Engele Chapter 2: Day Two, a teen titans fanfic

: Engele :
- Day Two -

: Disclaimer :
Teen Titans and all its bishounens / bishoujos are not mine
Only Engele and this pretty plotline is mine

: Credits :
Story credits to both Aoi Akiko & (brother) Alexstar Moonlight

- Day Two -

He'd fallen asleep in his chair, his bed unused that night. It made his back and shoulders ache and left his limbs stiff as he stretched. He vaguely wondered why he hadn't made it to bed in the first place, the weight in his arms too significant to ignore…

"Wa-bii…" a semi-toothless warble spoke into his chest as little hands reached out for his face.

His snapped to attention, eyes impossibly wide, "ENGELE!"

To say that the Tower was operating in chaos-mode was an understatement.

"She can speak!" "Whaddaya mean she's TWO today!" "HOW THE H#CK DID SHE JUS—MMPH!" "I told you to stop expanding her vocabulary to include words she shouldn't know…!" "Glorious day, friends, this is most miraculous…!"

According to the childcare book, Engele required something substantially more nutritious than that found in her milk powder of yesterday, so the two senior Titans left for the supermarket as soon as able, dragging along another tonne of books to update them on the current situation…

"Hug-gry…"

Breakfast mayhem froze at her insistent voice, wide eyes staring pleadingly at her babysitters and their respective meals. Having caught their attention, she strained towards a nearby plate, her T-chair tipping forward slightly.

"Hug-gry…" she repeated.

"You wanna try some of Unca Cy's brekkie, baby doll?" her mechanical guardian sat closer to her, dragging his plate along as he brought all four legs of her chair back onto the ground, "How 'bout some bacon – can you say bay-kon…?"

"Baa… co…" she mimicked, eyes glued to the red-brown strip held above her. A small splatter of oil made her wince, but it did not deter her from wanting this new food. He let her have it, grinning like the weirdness who ate the cat who ate the canary…

She chomped on it. And pulled. And pulled. And pulled. She pulled this way. And that way. And this way again. She whapped it several times on the T-chair table, wanting it to become smaller so that she could eat it. She bit into it, hoping it would give…

The horrible piece of meat slingshot its way into Cyborg's wide-eyed stare, smacking him in the face and making him topple backwards.

"Hug-gry…!" she demanded.

"Who's so smart to give her bacon when she only has, like, six teeth…!" Beast Boy laughed as he stepped over his fallen comrade, blowing him a raspberry as he took over his place, "She wants some of Uncle BB's tofu surprise – don't you, angel?"

"Foo…" she parroted, grabbing the neat little squares on her personal table.

It dodged her, sliding a little away from her grasp. She tried to catch it again. And again. And again. And again. Frustrated, she cornered the square between two hands and cupped it clumsily to her mouth…

The plate did a remarkable reenactment of Nu-foo during its invasion of Jump City, brown-and-white squares splattering in one direction as the ceramic disc flew in the other direction. The plate cracked itself over the sink and the twin pieces went spinning, spinning, spinning…

"Hug-gry…!" she screamed, pounding her little table.

"You must need my Pudding of Everlasting Joy…!" Starfire exclaimed, popping beside her with a large bowl held in the crook of her arm, "Come, let us rejoice – eat!"

There was no warning as the humongous spoon was shoved into her mouth. She blinked and swallowed with some difficulty. Then she sat there. And waited. And waited. And waited. Whatever contents made it through her little body, making her turn blue. And purple. And green…

(kablooey)

Globs of orange-grey pudding painted the floor, walls and ceiling, its center an innocent little angel holding small hands over her mouth, "Oopsie…"

Her guardians home with proper sustenance, she bounced happily on his lap as he fed her her spoonful of applesauce…

"Mo…" she squealed, tugging impatiently at his uniform as he wiped away the mess around her mouth. He tsked at her at held up her bowl for her to see there was none left, "There is no more, love… See? You're all done…"

She sniffled, flailing her little legs against his thigh, "Engele, mo…"

Her teething toast was held out to her, and she grabbed at it gaily. The hand holding it to her snatched back, "Say please…"

"Engele, mo…!"

The elder clucked his tongue, "Say please…"

She pouted, but mumbled it hesitantly, "Kees…"

"Close enough…"

The others watched in wonderment as they paused from their kitchen-cleaning duties, "Hey, Robin just taught her a new word…! Do ya think she can start teaching her our names…?"

"I don't see why not…" the masked leader shrugged, standing up and seating Engele on a clear space on the table. He singled out the mechanical Titan, "Say Cyborg…"

"Saibo…"

Taking advantage of the distraction and giving his leader a break, the taller teen took her into his arms and tickled her belly, "You're so right, baby doll…! Now, who do you want to say 'hello' to next…?"

