Chapter Eighteen: Homecoming
Slade watched his monitors in glee as the blue vortex swallowed Titans Tower.
"Farewell, young heroes." he said. "Enjoy your first hand lesson in history. I hope you like where I picked for you to go!"
He chuckled, and then turned to his laptop computer.
"Now, I wonder how I shall conquer the city?"
He opened up a file marked "DominationPlan1" and viewed the document. Under his mask, he smiled. At last, he had gotten rid of the thorns in his side. Now, he was free to take over the city and start his base of operations. From there, he could slowly conquer other cities, until he would have his own little evil empire.
He went back to the control console to check his printer, when he noticed his monitor. He was shocked by what he saw.
"No!" he hissed. "How is it possible?"
He looked closer, pausing the image. "They are in different clothes, so they must have gone back! But how did they return? What did I do wrong?"
Growing increasingly frustrated, Slade ran to the table where he preformed the ritual to send the Titans back in time. He looked over the arrangement, seeing if there was anything out of place. Finally, he let out a yell of dismay, and kicked the table over.
"Damn it all! Damn it all to hell!"
The Titans experienced the same pain and disorientation as their first trip. They were nearly rendered unconscious when they finally arrived on the roof of Titans Tower. They came to, staggering as they recovered their senses.
"That was invigorating." Cyborg said sarcastically.
They looked around and saw where they were.
"Look, up in the sky!" Beast Boy said.
They looked and saw the same colorful display of the aurora that was present before they were swept away by the storm.
"Could this have all been a dream?" Starfire said.
"All of us? About the same thing" Raven said. "Very doubtful. Besides, do you dream in color?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. I often dream in beautiful, vibrant colors that are very, very lovely, and..."
"Okay, I get the point!" Raven heaved a sigh, and then realized something. The unnerving feeling she had was gone.
"Everything is as it should be!" she muttered.
"What?" Terra asked.
"Nothing." the mystic said. She looked at everyone and herself.
"Let's get back in our normal clothes." she said.
"Hold on." Cyborg said as he deactivated his watch. His appearance shimmered for a moment. He was now in his normal, half robot form. He stood back from the others.
"You sure you can do this right?" Beast Boy asked. "I don't want you making a mistake and then having us wind up naked."
She glared at him. "Don't worry, I won't. I might make an exception for you, though."
Terra laughed. "I'd love to see that!"
Beast Boy glared at her. "I bet you would!"
Raven shook her head as she took a stance to face the Titans. She stretched her arms out and concentrated.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"
She and the other Titans were enveloped in her energy field. A second later, they flashed into light, which subsided quickly. Beast Boy looked at himself.
"Well, I'm not naked." he said.
He was in his usual uniform, as were the other Titans. Raven, though, was missing her cloak. She remembered she tossed it in the water when she was on the overturned boat.
Cyborg admired her, seemingly for the first time. Without her cloak, she seemed half-naked to him (which wasn't an inaccurate description, considered what her clothing consisted of).
"Okay, Beast Boy and Starfire, let's change our looks."
She took them aside and cast her spell again. They resumed their normal complexions.
"Well, we're normal now." Raven said. "I say we go inside."
The Titans agreed and followed her inside.
They went to the lounge, and sat down. Robin then realized he had no mask on.
"Raven, where's my mask?" he asked.
"Check your utility belt." she said.
He did so and found it after a brief search. He put it on, feeling like himself again.
"Robin, we were right." Cyborg said. "The storm sent us back to the same time we left. According the Tower's computer, we've only been gone a second." He adjusted his internal clock to match.
"So, what happens now?" Beast Boy asked.
Robin sighed. "Well, life goes on as normal." He snickered. "That is, if normal is the right word to describe our lives. But at least we're a little wiser."
Raven scoffed. "That or we'll just have extra nightmares."
The Titans glared at her. "You may be right." Terra said. "I don't know about everyone else, but I've had enough of cold water, ice, and sinking ships."
Robin stood up. "Well, I suggest everyone go to bed. We've had a hell of a day."
They agreed and left the lounge for their rooms.
Terra had just taken off her shoes when there was a knocking on her door. She opened it; it was Beast Boy.
"May I come in?" he asked.
"Sure." she said, letting him inside.
"What's up?" she asked.
He sat down on her bed. "Did you really mean what you said back on the ship? That you wanted to stay?"
She sighed. "At the time I did. But not now."
"Why did you say it in the first place? You know we're your friends and that we welcomed you back."
"Yeah, I know that. It's just that I didn't think I belonged with all of you."
"What do you mean? You've been back with the team for months! Heck, you've been with us now longer than before you worked with Slade."
"But that doesn't mean the nightmares ever went away."
"You wanted to stay just because of some nightmares?"
"No! Well, not really. You see, I kept dreaming that Slade was telling me that I was evil inside and that I killed all of you! He said no one would love or trust me ever again."
"You know that's not true, Terra! I know I love you! And I trust you! You are good inside and you must remember that!"
She stared into his eyes. "Thank you, Beast Boy."
"For what?"
"For your love." She kissed him. "I love you. I love you with all my heart. I want you to know that." They embraced each other tightly, letting all their concerns melt away.
Cyborg was preparing his charger for the night when he heard a knocking. He opened his door for his visitor; Raven.
