Alexnandru Van Gordon- Hehehe, I'm glad you're back! It's always nice to hear from someone who keeps coming back for more fiction... Thank you for the ovation, and for all the reviews you've sent my way. You rock my ficcing little heart, dude! Thanks for the review!
KaliAnn- I'm sorry! Mainly school has been getting in my way: no matter what I do, that dreaded thing known as school keeps beating me down with work... sheesh, can't a girl get a break? And I'm sorry about making you wait for so long Yeah, Bruce and Donna do make good points, but what you have to ask is, will Rich listen? He'll go his own way before seeing reason, but let's hope that he stays being a Titan for the moment, instead of going back to being someone else... someone he's not really ready for, if you ask me. Yeah, he's been emotionally scarred, but I mean, his friends are in trouble, and he goes, "eh, screw them. I'm doing my own thing here". To me, that's not right. It shows he's immature still, and he's still got a lot to learn before he steps back into the Nightwing persona. There's still much more he needs to figure out... Does that mean he'll go back to being Robin? You better believe it. He still has to face things as Robin before he can ever carry on as Nightwing, and that's exactly what he's going to do. When he's going to do it, though, is another story entirely... And yes, one part of the Starfire/Robin dilemma will play out in this chapter, with more coming... And you might like this: in the comic book series, they almost DID get married, but then Evil Raven halted the ceremony. And in a Kingdom Come comic, I believe, they actually DID tie the knot, and they had a daughter by the name of Mar'I Grayson, or Nightstar. Anyway, thanks for the review!
Insanity 101- Yeah, tough love is sometimes needed to point someone in the right direction. Plus, knowing Bruce, that is exactly what he would've done too: He's not the touchy, feely type, but he does regard Robin as his son, and wants what's best for him. And maybe Robin will beat up Slade in this fic, I dunno... We'll have to wait and see. Thanks for reviewing!
AriesFalcon- LOL, thank you, thank you! And I think the word you're looking for is "trilogy". Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter, and now that I've got all my "dominoes" up, so to speak, now I get to watch the fruits of my labor play out. Slade's set up where he needs to be, and the Titans are still around and set up to where they need to be, and everything just needs to fall into place. And I'm happy you love my style in writing- I aim to please. Thanks for the review!
Infamous One- Oh yeah, Slade is severely off his rocker. He's so off his rocker that now he's deadlier than ever! And yeah, I have read that they're bringing Troia back! I was thrilled to hear that! I personally love her, and I think her history is one of the more mysterious and complicated ones (Then again, that's partly due to the fact that no one is really sure on what history she has!) and I was thrilled to hear about that. Thanks for leaving me a note!
aleema-darkrose1- Well I'm happy you were able to come back from your sabbatical! And yeah, the Titans' reactions to Nightwing/Robin will be interesting, guaranteed. I plan on putting in a whole bunch of RobStar stuff in there, and of course, you've got everyone else to consider as well... And yes, I wouldn't be a Batman-a-holic if I didn't have my favorite superhero in there! Thanks for the note!
Rebel-Aquarius- DUDE! You're an Aquarius too! LOL! Sorry, couldn't help myself-- Wow, thank you for the positive feedback! I'm so happy you really liked the fics that I've done, and I'm both honored and flattered that you said what you did about my writing. You made me blush! Here is an update, just like you wanted, and thank you SO MUCH for the note! It was greatly appreciated!
Now, personally, I want to just blurt out exactly what I'm thinking: I AM SO SORRY ABOUT HOW LATE THIS CHAPTER IS! I worked on Chapter 1 for awhile, and I liked doing it, but then school got crazy, life got hectic, and I was just a jumbled mess... But recently, I've been watching more TT, school is out,and I've been itching to get back into the writer's chair again. So, here is the result, in all its glory, Chapter 2! Enjoy!
