When the Titans took off for the Tower, Jinx wanted to kiss Wally, but almost the moment the Titans left, the news vans of all three Jump City tv stations rolled up to the warehouse site. Jinx instinctively scowled at them. They'd encouraged people to turn her in when she really was a villain and had painted her as being one when she no longer was. But Kid Flash could see the use in them at the moment. They could get out the word about her. He took her hand and led her forward toward them remaining half in front of her from the time they approached till the lights turned off and they went away. He surprised her with how deftly he dealt with them. Once all three stations had their lights on and cameras rolling, he gave a quick 10 second statement that they'd apprehended the HIVE and that it was now proven that Jinx had not been with them, and that she was innocent. He did this with his hands clasped casually behind his back and in a calm, even tone, completely in command. The questions they asked were sooooo dumb. Ugh! Jinx marveled that he remained patient throughout it all. They were so impolite, the topper being a question at the very end of the last interview. "We're hearing that you and Jinx are an item, Kid Flash. Is that true?"

"I won't comment in public about the personal lives of others or myself, thank you."

Damn! Soooo smooth. She smirked. Frigging 14 and they can't touch him. As the impromptu press conference was breaking up, she asked him where he learned to do that. He told her that he'd gotten a lot of coaching from Flash and had watched how Flash had handled those jackals. "And I think I've done about 50 of those" he told her. "You start to get good at saying things in 10 words or less and at always projecting a calm tone. At first, when I was no good at it, I was just a kid and they thought it was a cute novelty, a boy that age being a hero, so they were easy on me."

She smiled. She smiled at him the whole walk to her apartment, her cousin's friend's apartment. They walked at normal speed, a mile through the City and only spoke a few words. She asked him if he been the only one who'd trusted in her innocence. He nodded. She asked if he'd had some doubt himself. "I knew, um, emotionally, that you were innocent, but the video . . that fake hex looked so real" he said softly. She could tell from his voice how it had scared him. She squeezed his gloved hand tighter as they walked along.

At the door to the apartment, he stopped her. "I want you to know that I was here. The cops were here with a warrant searching but they didn't find anything that proved you'd been here"

"But you knew?"

He nodded. "I saw the rose on the table and I saw your sketch book wedged into the couch, the futon . . . I didn't look at it"

They went inside and immediately started kissing, first against the refrigerator then, without plan, shifting embrace by embrace to the futon where they were locked in a seated kiss, side by side. Jinx saw their reflection in a mirror and thought of a statue she really liked, Rodin's statue of seated lovers kissing. But a minute later the kissing stopped when the door to the apartment squeaked open and a spiky haired girl and skinny artist type guy stopped just inside. The intrusion on the kissing pair was only part of the awkwardness. The boyfriend nearly freaked out that a famous superhero and a villain were in his girlfriend's apartment. Two people like-like . . that right there! And he was nearly freaked in part because they weren't staying within the expected boundaries of their categories. He'd just wrapped his mind around the identities of the two of them there on the futon when he realized that they'd had their arms around each other. Her hand had been on his scarlet covered butt. One of his hands had been invisible beneath the dark, lace fabric at her bust.

Jinx knew how tenuous her stay at the apartment was and quickly ushered her red and yellow boyfriend out the door past them. Mr. Artsy gawked at them as they went past but a total blowup and demand that Jinx's temporary landlord evict her had been avoided. They made their way to the street outside, kissed some more there and rubbed noses.

"Go on home and enjoy yourself tomorrow, Wally."she whispered. "None of that denying yourself crap. The whole martyr, taking on any burden deal with being a hero is soooo unappealing. Enjoy yourself"

He smiled, wondering why they couldn't go somewhere else. That would be enjoyable. He started to argue. "Why don't-" but was interrupted by the plaintive wails of police and ambulance sirens in the distance. He looked over his shoulder, torn. "I . . ". The sirens seemed to be growing in number. He sighed and looked her in the eye. You know I have to go. She nodded. He took her hand between his and kissed it looking her in the eyes as he did. "I'll call you here around 5 o'clock, tomorrow. I'll-I'll think of you. Goodbye" She waved goodbye to a red and yellow blur that disappeared in a split second in the direction of the sirens. She sighed. They don't deserve him.

