Author's Notes: The last chapter STUNK. I'm aware of that, and planning to revise. Don't flame based on one chapter. Or, flame me if you want. I kinda like flames. Can't please everyone, after all.

I'm rambling. On with the story.

Disclaimer: I claim Jay. My co-author claims Mimi, and my other co-author claims Erika. Except, I claim the spelling for Erika since my co-author spelled it with a 'c'…

Time Travlers, Chapter Four: The decision

It was decided, after much whispering among the Titans and much exchange of nervous glances between the Travlers, that they would stay in the Tower until a passage to their own time could be constructed for them. The red-haired girl, Starfire, was appointed to show them around. She acted almost like a tour guide, but this was far from a tour.

She cheerfully showed them the kitchen, the living room, the training room, the bathrooms, the second training room, and many other rooms. She led them down the bedroom corridor, though entering none of the rooms. At the end of the hallway there were a number of empty rooms. One of the doors had traces of pulled-off stickers. Starfire ignored this room and showed them to the three bedrooms at the end of the hall.

No one commented as Starfire opened the three doors. Jay stifled a giggle when she opened them simultaneously – one with either hand and the last with her right foot. Then she proceeded to give them a message. "Robin has instructed me to tell you of a meeting tonight in the living room – eight o'clock sharp," she conveyed. She flashed once of her unnaturally large grins and left as the Travlers entered their separate rooms, more to look around than anything. After a few moments, Erika opened her door and peered down the hall. She stepped out and knocked twice on Mimi's door, then walked to Jay's and opened it. A minute later, Mimi entered Jay's room as well.

"What should we make of… them?" Erika asked after a moment of awkward silence. Jay still hadn't completely lost the guilty look, but she was doing a very good job of masking it. It was Mimi who spoke next.

"I trust them," she said at once. Jay stared blankly out the window, apparently lost in thought. The other two watched her for a moment, expecting her to speak. When she didn't, Erika elbowed her in the ribs.

"Jay – Jay!" Erika said, snapping the navy haired girl back to reality.

"Huh, wha'? What?" Jay said jerkily, surprised. Mimi rolled her eyes and Erika huffed impatiently.

"What do you – "

"What were you thinking about?" Mimi cut in suddenly. Erika glared at the interruption and Jay smiled sheepishly.

"Don't you think the view is great?" she asked, still sheepish. Erika rolled her eyes. Mimi stifled a laugh.

--

At exactly eight that night, three doors open and three sets of feet trudged to the living room. They were a little bit late, which caused Robin to glare distrustfully at them. Beast Boy and Cyborg peered curiously at them. Starfire looked, surprisingly –note the sarcasm- cheerful. Raven looked as though she could care less.

"I guess we can get started, now," Robin said coldly. Jay quailed slightly and Mimi's eyes widened a bit. Erika scowled challengingly.

"Well, I'm sorry we held you up," she shot sarcastically.

"You should be!"

"Enough!" Raven cut in forcefully. "They're here now, so get on with it!" Robin scowled.

"I called the meeting to discuss you… newcomers. How did you get here? Tell us exactly what happened." His tone was distrustful, but had replaced the coldness with curiosity. The three glanced at each other. Mimi, the best storyteller, took a deep breath and began at the start of the filming. The story went on for a good five minutes, with the other two occasionally adding tidbits.

"… Then there was the blindingly white flash. The whirring died quickly, Erika pushed open the door, and we all stepped out. 'Course, Jay wasn't five anymore… we're still wondering how that happened. Then we – we meaning Jay, specifically – saw the Tower, and… here we are," Mimi finished.

"Interesting…" Cyborg said thoughtfully. His expression was eager. "Could you explain about the hydrodynamic effects of the audio enhanced vibrations?"

"The… what?"

"… I think he means the whirring noise," put in Beast Boy, who'd had some experience with Cyborg's technical mumbo jumbo.

"Yeah, the whirring noise…" Cyborg sighed, looking sheepishly exasperated. Jay took a stab at it.

"It started real low pitched, and it went like this: " She demonstrated , buzzing her lips into a progressively higher pitch. "Then there was the flash and it… died."

"Coo- !" Beast Boy started. Then he remembered that they were stranded in a time in the past and had a coughing fit to cover the mistake. "That's… interesting."

"Let's change the subject to 'How to get you back'," Robin said. His expression added: "Because I don't want you here a moment longer than necessary." Raven and Starfire raised their hands. Robin looked first to Raven.

"I could open a rift in the space-time continuum," Raven suggested.

"Pros and cons?" Robin demanded. "I want to get them there safely!" Raven's expression became more serious.

"They could end up in the right place and time, of course. They could end up in the right place and wrong time, they could end up in the right time but wrong place… They could end up in the wrong place and time. They MIGHT end up with the dinosaurs… And they might be incinerated," Raven listed. She shot the Travlers a slightly apologetic glance, most likely for talking like they weren't there.

"Pass," Mimi said at once. Erika thought, then nodded.

"Any other choices?" Erika asked. Jay was silent.

"I know of – "Starfire started. Cyborg cut her off.

"I think it's better if we learn how the machine works… Best we can."

"But I already know - !"

"That's not a lot of information because we only know what they know," Raven said, gesturing at the Travlers.

"That's true," said Erika. "Hmmm…"

"On my - !" Starfire tried again.

"Then there's the matter of building it…" Robin said thoughtfully. Starfire huffed impatiently.

"On my planet, making a machine of time is child's play!" she said before anyone could interrupt. Everyone turned quickly to stare at her.

"Dude, why didn't you say so!"

"I TRIED!" Starfire said indignantly.

"I like the time machine thing," Jay said eagerly. She paused. "Where d'you come from, again?"

"Tamaran. It's only a six-month flight," Starfire said cheerfully, glad to have her idea accepted. Everyone did a double take.

"I take it back. Let's find another way." Robin sighed, as though he was coming to a painful conclusion.

"Either stay here or do the space-time thing," he said, hoping they'd pick the latter. They did – the idea of being so close and yet so far from home seemed more disturbing than all the possibilities of things that could go wrong. Cyborg, to Robin's disagreement, quickly build a device that would allow them to keep track of the three, but he wasn't sure how long it would take to get working. Raven seemed in as much of a hurry as Robin – Cyborg had barely finished when her rift opened.

"Bye!" Jay called as they all stepped into the rift.

Author's notes: NEVER FEAR! This is not the end. It was four pages long when I got writers' block, so I just decided to leave you with a cliffy. Aren't I evil? Anyways, this is far from the end. I promise that there is more.

I'm rambling. Again. REVIEW! n-n;