I do not own the Teen Titans or anything related to them, however I do own this story and all of the non-original characters except for Isis, who I have been given permission to use by a friend of mine and all are copywrited. This means you can not copy the story or any of the characters or use them without permission from their original owners. Check out the mini-fics by my friend, Starfire Fury, called Teen Titans: Alpha Humor, they're mini-fics about these characters and they're really good and absolutely hilarious, so go read them!

Teen Titans: Alpha

Family matters

Knocking could be heard from the door of the classroom and the resident Professor was surprised when a teenage girl flung her arms around his neck, without so much as a 'Hello'. He was just thinking about how embarrassing this situation would have been if he had had a class that afternoon when he recognised the jet black and scarlet stained head.

"Phoenix? What are you doing here? Why aren't you in Jump City?" A sniffle announced the fact that Phoenix was crying and the Professor held her tightly.

"The Titans, my friends... They know about Pyro." The masked eyes of Phoenix's father softened to a close as he nodded and pushed her away gently so he could look at her face.

"I'm guessing it wasn't you who told them." Phoenix nodded. She loved the way nothing got past her dad, it meant she didn't have to explain herself half the time, he always seemed to understand. Her mom had said that it was because she was so much like him, but somehow she didn't feel she deserved such a comment right now.

"Pyro told them. What are we going to do dad, I thought Pyro was supposed to be on Tameran."

"Like I said in my message, he somehow got away from his carers there. Your mother had gone to see him, by the time she got there he was gone, they had all the servants searching for hours."

"Well that's their problem! They should've kept a closer eye on him!"

"It's not their fault Phoe, if Pyro wanted to get away without being noticed then he would get away without being noticed." He looked at his daughter and sighed. "They couldn't have stopped him even if they had tried."

"Why now? Why come now?... I'll find him. I'll find him and I'll-"

"You won't find him if he doesn't want to be found." Robin replied flatly and Phoenix slumped into a chair. "He's stubborn and determined, just like you and me, no matter how much he hates that fact."

"So if I'm so much like him," She said reluctantly, "then shouldn't I be able to find him?" She grinned hopefully and Robin smiled.

"Nice try. Look if you really want to find him that badly, then do what you think is right, but promise me that you won't do anything you'll regret."

"Oh I won't regret anything." Phoenix muttered quietly.

"Phoenix." Robin said sternly and Phoenix looked him in the eye. "He's your brother, remember that."

"And who's fault is that? Besides, he's a flooping maniac."

"Maybe. Pyro has his own ideas,just as we have ours. Pyro thinks he's right, that's all."

"Plus you're our dad and can't say anything bad against him."

"That may be true-" Robin stuttered, but Phoenix interrupted him;

"Don't worry, I get it. I don't thump him too hard unless he really deserves it."

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After finding the med-bay silent and deserted, the Titans were left searching the Tower for any signs of their leader. After not finding anything in their chosen search areas, Taiyou and Li had gone to the Common room to wait for the others.

"Did you find anything?" Li asked as Zeru flew in through the doors to the common room.

"Nah, nothing, apart from the fact that her motorbike has gone from the garage." Taiyou was looking out of the window, his face looked troubled and thoughtful. A 'swoosh' from the doors proceeded Isis as she walked in, her face was unreadable and she was clutching a piece of red and pink note paper.

"Isis what is it?" Li asked and Isis held out the paper.

"I found this, it was taped to Taiyou's door." Taiyou looked up now, and reached for the paper, not sure if he wanted to read it or not. He looked at it and read the two simple words written there in what was unmistakably Phoenix's handwriting.

"Well Tae, what does it say?" Zeru asked, as all three of them looked at him. Taiyou looked back at the paper, reading it again as it sank in. He got up, clutching the paper in his hand.

"It says 'I'm sorry'." He said, throwing the now crumpled paper onto the floor. Isis picked it back up and Li and Zeru looked over her shoulders as they all read it for themselves.

"She's gone after him. She's gone after Pyro."

"How do you know that? All it says on the paper is that she's sorry. She could have just... gone out for a walk." Li said, his voice rational, though he spoke slowly as he chose his words.

"You guys don't get it. You don't know what she's told me."

"So what has she told you?" Zeru asked and Taiyou ran a hand through his permanently messy hair.

"I can't tell you, she made me promise not to."

"Dude come on! She's disappeared, it could be important!"

"Oh I know it's important, but she made me promise not to tell you, I won't break my word." Taiyou replied stubbornly. It had become well known through out their time at the Academy that Taiyou was fiercely loyal, he wouldn't break his promise even if his life depended on it.

"Taiyou, I promise you now, if you don't tell us you'll regret it." Isis said in her usual, quiet and icy tone. Taiyou's face darkened with a questioning anger.

"Are you threatening me?"

"No, what I'm saying is, what I'm asking is, is that could you bear to have someone else's life on your shoulders when you have the knowledge that you could help them, that you could save them?" Isis said, her tone final, absolute, as sharp as a blade and just as definite. Taiyou looked to the floor, as Zeru and Li looked at each other, they never spoke about Taiyou's family, they didn't really speak about anyone's, though they all knew what had gone on in their lives, well at least they thought they had until they found out about Phoenix and her brother.

Taiyou sighed, looking back up from the floor, looking Isis straight in the eye.

"You know I couldn't."