A couple hours later, a very tired Kid Flash was finally speeding for home. He wanted to just vibrate through the wall into his tiny bedroom then fall into bed but he could see lights still on in the house. He circled through the bedroom at high speed, slowing only enough to pick up his civilian clothes and then through the other wall and back to his usual changing spot in a small wooded area up the street. He pushed through the creaky front door a minute later in his giant pants and shirt and knit hat and sneakers. As he did, he heard his mother speaking to his father in a hectoring tone.

". . maybe if you were around a little more the boy wouldn't be running wild, huh?"

"We're not going to have that argument again, are we? Wait, I think I heard him come in"

Damn! So now I'm . . running wild? He sighed. I spend hours helping search two city blocks for survivors of that gas main explosion and fire and running them to Jump City General but I'm running wild. He sighed. What if I just told them? Hey, look. This is the real me. Kid Flash. I'm Kid Flash. All the times you didn't know where I was I was out trying to catch crooks and to protect people. He hadn't given the notion serious consideration in months. But if home would be Titans Tower why not tell them before leaving?

His father, five eleven and dark haired with a stocky, muscular build, came down the stairs with his usual heavy steps. Wally decided to just be casual and walked slowly toward the bathroom. His father hurried there to intercept him and caught him with a tug under Wally's left arm.

"Look what the cat dragged in" he said lifting Wally partly off the ground and spinning him around.

"Ow!" Wally yelped and pushed his hand away. "It's nice to see you too, Dad. I missed you too"

"Don't smart mouth me"

"I'm just gonna wash up, if you don't mind"

"No" his father said with a tug at the waist of a turning Wally's pants, yanking him back to stand toe to toe with him.

"Hey!"

"I don't know why we ever let you get these ridiculous clothes but right now we're gonna discuss a few things. For instance, slick. You obviously got away from the police . . " he said with a knowing smile and watched Wally for reaction. Wally was perplexed. Slick? Got away from the police? Wha . . ?

"But you didn't help this Lauren Davies girl get away, did you?"

"What? What in the world are you talking about? Lauren Davies? She hasn't spoken to me for months"

"You didn't make secret plans with her against the wishes of her parents to go to that Cantwell party that the police broke up?"

"What? What in the world are you talking about? I went to help out my girlfriend Jinny. That's where I've been all day"
"You're sure?"

"Of course I'm sure"

"You weren't maybe selling or just giving some little gifts to Lauren Davies?"

"What is this insane thing for Lauren Davies. I told you I haven't spoken to her since, like, 3 months ago. What-"

"Well, we got a call from Mr. and Mrs. Davies. It seems that they found all the different things you sold her" he said and faced his son with a forced smirk, waiting for the confession. But there was none forthcoming. Wally was totally bewildered.

"Come on, fess up. We'll find it eventually."

"Find what?"

His father let out an angry grunt and to Wally's shock, grabbed his wrists and held them tight together behind his back before pushing him along across the living room and then kitchen, ending by slamming Wally's shoulder into the frame of the door to his room. Any thought of sharing his secret was gone now as Wally was painfully pressed against the wall.

"That freaking hurts!" grunted Wally which was apparently translated through this dad's son/angry father berlitz language guide book as "push harder!" because that's what his father did.

"Tell us where you hid the stuff and this'll be over quicker"

"What're you talking about?" Wally demanded and, with the side of his face pressed to the door frame he could see inside his little room, the converted breezeway to a garage that no longer existed. It looked like his clothes and books had all been thrown in the air at once, or perhaps a dozen times with no regard for where anything landed.

His father pressed his shoulder into the middle of Wally's back now and growled into his ear from an inch away. "Lauren Davies had a half dozen joints, a bottle of ecstasy pills and some crystals of something her parents didn't even know what it was, to snort or cook or what. And she got it from you. You been dealing ever since you switched to these hood clothes haven't you?"

"What! You're crazy!" shouted Wally and he used his speed, not a lot, just enough to wriggle his wrists free and spin loose from being pressed against the wall so that he stood facing his father amid the seeming wreckage of his room. His father looked at him in amazement that he was able to get free like that. He advanced on Wally again, until Wally raised both hands in defense.

