly and shakily began to sing "Abide with me", a hymn. The two men joined in and they sang together as the comet hit, exploding the Earth in one terrible second.
Author's note: This is not the end! I will tell you what happens with BB and Raven, and of course, Robin and Starfire.