EDIT: Also, the costume ideas are NOT MINE. They're taken from some truly magnificent artwork by Turin-the-forsaken on HIM, or at least e-mail me for the link to his DA account (or better yet, just e-mail me: I'm beyond thrilled when I get notes/fanmail! It means you guys actually care about my fics and you want to know more about it, or drop suggestions, or ask me questions, etc.!). Let me tell you guys: I absolutely LOVE his work. It's the best revamps of the costumes I have ever seen!
Ok, now, back to your regularly scheduled fiction. ENJOY!
There were a million places he would rather be at this moment, but here at the Titans Tower was not one of them. Staring up at the building from the front entrance, the man known as Nightwing narrowed his eyes and muttered under his breath. "I never wanted to see this place again..."
"Oh quit being a baby," chided Troia, gripping his uniform at the shoulder lightly but firmly. "Come on. Better now than never."
"Can I go with the latter?"
"No."
"Damn."
And into the stronghold they went, passing halls, rooms, and places that they both knew quite well; there were few minor changes here and there in décor, but everything was genuinely identical to the way it had been when he left. The foyer was the same, the elevator, the outside gardens and rocky terrain... everything.
Almost. Out of the corner of his eye, four pictures stood out on a stark metallic wall, two framed in pure silver, two in pure gold. Depicted were two males and two females, with their names engraved below their pictures on a small plate.
Nightwing stared at one of them, the one of the girl, her long black hair streaming across her face. Clearly Hispanic, her brown eyes held fire, and contrasted nicely with her tanned skin. Surprisingly enough, the skin on her arms and legs was the color of bone, calcium and carbon diamond composites glittering from the flash of the camera that took the picture. Three blade-like claws erupted from the back of her fists, and a few sprouted from her shoulders, giving her a menacing, entirely alien look. The nameplate that accompanied the picture read, "Raquel Martinez: Caracol".
It was then that Troia noticed why he hadn't moved for awhile. "I see you've found the 'Fallen Wall'," she said, and smiled sadly. "This is where we honor those who gave their lives for humanity, and fought as Titans. Cy almost vouched to put one of your Robin pictures up here after you became Nightwing, but Raven and I voted him down."
"Maybe you should've," came the reply. "I'm not Robin anymore."
"Doesn't matter. You're still a Titan, no matter who you are."
He gritted his teeth and shook his head. "Thanks for reminding me."
She shrugged, and changed the subject by tapping Caracol's picture. "Caracol's Spanish for 'seashell'. Raquel was so into her culture and other cultures back then... the amount of stuff she knew surprised even Raven, and she's the one who can read minds." Her voice caught in her throat for a moment, and a grim smile appeared on her face. "I miss her."
Nightwing, however, was blunt about it. "Never knew her, so I can't say the same."
Another tap. "Moving along..." This one was directly to the left of Raquel's, depicting a young man, Asian, half his entire body entirely invisible, while the other half was fading out, his short black hair blowing in the wind.
Troia read his nameplate aloud. "Ying Lan Tseng, or Phase as we liked to call him. As you can see, he liked to turn invisible and walk through walls. We're lucky we even got this shot when we did: his entire body refracts light, so you can bet a flash camera or going outside in the sunshine wouldn't exactly work. He was a sweet guy."
"And this..." Gloved fingers grazed the nameplate of the third fallen Titan, a young boy with bright blue eyes and curly blonde hair. His eyes were glowing green, an eerie, unreal sort of green, and if he looked close enough, the outline of a ghostly figure was springing from the boy's body, straight at the camera and, inadvertently, at anyone who glanced at the picture itself. Nightwing closed his eyes and cursed, letting his fingers read the whoops and swirls in the name of this person.
"Joseph Wilson: Jericho", it said.
"I'm guessing this is the infamous Jericho that I'm hearing so much about."
For a few moments, Troia didn't say a word. But when she did, Nightwing was surprised at how quiet, almost breathless she sounded. "Yes. Jericho was... he was..." Her sentence faded, and she let it drop.