"I'm not some defenseless little boy, dad."

His father stopped.

"And I'm not some drug dealer or something."

"Well, that's what the Davies said. They said they found their daughter's drugs and she admitted that she got 'em from you. Then, your mother and I had to listen to the Davies shout about how you're a little fucking lowlife and how they want your little lowlife ass as far from her as possible and that she said she was going to see you as she ran out of their house. That was ten o'clock. A few minutes ago, they called from the police station. How do you think your mother and I like taking calls like that, being yelled at because our son's turned into a little hood"

"Dad! I am not a hood! I'm-I'm the farthest thing from a little fucking hood! For god's sake, I haven't done a single thing wrong and yet you're ready to toss me into the trash because somebody you don't even know says so"

"Well, why would they say so, why would their daughter say it was you if it wasn't?"

"Christ, I don't know! I'm probably convenient is all. He dresses funny, like a hood. Let's frame him. Other idiots will believe it too! And maybe she's still mad at me for standing her up the one time we had a date. So, she gets cornered by her parents and throws all the blame at me and protects her real connection"

"If you're lying to me!"

Wally sighed. "Dad! What've I ever done wrong that you should accept people saying stuff like that about me?"

"Well, there was that letter from the school"

"What letter?"

"From the vice principal. He said you were mouthing off to all the teachers and riling up all the other kids on purpose the last day of school. He said you'd better straighten out or you'll be in big trouble in high school. He's gonna be vice principal at the high school next year"

Wally shook his head. "I'm-I'm not even going to their public high school. I'm going to go to a private school."

"We're not gonna pay for you to go to private school. We've got a lot better uses for money than that, so you can just walk your skinny ass to the public high school for the next-"

"Dad! It'll be on scholarship. Everything on scholarship. I-I took a test and I won a full scholarship. Everything!"

"Everything?"

He watched his father's facial expression and body language completely change. Imminent attack changed to relaxation . . contentment . . grudging respect.

"So, all your weirdness, reading all these weirdo books, the industrial trade crap and all, actually paid off?"

"Yeah, Dad, all my weirdness paid off" Sigh. Wally waited. Congratulations? A question? A word, maybe just an expression of concern or perhaps simple curiosity? What school? What kind of school? How is that one right for you, son?

Nope. None of it. With the news that he wouldn't be costing any more money, all his father's interest in Wally was gone. His father muttered something more along the lines of "just so long as it's all scholarship . . " and walked slowly away to the stairs and then on up. Wally pushed the door of his little room closed and used his super speed to pick everything up and put it away in its place, books, pants, underwear, shirts, socks, sheets, pillow, his little league trophies, his model cars and planes. It was all a heap of debris on the floor and then a second later all of it was back in its place. The bindings of some of the books had been ruined, though, and he could only guess that his father had seen the small hole in the side of the twin bed mattress and thought, Aha! Because the hole had been tripled in size in a futile search for hidden drugs.

Everything back in place in his soon to be vacated room, Wally looked outside his room and seeing no one, zipped to the bathroom. He took a 10 second shower, rinse in four and a half, lather head to toe in one and rinse again, then made his way back to his room at normal speed. He could hear his sister complaining to his mother. "Why should HE get to go to private school instead of me?". The tone of her voice was pure whine. Wally couldn't help but laugh. Way to go sis. Don't fall short of my expectations of you. Finally, he pulled off all his clothes and slipped under the covers. How can I leave all this behind?

At 10:50 a.m. the next morning, Kid Flash sprinted across the bay to the island and to the Titans Tower entrance grinning ear to ear. Cyborg's voice answered his push of the doorbell.

"Come on up, KF! Fourteenth floor!"

Kid Flash sprinted up the stairs so fast that he was standing beside Cyborg before his hand was even off the button for the intercom. There were handshakes and congratulations all around, grins and excitement and even a noticeably reserved Robin smiled some. The mood was of triumph, of happiness for a deserved reward being given. And, with the exception of Robin, the others clearly enjoyed his elation.