"Pick me! Pick me!" a green hand shot up from under the sink, "Get her to say Beast Boy…!"

She clapped her hands, wriggling a bit, "Biit boi…"

A snicker, "Actually, it's moron…"

"Moro…?"

"Hey! That's not fair! I preferred Beet Boil!"

"Moro…!"

Over the laughter of his teammates, the fiery-haired girl approached and took the little girl's hands, "Greetings, I am known as Starfire…"

"Sar-fii…"

She insisted gently, "No, please… my name is Star-fi-re…"

To which it was returned fiercely, "Sar-fii…!"

The Tamaranean girl giggled, "Very well then, my cereae, I shall be your Sci-fi…"

Cyborg brought her to the next special someone, "Say Raven…"

She struggled with the syllables, "Rae… woo…"

"Good girl…" the most appropriate response she could afford was a small pat on the head. Smiling gently, she pointed towards the boy standing across the table, cleaning himself with a nearby rag – of drool and applesauce and previous orange juice… "And do you know who that is?"

Engele beamed, bouncing excitedly, "Wa-bii…!"

At the sound of her voice, he looked up and grinned. Deeming himself clean enough despite the minute stains about his torso and lap, he reclaimed his responsibility and held her warmly, "That's my Engele(1)…"

An alarm blared in the middle of afternoon, startling the lounging residents and rousing the tousled head in the middle of her afternoon nap.

"Titans, trouble!" Robin announced, flying towards the stairs leading to the Vehicle Ba—

"Um… Robin…?"

Blink. "What!"

"Aren't you forgetting someone?"

Four pairs of hands pointed discreetly towards their common goal. A pitiful mewl sounded from the middle of the couch, wide teary eyes peeping past the metallic back, "Wa-bii…?"

If he had the time, he would've had a coronary attack right there and then…

"We don't have time for this…! Cinderblock's rampaging in the city and I—"

"—can't believe you talked me into bringing her with us…!"

Their transport swerved violently as it rounded a sharp bend. All those seated in it were squished to one side… weell, all except little Engele, that is – seated safely in her cushioned T-pod car seat…

"It's either this, or someone's gotta stay at home with her," their technical genius argued gently, "And I really don't think you want to go up against Cinderblock with only four Titans…"

"But it's dangerous…!" the smaller one seated at shotgun snapped back, "I don't want her getting hurt, or worst, caugh—"

"Now you're getting waay too protective over her…"

"Someone has to be! Who else'll be so—LOOK OUT!" they skidded to a stop as Cinderblock charged at them, throwing the T-car onto its side. All available doors swung open as the teenage superheroes flew out with their weapons and/or powers drawn, eager for a fight.

"Titans, MOVE!" came the familiar command, each flying away to best deal with their enemy.

"Wait up…!" Beast Boy protested, climbing out of the T-car with Engele clinging onto his back, "What am I supposed to do with Engele…!"

Cinderblock pounded upon the road, making it spilt and rise up sharply. Shifting into an eagle with the child in his talons, they barely managed to escape the impending earthquake…

"Give her to me – I'm open…!" Cyborg hollered from down below, waving purposefully. The bird swooped down and deposited its cargo, looping once to charge as a rhino at its opponent.

Cinderblock swiped at the emerald animal aimed towards its center, choosing instead to barrel towards its new target. Sonic cannon prepared to strike, he shielded the small head from the white brightness and fired…

"I will keep her safe…" Starfire volunteered, flying past to gather the wide-eyed toddler into her embrace, allowing her friend to discharge sonic blasts at will.

Cinderblock smacked him away and threw him onto the shapeshifter just rising to his feet, knocking them both into a pile. He scanned the skies with a car in his hand for his ultimate goal…

"It's not trying to destroy Jump City…" Raven relayed over the communications network with sudden realization, as she exchanged hands with her counterpart – Cinderblock had decided to abandon pelting the alien princess and was now storming behind her, even as glowing black objects were thrown in its path to slow it down. "It's going after Engele…!"

"I KNEW bringing her out was a bad idea!" Robin returned heatedly, swinging onto the mad monster's back and trying to steer him away from his intentions, baton pulled against its neck in a choke-hold. Cinderblock hauled the insignificance away and loomed menacingly over the fallen leader even as he croaked, "Titans, GET HER OUT OF HERE…!"

It was easier said than done – not because their adversary was getting stronger or smarter or braver… but because there was one person in the group that would not allow herself to be taken out of the battlezone just yet – especially not if her guardian was in grave danger…

"WA-BII!"