And maybe that was for the best, at the moment. What exactly could she say about the son of the man who screwed him up so badly? Who screwed with them both? What could he ever say?
The next picture just made him sad all over again. Her hair was the same color gold and just as cheery, with bright blue eyes shining bright and almost green behind her yellow goggles. She was wearing the same shirt she always did, the long sleeved, ebony shirt still too short, barely covering her midriff, and the emblazoned T for Terra and Titan standing out proud upon her chest. She was posed for combat, bent at the knees in a bracing position, her powers already crackling from her hands as fragments of rock and magma levitated in the air. Her hair was blowing in the breeze, and she looked beautiful, stunning, and just as free and fierce as she always had been in battle.
There was no mistaking Tara Markov: he could've spot her a mile away.
"I never knew her." Surprised, he jumped slightly at Troia's voice, forgetting she was there and lost in his own memories. "I'd always heard about her, and when I first met you all at once, and you told me about her... It made me feel like I should know her. So, I visit her every now and again, and tell her about me, about the Titans, about Beast Boy..." She trailed off, and lowered her head. "Raven says she can talk to her via telepathy, and Terra likes hearing my stories, but I'm not sure if that's true, or she's just saying that to make me feel better. After everything that's happened to her... to me... to you... we basically formed this bond between us, you know? I get you guys, and you get me..."
He didn't say it, but he felt the same way. All he could do was nod.
Shaking her head, the raven-haired beauty wiped a few tears away, and grasped his hand again. "Come on, Rich. Let's go meet the gang. I bet they're just dying to see you."
"Dude, I am so kicking your butt," whooped Beast Boy, his fingers moving rapidly on the already badly worn out controller. "You can't even touch me!" His green eyes twinkled as he looked at his best friend Cyborg, savoring the moment as his hover racer on the video game took the lead for the first time in thirty-seven consecutive games. "If you keep driving like that, I'll cream you for sure!"
"Don't get your hopes up, Green Boy," stated his friend, grinning. "I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve." Suddenly, Cy's car on the TV screen swerved a corner, and overtook BB's in a matter of moments. "HA! BOOYAH! Beat that, Fuzzy!"
"Why you--"
A sudden whooshing noise behind them told them someone had come in, and, since only Troia had been out today, the changeling and the mechanoid didn't bother to even glance back.
"Hey Troia! Welcome back! Want chips?" A slender green body transformed into an octopus, and while two arms gripped the game controller, another grasped a bowl on the coffee table in front of them.
The voice that replied though wasn't female, and when they heard it, they automatically dropped everything, to stare. "Sorry, not hungry."
They were just the same as they had always been, except with a few minor adjustments. Both of them had newer uniforms, ones that Nightwing had never seen before. When BB changed back into human form, the dark-haired teen could see that Gar never gave up the black and purple; at least this uniform was a vast improvement on his other ones though. It was entirely black, with purple tiger stripes racing up the legs and meeting a violet shoulder-to-shoulder triangle that came down to the middle of his chest. No sleeves hampered his movement, and the former leader could tell that the changeling had worked out a bit; the muscles on his forest green arms were a good, decent size. His hair, surprisingly, was spikier, with a pair of goggles resting on his head, and his face was a bit thinner, more mature looking. Black biker gloves adorned his hands, with tiger paw prints in violet on the backs.
Cyborg was also revamped, his body sleeker, better built. The multiple, see-through plates were completely gone, replaced with more metallic hardware, nuts, and bolts. Pistons huffed and chugged away, an unnerving, high pitched but very audible whining noise filling the air. Almost every available space on his body was comprised of machinery, with only half his face and parts of his arms even marking his African-American decent. Cables composed parts of his neck, and silver steel plates created the internal and external skeleton he needed to survive. There were still transparent blue sections here and there, but not as many as there were before.
For two people he once knew well, they sure looked different.