Kid Flash was embarrassed to admit to Jinx that night what a blur the day had been. Something was a blur to you! She got a good laugh out of that. But there were a hundred new things to remember, what was where who did what, how to find this, where to put that, and he was so excited about everything. So excited. He didn't stop grinning. He really did try and let it all soak in and enjoy it like Jinx had suggested. It made it all the more difficult to keep it all straight. It was a whole new life to which he was being introduced.

First, they asked what to call him. "Kid Flash" seemed faintly demeaning, said Raven. He suggested they do as Cyborg and previously Speedy had done and call him "KF". KF it was and with that out of the way, Cyborg had him fill out some forms with background info. Starfire mussed Kid Flash's hair as he was writing in Aunt Iris's contact information on a table in the kitchen area but he didn't mind. He grinned back at her and continued filling out the forms. He was pleasantly surprised to find that he'd be paid a stipend to be a Titan. "You'll . . pay me to do this? Seriously?" They all nodded and he laughed out loud. I get to live with my peers and be paid for it! Ahahahahaha! How much? Cyborg pointed to the number on his registration form.

"I'm rich!" he crowed.

"Dude? Our monthly makes you rich? You're at least one decimal point off"

"Compared to the money I was making mowing lawns and stuff? Yeah, that's rich"

Then, they got him registered with all the security systems. They had him speak a whole series of words into a special microphone to register his vocal patterns in the computer. He also had to stare into a special retinal scanner for a minute. After that, he placed both palms over a special scanner that recorded the print patterns of all 10 fingers and his hands. Cyborg explained to him that various locks and security points within the building might require one or more of these identifications from a Titan and wouldn't open otherwise.

When that was done, Robin seemed as though he would take over the shepherding of the new guy from Cyborg. He led Kid Flash to the elevators.

"Pool, tennis, basketball and helipad are on the roof" he said pointing to the top button labeled "R". "Great Room, kitchen, dining and command center on 14" he said pointing to the next highest button and continued on down the line like a waiter trying to impress diners by reeling off the available salad dressings too fast. "Individual quarters on 13, Computer stations and library on 12, conference rooms, lobby and more work stations on 11, fitness center on 10, weaponry development and refinement on 8, video center on 7, small kitchen and backup communications and computers on 6, paper copies of records and other storage on 5 and 4, private storage on 3 and main entrance, history and tributes to heroes on 1 and 2. B is basement level which is more mechanical. CS, that's sub basement, that's the combat simulations room. It was too big to be inside the building."

"You left out 9"

"That's where we're going. Infirmary, for your physical"

"My physical? But-"

"And your drug test. They'll be administered by doctors from S.T.A.R. Labs. They do that sort of stuff for us"

Ding. The elevator opened onto a small lobby in which two doctors in white lab coats carrying clipboards stood waiting. One was a woman in her early 30's and quite pretty. The other was a dark haired guy, six feet tall, in his mid 20's at most. Kid Flash walked out of the elevator toward him. Robin stayed in and pressed to go back up.

"Come back up to 14 when you're done" he said and smiled at the female doctor pulling on a latex glove with a loud rubbery snapping sound.

Even the indignities of the physical didn't dim the luster of this day for Kid Flash. They poked and prodded and tapped him and stared at him. They spoke to each other as if he wasn't there, the woman, the senior of the two, hectoring the other doctor to notice this or that about the "metahuman". Ugh. That word over and over. It wasn't all bad, they sent him through a full body MRI that took only 10 seconds. Their computer immediately spit out some results and they told him that, based on the condition of his bones the computer estimated that he would grow to a little over six foot one. Kid Flash grinned. Six one was just fine. That done with, there was another round of poking and prodding and looking in his ears and nose and mouth. Kid Flash just stared at a spot on the wall opposite him, especially when they looked . . there. They let him just pull his uniform down to his waist for most of the physical. But then they made him take it off. And there was that pause. That very long pause, very very long pause. They finally did the last few tests. No fun. They were about to let him zoom back up to the 14th floor when they remembered the drug test. They handed him a plastic container with a snap on top, but when Kid Flash tried to pee, he couldn't. He explained that he'd gone just before leaving home. They gave him a glass of water and, as the male doctor watched over his shoulder, the water left him just as quickly as it entered. Hmm. They decided that the test sample might not be that accurate and asked for a blood sample, too. Kid Flash agreed and soon as the needle was out of him, his skin had sealed over and the mark was gone. As they noted that, he said goodbye and sprinted back up to 14.