She had not changed nor put on a new cloak. Without asking permission, she let herself in.
"So, what's up?" he asked when he found his voice. Her appearance still made him uneasy; she was stunning in more ways than one.
"I just want to talk." She sat down on what appeared to be a table. She noticed, however, that it was actually Cyborg's version of a bed.
"So, you really trust Terra fully now?" he asked her.
She shrugged. "Sure, I guess so."
"How long do you think it would've taken if we hadn't had our little adventure?"
"I don't think that time was a factor. It would've depended on the situation."
"So in life and death situations, you trust people?"
"It's how they act that determines it. Look, I had my own criteria and it worked for me. I don't have to explain it."
"Well, you said you wanted to talk, so we're talking."
"Then let's talk about something else!"
"Okay, fine!" He sat down in a chair by his computer and sighed.
"I'll be starting designs for the additional section to the T-ship tomorrow. We can also start conceptual designs of the new T-sub."
Raven smiled. "That'll be nice. Help us get back into our lives."
"You know what's funny? All the time we've been Teen Titans, we've defeated all these villains, overcame impossible situations and made it through okay. Here, we live a piece of a historic disaster for a few days, and we're acting as if we've been scarred for life."
"The Titanic has had that effect on people. There's something about it that grips the mind. I know I'll be dreaming of it for a while." She heaved a sigh. "The screams of death of all those people! It burns into your mind!"
Cyborg held her. "Don't, baby."
She glared at him. "Baby? What, are we married or something now?"
She was smiling, much to Cyborg's relief.
"It seemed right." he said, smiling back. They gazed into each other's eyes.
"You're as handsome now as you were on the ship." she said, blushing.
Cyborg swallowed nervously. It was hard to adjust his mentality to treat Raven not a merely a teammate or little sister; she was a girlfriend now, someone that really loved him. He understood now why Raven ran out on him that night of the dance.
'Well, I'm not running.' he thought as he closed in to give her a kiss.
Robin had allowed himself a shower before going to bed. He sat on his bed, wearing only a pair of shorts. Though he'd been without his mask for about three days, he still didn't feel totally comfortable wearing it. That wasn't what was bothering him, though.
He felt that the experience from their adventure on the Titanic had changed the Titans; more so than their months long battle with the Brotherhood of Evil. He may be wrong, but still the events of those few days were quite disturbing. He had feelings about life itself that he didn't have before. What it more of an insight into life? Or was it something more?
His train of thought was interrupted by Starfire's knocking. He let her in. She also had allowed herself a shower, judging by the fragrance from her hair. She was dressed in her silky pink pajamas.
"Are you feeling well, friend Robin?" she asked.
"Yes, I'm fine." he said, sitting on the bed.
She sat next to him, admiring Robin's features, confirming his guesses about her reactions to him. He smiled.
"Star, may I ask you something?" he said.
"What is it you wish to ask?" she replied.
"Have you had any strange or unusual feelings after the disaster?"
"Well, I've had one odd feeling. I can't really describe it, but I know it's a feeling about my life. As I said, I can not find words for it."
"I believe I have this feeling too. It's like a strange, calm, relaxed feeling."
"Is it a feeling about life? Your life, I mean."
"I believe it is."
She thought for a moment. "I think it would be more accurate to describe it as my feeling toward death. It no longer seems as terrifying a prospect as it used to."
"I think that's how I feel too." He sighed. "Amazing, isn't it? We survive a disaster that involved so much death, and now we have a more relaxed attitude about it?" He shook his head. "Doesn't make any sense, does it?"
"In a way, I think it does make sense."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right." He laid down on the bed. Starfire got up and walked to the door.
"I shall return to my room." she said.
"Oh, you don't have to go!" Robin said quickly.
She stared at him. "Do you wish me to stay?"
He shrugged. "Only if you want to."
She smiled as she turned off the lights and got in the bed. "Good night, sweet Robin!" she said, hugging him.
"Good night, Kori!" he laughed. He wrapped his arm around her. Shortly afterward, they were both asleep.
A similar event played out in Terra's room; Beast Boy had joined her in bed. They held each other as they had during their time on their makeshift raft last night (or rather, over 90 years ago!).
In Cyborg's room, Raven obtained a blanket and pillow from her room. As Cyborg had no real beds, she decided to sleep on the floor. Cyborg felt guilty for not being able to provide more comfortable sleeping arrangements for her, but she told him she didn't mind. He made a mental note to buy a cot or inflatable mattress one of these days. After she had fallen asleep, he hooked himself up to his system charger and slept.
Amazingly, the Titans all shared a similar dream; they dreamt of being in middle of the ocean on a flat calm, and cold night, stars filling the sky.
It was a peaceful setting in their dream, with one exception; in the water around them, were hundreds of dead bodies. They came from all walks of life; some where rich, some poor, some had families. It was a sorrowful sight, seeing the 1500 men, women, and children scattered in the icy, unforgiving waters.
And while a mass of ice had put them in this situation, the Titans could not shake the fact that they were ultimately responsible for not preventing this disaster. What more, is that now, there was nothing that could be done about it.
The tragedy of the Titanic was now a part of their lives as they never thought possible; it would remain with them for the rest of their lives.