"Whoa... Robin?"
"Rob?"
"That's not my name anymore," he replied, his arms crossing across his chest. "And you guys knew that."
An arm slung around his shoulder. "It's Nightwing, guys," said Troia brightly, trying to relieve some of the tension hanging in the air.
"Where've you been, Dude? We've missed you!"
Cyborg, however, was slightly more reserved, regarding the former leader with scrutiny. "More importantly, why are you here? I mean, you did up and leave us, and we haven't heard from you in a year--"
"Take it easy, Cy. I called him in for official Titan business."
"Business?" came a voice from down the hall, and a slender, darkly cloaked form had enough time to drop her book before she stuttered. "R-R-Robin?"
She too had changed. Still wearing the navy blue shroud, Raven's attire was now entirely ebony and gothic: her leotard was replaced by a long, flowing skirt that was cut up the front and the back in two slits, a pair of black leggings protecting her legs from the chills of the cold world. A matching tanktop stretched tightly across her abdomen, with flowing curly-cues and other shapes dancing across her stomach. Long, slender gloves covered her arms from just above the elbow to the beginnings of her fingers, the fabric weaving itself between the gaps and valleys of her pale, white fingers. He was surprised to see that she was wearing earrings, two small, red globes swinging like paddle balls every time she moved her head; Raven had always been unsure of her femininity, and continually insisted that they were unnecessary, hazardous, and rather annoying. Even her hair was longer, black, instead of her usual purplish color, and she looked older, more mature, like the "almost adult" she was. Not for the first time did he wonder where the time had gone, and what made her change so much; he almost missed it...
A glittering near her throat caught his eye next, and Nightwing caught sight of a silver necklace in the shape of half a ying-yang. Upon further inspection, he saw a paw print engraved into it, with three, glittering diamonds embedded into the metal. Strange... He turned to Beast Boy, and was rewarded for his deductions and accurate attentiveness: for across the changeling's neck was a matching partner, Raven's shadow self adorning the widening part of his ying-yang.
So she did move on... He always had an idea that the half-demon had feelings for him, and deep ones at that, even though he never let on that he knew. It didn't really matter now, but he was glad she had found someone else: although Beast Boy wasn't his first choice, he was still better than nothing.
Raven's cheeks blushed involuntarily, noticing his sweeping gaze upon her. "It's been a long time, Robin."
He was getting tired of repeating himself, but nevertheless, he did it again. "I'm not Robin anymore."
All she did was nod. "So you're not." Her eyes met Beast Boy's, and turned back, sharing a silent conversation in a matter of moments. "Of course you're not. You've become something completely different."
Troia laughed nervously, and slung an arm around Robin's shoulder. "C'mon, Rae, you don't need to be so cold. I mean, the gang's sort of back together, you know?"
"I'm here to take care of Slade, Troia, and that's it."
"Dude, what is your deal?" asked the green Titan, scratching his head with a half-formed bear claw. "I mean, you leave us for a year with a bad attitude, and now you're comin' back to deal with Slade. And the stick's still up your butt."
"Gar..." chided Raven, and glared at him. "You're not helping matters."
"You know what? Maybe Fuzzy's right," piped up Cyborg slowly. "It's like you never got over what--" Suddenly, something clicked in his mind, and a look of pity replaced his expressions of surprise and confusion. "Oh."
He scowled, and shot the half-human a look of sheer distain. "Don't start, Cyborg. Just don't start."
"Is it true then?" Now it was Troia's turn to be surprised. "You haven't gotten over that deal with Slade?"
"Have you?"
She shot him a look. "I've dealt with it the only way I knew how: I told people about it. They helped me through it. I didn't bottle it all up like a soda ready to explode, like you do. I endured it, only because I had friends to help me out, and we'd do the same for you in a heartbeat if you'd let us."
"Maybe I don't want you to help me. Maybe I'd rather work it out myself, by myself, when I need to do it."