It was lunch time now. They all sought allies for their favorites. Cyborg offered him three different kinds of waffles. Beast Boy suggested a big tofurkey sandwich. Starfire had cooked a casserole of . . well, it couldn't be that. But itlooked like mustard and noodles and anchovies. To the surprise of all three, and Robin and Raven, he said yes . . to all three. To their amazement their slender new teammate ate as many waffles as Cyborg, wolfed down a tofurkey sandwich and then a plate of Star's casserole. Even though it wasjust what it looked like. Raven looked at him with deep suspicion. "Are you using some super speed trick to hide all of it in a doggie bag under the table?" she asked.

"Nope. It's a Flash thing. I eat a lot. A lot more than it would seem a guy my size should. It still doesn't match out calorie-wise. I mean, if I run a thousand miles. I still don't eat even a fraction of the calories it should take for me to do that. But I eat a lot. Nine meals a days is usually about right."

"How much do you weigh?" asked Raven a skeptical eyebrow about to knock off her hood.

"A hundred twenty seven, they just told me"

She nodded. Just what every girl wants, a boy who literally can't eat too much and never gains a pound. Nope, no psychological pressure there! But after lunch, when Beast Boy and Cyborg were showing him their various video games, it turned out that he'd never played any of them and didn't have any of his own. He said he was interested but that he was more a reader and asked about the library that Robin had mentioned. Raven sighed. A huge appetite's really not so bad.

After showing him some more of the 14th floor, features, they talked about how he could work his talents into the group. Robin suggested that they'd practice having Kid Flash do recon for the group. And Kid Flash suggested that if Gar just changes into something really small, he can travel at super speed with him. He explained that traveling above a certain speed with someone hanging onto him wasn't possible, that friction affected others but not him. If Gar becomes some tiny salamander or something and squeezed under his mask by his temple, he could go super speed with him and the Titans would be able to drop a T-Rex on the bad guys almost instantaneously. Beast Boy was excited. The new guy's trying to make the most of my powers! Kewl!

They gave KF his communicator and explained how to use it, though KF showed them that the wings by his ears weren't just ornamental. The left side one played police frequencies and the right side one had a couple functions including the ability to record. The circuits were tiny, done for Flash by the Atom, he thought. He discussed with Cyborg the possibility of integrating the Titans communicator functions into his ear wings so that he could continue to not have to carry anything with him.

After a while, the discussion broke up and KF got a tour of the whole facility from Cyborg. He took Wally to his new room. Wally was stunned. It was as big as the ground floor of the West home. And the bed! A king size platform bed with the new memory foam mattress. No more twin bed with a mattress the same age as him. His room was between Raven's on one side and Beast Boy's on the other. Wally sniffed. "Hey, is that . . brimstone?" he asked Cyborg. "Like I said, Raven to this side. Okay, let me show you a few more things" he said and reached for what looked like a dimmer switch next to the light switch just inside the door. He pressed the button a few times and each successive time the dark navy glass wall behind the bed got lighter and lighter till finally it was clear glass and KF could see out over the ocean. "Pretty cool, huh? Just a little electric current into that special glass makes it lighter."

"Great! I'll be able to see the sunset from here"

"If you want. Robin's over on the other side of the building because he wanted the sunrise to help him get up early"

"Well, I'm uh I'm not an early riser type"
Cyborg chuckled. "Nobody here is except for Robin. Here, let me show you something else" he added and walked over to a small rectangular panel in the wall that KF would have missed if not pointed out to him. With just a touch from Cyborg, the two foot wide, six inch high panel extended straight out from the wall to reveal a DVD player, CD player and an ipod station. Cyborg explained each in turn, pointing to the panel opposite the bed and how it was a tv screen and how many songs could be downloaded from an ipod or vice versa using the storage of the "entertainment station" as he called it.

"I don't have an ipod or anything like that" KF admitted sheepishly.