Out of nowhere, golden threads materialized and secured themselves into, onto and around the giant's limbs, immobilizing it as it readied a deadly blow. It struggled in the web entangled around it, creaking precariously over the teen boy.

A series of explosions dealt by Starfire's continuous star-bolts assaulted its back, white-hot energy blitzed its front while talons and jaws and whatever sharp things carved jagged lines over its limbs. There was a deafening roar as the combined strength of the Titans caused a large enough detonation of forces to swallow the chosen battlefield in a cloud of smoke and flames…

She'd barely touched the ground when the small creature in her arms kicked free and bounded away from her protection. Engele glided clumsily into the dissipating confusion in search for her only true thing…

There was little time to wonder about the odd timing and source of the thin lines holding their captive prisoner, its fibers glinting in the sun. No more than half-a-second in the aftermath, a weight pounced onto his chest—

"No mo boom-boom! No mo boom-boom!" she shrilled desperately, clinging onto him, "Wa-bii stay! Wa-bii Engele stay!"

He held the girl tight, shielding her from every evil and then some. "Shh, it's alright… Everything's alright…" her broken sobs quietened into sniffles as the others approached anxiously. "Robin…?"

He turned to them and nodded, "Come on… let's get back to the Tower…"

He found his leader stroking their newest addition's soft-soft hair and soft-soft wings with the back of his hand, lulling her to sleep. At the sound of the automatic doors opening, the one seated on the bed looked up, "Cyborg…"

"Hey, man… got a minute?"

He received a tired smile, head nodding once, "Come in. Sorry I can't get up but…" he left his sentence unfinished, instead gesturing to the small body curled up against his leg.

"It's cool…" he replied, holding up his hands to signal his understanding. He came forward to kneel down on the other side and touched the sleeping child's forehead, "Is she gonna be alright…?"

The slighter boy smiled gently, "Between all the pampering Starfire and Beast Boy gave her…?" He shifted slightly, reaching out for a blanket to cover her, "Raven peered into her psyche, and says there's nothing permanent. I've looked at every inch of her and can't find a single scratch, let alone something'll scar. So all in all, there's no real harm done…"

"That was a close call…"

"I know…" his senior whispered quietly, "It's beginning to puzzle me – what would Cinderblock want with Engele…?"

"Maybe he was attracted by the pretty wings…" at the other's glare, he cleared his throat to begin afresh, "On the more serious note – maybe someone's out to get her, and Cinderblock's just there to do the dirty work…"

"Which might explain why her former guardian left her in our care…" a growl, "And the only person we know Cinderblock's working for is Slade…"

Cyborg visibly tensed, "You think this has something to do with Slade?"

Robin narrowed his eyes, "I wouldn't be surprised…" Then he slumped dejectedly against the headboard, "Then again, it doesn't seem to make any sense. Why Engele? What would he do with a kid angel? She's so… so…"

"Small and vulnerable…?" he tried. Ignoring the indignant look the other sported, he continued, "Listen, there's… something else I wanted to talk about – about you being over-protective…"

"I—sorry… I am taking this thing too seriously again, aren't I?"

"Weell…" he dragged out, "Not reaally…" a small smile, "Maybe a little…?"

The masked one shook his head, "I don't know what's gotten into me… I know it's rather unwise for me to be so attached to her, in so little time… but I can't help it. It's like she's enchanted me into looking after her, and yet… I don't think I want to stop. And if Slade's involved, then I really, really don't want to stop."

A frown, "Do you think I'm being foolish…?"

He pondered, "I think… this is exactly what you need…"

"Wha…!"

"Think about it, man…" he put forth his two cents, "You're too tense, being our leader and all – it's been sapping the life outta you… Now there's Engele… well, with or without Slade, she's your newer, more positive focus… What's more, she's making you smile.

"You don't smile enough, Robin…"

"I—" the younger one interrupted, but found no words to counter. Instead, he just smiled, "Thanks, Cyborg… Maybe Engele is good for me…"

"And you know it…" getting up, he waved goodnight, "Get some rest, man – it's been a long day…"

The door hissed open, and shut. Alone once more, he locked his door and tottered back and forth, getting ready for bed. Slipping quietly beside the innocent toddler, he held her hand lovingly, "You are good for me, Engele…" He squeezed it firmly, "May I be good for you, too…"

There's a time and place for everything; by accident, fates do not collide…
There's a reason and purpose for everyone, the wings of destiny glide…
Don't fret, I am here… Whatever happens, look up and smile a-new…
For in the universe of wonders, there's only me and you…

Aoi Akiko rambles:
(1) Robin claiming Engele as 'my Engele'
Robin is beginning to acknowledge Engele as his own, which will be more significant in the Days later. For reasons to this, please refer to the : Author's Note :