"Then perhaps you are being quite unwise," replied a voice from behind him, and Robin whirled around, in utter shock at seeing her once again.
She was like the others: so different, so changed... and yet, still so much the same. Her hair was so much longer than he had remembered, and so much redder as well, flowing to her hips in a cascade of ruby red with just a touch of something new; two braids now swung over her ears instead of solid, unkempt strands. Gone was the solid plated armlets in place of updated, purple leather ones with smaller strips of metal adorning them; her boots attained the same update, with even metal, steel-toe plating at the ends. Her belt now rode high on her hips, her midriff still showing, but her skirt ensemble was different. Three, short sections combined to mask anything inappropriate, with a light, silken overlay on top of them for flounce and decoration. Her silver collar was cut into silver bands instead of solid plates, and two sections on either side of her neck showed her orange colored, creamy skin along her collarbone. Also wearing earrings, these were crystalline stone, real, untamed and wild, like she was. In the middle of her forehead rested a turquoise beaded headband, like the ones he always saw in pictures of women from India and thereabouts.
What was most surprising was the tattoo below her right eye, in a rusted red color, and a matching one around her navel. She never seemed like the kind to get a tattoo, let alone two, but then again, she had always found ways to surprise him everyday. That was the kind of person Starfire really was: astoundingly unpredictable, stunningly sexy, and so beautiful... It was like standing in the presence of a goddess, and it took his breath away.
She blushed profusely, in the same manner Raven had, and whirled around slowly. "Are you satisfied with my selection for a new uniform?"
Troia caught Nightwing's slack-jawed expression and chuckled. "We all decided to update our uniforms a few weeks ago. I still have to slip into my new one, one of these days..."
"Troia, you have too many outfits," grumbled Beast Boy. "I mean, seriously, how many outfits do you NEED? You've got that one, the one you just put together last week, and your old red one..."
She waved him off, unconcerned. "A girl can never have too many clothes-"
"Nor too much modesty, huh Donna?" quipped Raven slyly.
Starfire laughed, sounding almost exactly like wind chimes. "It seems that Friend Donna has been outmatched. Touch, Friend Raven!"
"'Touch'?" Troia giggled. "You mean, touché, Star."
"Whatever," snapped Nightwing, momentarily out of his daze. He shook his head and slapped Troia's arm off his shoulder. "That's enough."
"Robin, please--"
"DON'T CALL ME ROBIN!" he snapped, glaring at the alien. "It's Nightwing now, Night-freakin'-wing! Now let's hurry up, find Slade, and then I can go back to Gotham."
"Rich..." murmured Troia.
"No, don't 'Rich' me, Donna. You knew that I never even wanted to come here in the first place. You and Batman made me do it."
"But Rich--"
"No, no buts, got it? You should at least feel lucky I made it this far."
Surprisingly enough, it was Cyborg who spoke next. "Why are you so angry with us? What did we ever do to you?"
"What didn't you do?"
"I am confused," Star sighed, frustrated. "It is as if you wish not to even rejoin the Titans. We are your friends, Friend Rob--"
He huffed, about to explode, when a dull slap stung him on his right cheek. He went down hard, and barely had strength enough to lift his head to glare at Troia as she stood over him, cracking her knuckles. "I didn't want to do that, but frankly, you're being an ass." Nightwing tried to protect, but a boot clamped itself down on his throat, preventing him from doing so. "Shut up. I'm so sick and tired of you belly-aching. You're Nightwing, for crying out loud, Richard! Start acting like it! Now take your complaints, take your burdens and your pain, and suck it up! I had to! Terra had to! Even Raven had to, so the least you could do is deal with it! You're not the only one with problems, you know!"
His hands moved without him being conscious of it. Twisting her ankle, he threw her off and jumped to his feet, furious. "Just stay away from me! STAY AWAY, as FAR AWAY as you can! I've had enough of this: I'm leaving!"