"We've got a whole box full of 'em upstairs" said Cyborg. "We saved Steve Jobs from a kidnapping a while back. He didn't want to give us a thing, or even say thanks, which is all we really ever ask for. Copped a snobby attitude, complained that we were matting down his special grass. But some assistant of his gave 'em to us"

Cyborg stopped in the hallway just outside the room and opened a double doored closet. He removed a clear plastic bag from it and tossed it to KF. "Five . . nine maybe? Medium, I think". KF looked at it. It was a thick bathrobe, white with two interlocking T's, the Teen Titans symbol. "How 'bout some jammies, too?" he said and tossed another clear plastic bag with navy blue pajamas, again with the TT logo, to Wally. "I don't really wear these, but maybe I'll give it a shot"

Cyborg showed him the fitness center and awed KF with what he could bench press. Wally laughed and did the most he could, 160 pounds but Cyborg was very complimentary that Wally could bench more than his weight. He showed Wally how to use all the other machines. He was all pointers on proper form, not once mocking how comparatively weak Wally was. Wally took the opportunity going from machine to machine to ask him about Starfire. "What's with the way she's constantly running her hands through my hair. I mean, I like friendly and I like tactile and all, but she's run her hands through my hair like 5 times already"

Cyborg laughed. "She said that orange hair is the ultimate sign of desirability on Tamaran".

"Well, I'm spoken for"

"We know. Robin's not too cool with it. I think Raven's got her reservations. But I think it's pretty cool that you stuck by her."

Wally nodded his thanks. Cyborg was clearly the Titan with whom he had the closest immediate bond.

Cyborg showed Wally the Tower library, where the different sections were, classics, fiction, poetry, spells and witchcraft. "Guess who takes those out?" History, sciences, technology.

"Oh my god! Cheng and Vandermeer!" KF grabbed it off the shelf.

"You're interested in Cheng and Vandermeer?" chuckled Cyborg.

KF nodded. "I couldn't afford it, though. They wanted 57 bucks at Borders and I didn't have 57 bucks"

"Are you a techie type?
"I don't know that I'd say that but I want to know more. It's a really cool book. The stuff on the different circuitry solutions to the same problem was fantastic. The two different cell phone systems and the pluses and minuses of each? That was great."

Cyborg chuckled and then punched at the air. "Boo yah! Somebody to talk to about circuits. Yes!"

Wally laughed. "Well, I'm just learning but I want to know all I can"

"Anything is appreciated" said Cyborg. "I can't keep hearing about tofu and birdarangs. I just can't!"

They eventually made their way back up to the others on the 14th floor and Beast Boy, Raven and Starfire had great news for him. They were already going to have a party to celebrate his joining the team but had noticed that he was just a couple days from his 15th birthday, so they'd decided to hold it on his birthday and make it a combined party. KF was nearly floored. For me? Seriously? He explained to them that he hadn't had a birthday party since he was a little boy, maybe since he was 5 or 6 years old. They told him that he could invite his family and whomever else he wanted. But Kid Flash explained that he couldn't invite his family. They didn't know who he was. The others were shocked. And just the raising of the issue brought to mind a problem that he'd wondered about before forgetting it in the excitement of the day.

"Um, how do I do this without my parents finding out?"

"KF! Don't they already know?" asked Cyborg.

KF shook his head. "I have an aunt who knows but nobody else does"

"That must be very lonely to not be able to share your feelings about your crime fighting" said a distressed Starfire. She patted his orange haired head.

KF nodded. "It's a big part of why I wanted to be part of the team. It's probably part of why I enjoy being with Jinx"

"You told her who you are?" frowned Raven.

"She'd never hurt me"

"You have to be more careful than that!" she cautioned him.

"Perhaps he knows how to handle his emotions better than you, Raven" said Starfire again running one hand through his orange hair. KF flashed a bashful smile at her.

"Well, we did work out a plan to officially have a Titan going to Jump City Academy but to really be here at the Tower. But we've never had to use it. Why not just tell them?" suggested Cyborg. "They're probably completely confused about why you seem to be gone so often without explanation and all that"

"Actually, it doesn't seem to bother them at all" said Kid Flash looking at his boots.

