A yawn, quickly stifled behind her hand, signaled an end to their talk, and Cyborg's internal chronometer informed him it was definitely time. They'd been talking well into the early evening.

"Forgive me," she said. "I fear I am still weary from my travel…"

"That's fine," said Cyborg, slipping to his feet and offering her a hand up, ever the gentleman. "I doubt you'd want to sleep in here, it's not very comfortable… but I'm sure you can room with Starf-…"

An unpleasant image sprang to mind, and he shivered.

"Er, I mean Rae-"

An even more unpleasant image sprang to mind, and he shuddered.

"… on the couch," he settled on, grateful she wasn't from this era and wouldn't understand how insulting it was for someone to be sleeping on the couch. Especially someone he cared about. But having her sleep in the same room as him…

… an image sprang to mind… and not an unpleasant one either…

… was out of the question.

Sarasim nodded, accepting Cyborg's hand and allowing him to lead her down the corridor of Titan's Tower towards the living room. It was late, and most of the lights were on a dim setting to conserve power. Most of the other Titans were in bed by now.

The warrior maiden flinched as she saw the doors slide open before they'd reached them, her eyes darting back and forth to find who had opened them. Cyborg smiled, patting her shoulder gently. "It's alright," he said. "Doors open automatically here… in Titan's Tower, at least… had them installed a few years ago."

"They open on their own?" she asked curiously, examining the sides of the door, as if determined to find the invisible beings who opened them. Cyborg nodded, instead tapping a panel, near invisible, above the door.

"Sensors… this thing sees you coming, and the doors open automatically to let you in."

"Fascinating… truly, this is a wonderful world you live in," she said in breathless awe. Her gaze had been purely on Cyborg while they were in his room, but now, in the living room, it roamed freely over only the latest of technological marvels. The stove, the boombox, the television, the equalizer. Cyborg had, for the most part, built them all. He'd had a passion for technology, for a long time… still did, really. It helped when a good part of his anatomy had been replaced by the stuff. But even since he'd been to the past, he'd realized that technology, no matter what it could do, could never replace some things. And he'd have traded all the tech in Titan's Tower for a chance to see her again.

And now, here she was… her hand dangerously close to a particular shiny red button…

Cyborg's own hand snapped out and gently clasped around her wrist, stopping her. "Ah, you don't want to touch that," he said. "That's the alarm for Titan's Tower. Only supposed to touch it if there's an emergency."

She nodded thoughtfully, and he released her wrist gently. "I have much to learn," she remarked.

"Hey, you made electricity about two thousand years before it was discovered… you'll be fine here," he said with a chuckle.

She smiled at the compliment. "The blacksmith's work more than mine, I fear… I only showed him the one you had built… the… prototype…" she stumbled over the unfamiliar word, "… and he was able build the rest."

"Still, quite an accomplishment… "

"But nothing compared to the wonders of this world," she said, stretching out her arms to indicate the wide living room, stepping over towards the windows. "You live in a tower built higher than any building I have ever seen. I would almost fear to sleep in here, that I might accidentally fall to my doom," she said, indicating the ground of Titan's Isle far below.

"Well no need to worry about that," said Cyborg, tapping the thin glass. "State-of-the-art dura-glass. You couldn't break this if you tried," he remarked, then lightly encouraged her to touch the glass… she did so, frowning in puzzlement as her hand seemed to stop in mid-air.

"State-of-the-art," she repeated. "You use this word often… what does it mean?"

"Means it's the best we… well, mankind… has made up until this point," Cyborg replied after a moment's thought.

"I see," she said, frowning thoughtfully, still running her hand along the glass. It left faint streaks. "Like primitive only… the opposite…"

She felt his hand come to rest on her shoulder gently, and he guided her away from the window.

"You're not primitive, Sarasim…" he said, sensing how she was starting to feel, and completely regretting his words back in the past (literally). "You're just… uneducated, maybe. You don't know these things… but it doesn't mean you can't learn." He guided her over towards the sofa, which was a comfortable resting place for weary travelers and, thankfully, free of green fur. Beastboy must've avoided transforming into a mammal while on it today.

"I will begin learning tomorrow then," she said, nodding in self-conviction. She turned then to face him. "You will teach me?"

He smiled at that. Once, he'd thought he had all the answers, but during his trip to the past, -she- had taught -him- a thing or two.

"Get some sleep, Sarasim… I'll come and get you soon as the sun is up."

"Why so early?" she asked, slightly puzzled.

"So I can show you -my- home," he replied.



Jump City slept peacefully that night, as did it's resident Titan's and guest. Their city was a peaceful one tonight, a semi-infrequent occurrence. But for now, the supervillains and thugs had left to find easier prey, or were laying in wait, fearful of the ever-present gaze of the Titan's from their tower in the bay.

Such was, unfortunately, not the same everywhere in the world.

Elsewhere, an evil war stirring. An evil that had been thought broken and defeated. But it had been an evil that lay in wait for it's proper moment… to enact revenge.

In the darkness, the evil's eyes opened, and they burned like crimson fire.

"Cyborg..."