"But, it'll be so liberating!" said Beast Boy. "Look at me. I get to walk around as myself with no probs. It's great"

Kid Flash shook his head. "I-I don't think so. I talked about this with Flash a few times. If my secret identity ever got out, my family would be targets for all the souped up whackjobs out there as a way to get at me. I . . I can't"

"Well, then just tell them, dude, but make them promise to keep quiet about who you are" said Gar

"Um, would you trust my little sister to keep the secret of my identity if you were me?" said KF.

The other Titans glanced at each other. Oh . . yeah . . her.

"Jump City Academy it is!" said Raven.

"You're JCA material, dude!"

"An orange haired schoolboy is not such a bad thing at all"

"I bet you'll be the only JCA boy reading Cheng and Vandermeer on the side."

Kid Flash filled out paper work and worked out the details with the others. Through the Titans' affiliation with Wayne Enterprises, the three corporations removed, actual owner of Jump City Academy, Wally West would be listed on the student roster in the computer and his calls would be routed to his room at the Tower but he would never have to show up for any classes. But, looking at the class list, Wally thought there was a history course and a science course he might like to take next semester. Cyborg said that JCA occasionally had some kids from area schools taking classes by special agreement, so nobody would know that Wally West was on the books as a full timer and not an auditor from Jump City High or someplace. And then he smirked. Kid Flash looked around. What? "Robin's going to take the same two courses" said Cyborg. "You two can go together".

Kewl! thought Kid Flash, his present euphoria overriding even their previous antipathy. And with the mention of Robin, another thought came to him. When they were all done, he sped down to the 13th floor, where all the individual quarters were. He remembered what Cyborg had said and first found his room then sped around the hallway to the opposite side.

Inside, Robin was stretching. His legs felt a little tight from all the sitting around at the computer that he'd done that morning, checking databases on the name "Wallace West". Nothing. Nothing they didn't already have in the file. Robin shook his head and did another ballet barre style stretch. The others didn't need to see this, even if Garth FitzRoy wasn't around. God, those two! At least he wasn't like them. But still! The way Star couldn't keep her hands off him! It's just odd colored hair for god's sake! And Raven! Robin switched legs and brought his other foot to chest level and stretched to reach it in a nice ballet exercise rhythm like his acrobat family had taught him. Raven was worse. She never touched him, but the way she looked at him! Those little peeks around behind him. Who was she fooling? Maybe an ulterior motive for championing his membership, Rae? Hmm? It's nice that a boy will want to use the library!. Yeah, right. Like Cy doesn't use the library. And I guess you were looking for the bestseller list on his buns, huh? Oh, am I almost around behind you? So sorry. I'll just have to practically drool on your butt. Robin shook his head. What's happening to the team? That's what Robin was wondering when he heard a knock on his door.

There was no immediate answer to his knock so Kid Flash tried again. He knocked on the dark navy door a second time and smiled when it opened just a sliver. Robin stared out irritably, in full uniform and sighed.

"Just use the intercom, for god's sake. You don't have to go to my door to speak to me. What is it?"

"Sorry. I forgot how to dial your room so many things to keep track of today. I-"

"Any phone, intercom or communicator. Star then R. Your room'll be star K. Beast Boy is star B-"

"I-I get it. But, um, you remember during the interview, how I said that I should take some martial arts training? Well, I was wondering if, uh, if you'd teach me. Cyborg says you're terrific. How 'bout it?"

Robin regarded him through a skeptical squint. Hmmph. Teach pretty boy. God! That uniform! Maybe we'll see just how bad he wants to learn jeet kune do.

"Robin?"

"Yeah. I'll teach you. Tomorrow morning at 9 in the Com Sims room"

Kid Flash started to say thanks but the door shut in his face. He raised an eyebrow at that but zipped back up to the great room. He called Aunt Iris's number and got voice mail. "Guess where I'm calling you from, Aunt Iris? Titans Tower, that's where! And why am I calling from there? Because I'm a Titan now, Aunt Iris! I'm a Titan! Thanks for all your help in getting to this point. I'll-I'll call you from here tomorrow. Bye" and said goodbye to the others with handshakes all around and thanks for all their help. He waved to them from the door to the stairs and then a second later from the other side of the bay. With the light just right, he thought he could almost make out their figures in the windows at the top floor. He waved with his whole arm and then sped off at super speed to the apartment where Jinx was staying.