Morning did not seem to come soon enough, but Sarasim was a warrior, accustomed to falling asleep and waking in an instant, as she was well rested by the time dawn's light began to filter into the living room. Not from the main windows, as the part of the Tower faced westward, towards the sparkling blue ocean and the sea beyond, but the dark sky was now gray, and soon it would be bright and beautiful when the sun arose. Sarasim's mood matched it completely, though she was waiting for Cyborg, not the sun.

When the doors slid open, she lifted her head and peered over the couch, expecting to see the silvery outline of her hero. Instead, she was surprised to see another. Not Raven either, for she had met her briefly in the cavern where she'd slept, but a young man, perhaps a year or two younger than she, with brightly colored tunic and cloak and spiky black hair. A strange black visor of cloth covered his eyes but seemed to cover very little else.

He halted abruptly upon seeing her, coming to a stop in the middle of the doorway.

"Oh… good morning," he said. "You must be Cyborg's guest."

"Sarasim," she introduced herself as she stood and bowed formally. He returned the gesture, though first his fist found it's way into his palm, and though he bowed, his eyes did not leave her, as if fully expecting her to attack at any moment. So this one was a warrior as well, she surmised. Like Cyborg. Is this Tower a home to warriors?

"I'm Robin," he replied himself back, making his way past her with little further introductions made his way into the kitchen. With a seeming natural skill, he tossed up a pair of eggs, caught them, cracked them, let their contents fall into an iron pan and tossed the shells aside.

"Hope you're hungry," he said.

"Starved," she said, only just realizing that her last meal had been nearly a full day ago… and five millenia more. A ivory bear she'd hunted and slain just before she'd found the cavern the Witch had spoken of. Her stomach rumbled as she beheld quickly the small feast this young boy was preparing. Eggs, meat, milk, toast. He tossed ingredients back and forth seemingly to himself as if it was as natural as walking.

"Mmmm… I smell tofu bacon calling my name!"

Sarasim turned, startled, and then stifled a gasp as a -green- boy sprang past the doors that slid closed behind him. A purple and black uniform covered him completely from his neck all the way down to his toes, revealing only his face. But his features were distorted, his ears and canine teeth pointed. What was he? A boy or a beast? Instinctively she moved away from the counter, putting a little space between herself and him.

Her movement caused him to catch sight of her, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head as he got a good look at her.

"Dude… you're… you're that cave-lady friend of Cyborg's…" he said.

"Bronze Age," remarked Robin from the kitchen, seemingly unconcerned by either Beastboy's appearance or Sarasim's reaction, flipping the metal pan and letting his food fly into the air, caught by a defend hand. "Not cave-woman. You're thinking about five million years earlier."

"Whatever man… still cool… I'm Beastboy," said the green stranger, thrusting out his hand towards her. She regarded it oddly, unaware of the particular custom.

"She probably doesn't know about shaking hands, Beastboy," Robin remarked again, equally casually. "I'd go with a bow if I were you."

"Oh, sorry," he said, bowing low before Sarasim. Relieved by a recognizable gesture, she returned it.

"I am Sarasim," she introduced herself. The green boy nodded, but with barely another word, he bounded up and over the kitchen counter and towards the white box that held the foodstuffs, rummaging around inside of it.

She made her way more slowly towards the counter, surprised to see an extra two plates of breakfast had already been set aside by the black-haired boy.

"You seem to know a great deal about me," she said cautiously, breaking the silence that had followed (if you didn't count the grunts and banging coming from the fridge, where Beastboy was searching for soy milk). "That I am… not accustomed to all of this."

"I've had to introduce someone to Earth life before," Robin replied, finishing his preparations and setting aside his own breakfast. "Not so different to introducing someone to modern customs. Dig in. Left plate's yours," he added, and with little further ado, began to eat.

Sarasim did as well, her hunger driving her beyond that point of politeness until she was devouring everything that lay on her plate.

Cyborg arrived a short time after that, and joined them. Both Raven and Starfire had slept in, which wasn't too surprising. Normally Beastboy did too, but he'd gone to bed early last night. Breakfast finished, plates washed (introducing Sarasim to the wonders of the dishwasher), Sarasim and Cyborg were making their way down the corridors of Titan's Tower towards the garage, after she'd bid Beastboy and Robin a good morning.

"You have… interesting allies," she remarked as they walked along.

"I should've warned you about BB… he's a little weird, but…"

"It is alright," she replied. "He is… different… but seems nice enough. He is a warrior as well?"

"Yeah, guess we all kinda are," remarked the mechanical man as they stepped into the elevator and keying in the appropriate floor. Sarasim's eyes widened as she felt the floor shift beneath her, but a quick glance at Cyborg confirmed she was in no danger, so she relaxed.

"You protect your village?" she asked. He nodded.

"Sorta, yeah… only it's a lot bigger than a village… and sometimes we get called in to help people in other places too… anywhere there's evil, really."

"How very noble."

"Hey, we're just doing what we can…" The doors of the elevator slid open with a soft little ding. They had arrived in the Titan's underground parking garage.

If the kitchen had impressed Sarasim, the garage flat-out 'wow'-ed her. If only because of the sheer size of everything, from the T-Ship in it's locked down position, to the T-Car in all it's shining glory in the corner. It was here she allowed her natural curiosity to overcome her, reasoning that any real danger to her person, if any, Cyborg would warn her about. She had complete faith in her armored guardian.

"What manner of device… is this?" she asked, running a hand admiringly along the sleek side of the T-Car.

He smirked, proud of his 'baby' and his accomplishment in building it with his own two hands. "Think of it as a cart without horses," he said, patting the hood. "Runs on it's own."

"Amazing..."

Politely, he unlocked the passenger side door and popped it open for her. "Here… ladies first."

"Thank you," she replied, climbing into the car, though she crouched down still standing in the actual seat, again indicating her unfamiliarity with technology.

"Here… allow me," he said, gently grasping Sarasim's hips in his hands and guiding her, shifting her position until she was seated properly on the passenger's side of the car. It was only after she was properly settled the two of them seemed to realize what was going on, and Cyborg's still fleshy face turned crimson as he removed his hands and turned away politely, coughing. Sarasim, aware of his discomfort, seemed puzzled but assumed it was another 'modern' thing and didn't want to further embarrass Cyborg by questioning it.

Clearing his throat, Cyborg made his way around the other side of the car and hopped in, strapping himself into place. Mirroring his curious actions, and with a little verbal aid (he didn't want to accidentally touch her again) they were both strapped in and ready to go.

Ready being a relative term. Nothing could have prepared Sarasim for the experience of being in a solid metal vehicle moving faster than the winds (or so it seemed to her) with no apparent means of being drawn.



They'd cruised through the city for a while, as Cyborg allowed Sarasim the chance to view Jump City up close and personal. At first he was slightly worried she was getting an over-stimulation of modern life, fashion, technology, people, customs… but to his relief, her awe was being quickly replaced by vast curiosity.

Their ultimate destination was the pizza joint where the Titan's normally hung out. He and his odd friends were such frequent customers even the out-of-time Sarasim wouldn't raise more than a few eyebrows. And they did still get that heroes only discount for saving the store from being destroyed on it's grand opening. To say nothing of saving it's owner.

Unfortunately, that idea was tossed out the window when a sound split the air. A very distinct sound.

Gunfire.

Cyborg slammed his foot down onto the brake, his right arm instinctively moving to halt Sarasim before she jerked forward into the seatbelt as the T-Car skidded to a halt, right outside of Jump City International Bank.

"Awww man, why today?" asked Cyborg with a groan.

"What is wrong?"

Realizing his arm was still pressed against Sarasim, Cyborg quickly moved it aside, then unstrapped himself, simultaneously switching off the T-Car. Fortunately, traffic was light today, and most had already come to a standstill with the gunfire. "Trouble… stay here…" he said, moving quickly out of the T-Car and leaving Sarasim behind.

He wasn't too worried about leaving her behind, she could handle herself, but he'd owe her an apology later.

For now, it was bad guy butt whoopin' time.



Author's Notes:

Sarasim's gradual introduction to modern society, which will pay a key role later on. Oh yes, and a villain. Can't have a decent length story without a villain. As for just how human Cyborg is (or at least how human I think he is), I'll be addressing that shortly.

Yomioiri-Wolfdemon: I try to write my stories in such a way that, even without seeing an episode, you can understand some of what's going on. I hope Kole and Gnarrk were like that, at least. Glad you loved the sap, BB.

Todd fan: Oh I'm not, but it's a little plot hole that irks me to no end. And I try to find -some- explanation for any plot hole no matter how obscure. I figured out why Spyke's uniform never has holes in it, after all.

Blackbird: It'll be an interesting ride, alright. Comedy, yes, but that's not my forte, so forgive me if it isn't side-splitting.

Ray1: Brother. And I shall indeed keep up the good work.

Jimmy the Gothic Egg: Nah, I'm not good at love triangles. I -did- plan to include more of Titan's East into the story, however. Maybe I'll have something along those lines.

Comet-hime: Oh you dirty-minded people, with your brains in the gutter. And no, far as I know Cyborg is, shall we say, incapable of reproducing.

ViciousAssassin: I leave that part open to interpretation, but does it really matter? It's what the Witch wanted, and it prevents her from being a pain later on. Sarasim didn't see Titan's Tower, actually, she was teleported straight inside by Raven.

SxStrngSamurai13: I figured Raven would be best suited for the role. Nobody else would likely know who Sarasim is.

Koriand'r Star: Originally I'd planned to use this Sarasim-comes-to-the-future as part of a grander plot-line, and thus draw in Kole and Gnarrk in the process. Unfortunately, the idea never panned out. Still, glad you enjoyed their cameo.

Ultimate R-Man: As it was in the comics, which is why I put the story on hold until the series was over, since Herald recently appeared.

Elrohir: Raven/Beastboy banter I always enjoy, so of course I always include it in my stories. For side effects, well I dunno, but my stories always tend to be bumpy, so if you consider that… maybe.