Disclaimer TEEN TITANS and all other related characters and material are the property of DC comics and Cartoon Network, I claim no ownership.

Chapter 28: To the Alter

By: Ansa

Saturday 11:55am, 2hours and 5mins until the Wedding

"I can't believe you slept in, are you insane? Have you seriously lost your mind!"

"Well you slept in too, don't try to put this all on me!"

The peaceful Saturday morning gave way to the frantic struggle of the couple falling over themselves to get washed up and ready to change. The way they had planned things out they should have woken up around eight o'clock. This would have given them both more than enough time to shower, eat, and change before heading out to the cliffs just outside Gotham for the ceremony. Things, obviously, hadn't gone to plan. Starfire, was still fast asleep on the couch, the effects of the alcohol putting her in a deep sleep the night before, thus making it quite hard for her to actually get up. The alarm clock that was supposed to go off at 8am had instead flashed "12:00" ever since the power flickered out due to an old fuse blowing in the ancient box of their decrepit apartment building around two in the morning. Since the two weren't expected to be picked up until a few minutes from now by their perspective parties, Beast Boy planning to take the train to Cyborg's hotel, no phone call was sent to them.

"Get out, I need to change, you're not supposed to see me until the wedding anyways!" Raven gave him a hard push out of the bedroom, slamming the door behind him, racing to start the shower water. In the livingroom, Beast Boy hopped as he walked, still pulling on his black dress socks, but otherwise wearing jeans and a t-shirt which of course would be changed for the tux at Cyborg's. After almost falling face first to the floor by the kitchen he snatched up his keys and threw the tux over his shoulder, only then noticing Starfire, still fast asleep. Normally he would let her sleep, but seeing as she was the maid of honor, she too needed to get ready.

"Star, STAR! Wake up, we slept in!"

"Hmmmm? Ohhhhh my head…" It took her a few moments to respond to his shakes, but as soon as she awoke, her head felt like it was about to split into several different pieces, each one sharp and jagged that would swing back and re-arrange themselves out of order. Her breath still reeked of alcohol and repelled Beast Boy back a good distance.

"Come on, it's already noon, we've got to get going!"

"N-NOON? Oh my goodness, I need to get ready…I-I…" Her zombie-like state was forgone today due to the urgency of the situation, her mind snapping to attention, and her eyes wide open. Starfire sniffed slightly, a reeking stench fouling her sense of smell. After a thorough investigation of her own skin and clothes, she determined not only was it coming from her, but it was an awful combination of liquor and second hand smoke. "Oh…I need a shower." Horribly embarrassed, Starfire bounded up from the mattress and bounded into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her, the sound of the bathroom door opening sounding not too far behind.

"Um…I wouldn't…"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKK STARFIRE!"

Cyborg made the last few adjustments on his holo ring and slipped it on, a quick flash emitting from his main system before a very fine tux was displayed over his normal body. Checking himself in the mirror he did have to admit, he did good work, even the groom would have a hard time competing with such a magnificent suit. He smiled and sat down on the edge of the bed in wait, Jynx just now turning off the shower water, the high-pitched hum of the hair dryer piercing through the bathroom door.

She was still upset about the whole "repentant villain" fiasco, but she wasn't going to ruin this for him. For once, she thought of things as not about her, but for others. This was not her wedding, not even a friends wedding, she barely knew these people outside of the olden days. She may still be a thief, but she wasn't so cruel as to do anything to ruin their perfect day. Besides, thinking back now, she really wasn't as upset as she thought she should be, last night gave her time to kick back a few and forget about things. Even if she did kick back a few too many, she hadn't completely forgotten about what he had done, but enough to forgive him…for now.

Ten minutes passed while she fixed her hair and dressed, and by the time she had gotten out of the bathroom Beast Boy had finally arrived, although later than expected. Hearing the door open both he and Cyborg turned to look at her. They both blushed, although Beast Boy's was only because in seeing her, he could only wonder how beautiful Raven was. Even though Jynx wasn't a bride's maid, she was dressed as if she could have been. The dress was bright and elegant, the color of an eggplant on a cloudy day. The dress was held up only by two spaghetti-string straps over her shoulders, the one on the right finding a hard time staying in place. Extending from her hips down to the rest of the skirt, resting just over the top of the material fell a light blue veil-like fabric cut into a sash. The dress itself sparkling in the light as if made from starlight, her hair done up as usual with long ribbons the same color as her dress. It was quite obvious that this was an expensive gown, much more than anyone could even hope to afford, however when you steal for a living, almost everything becomes more affordable.

"Wow…" Cyborg was the first to speak, even if that was all he could get out at the moment. Jynx smiled, all the anger and frustration that she had reserved for later melting away with the expression on his face. The way he looked at her made her feel so good, making her blush herself.

"R-really? You like it?"

"Well, yeah…I do."

"Um, are you done in there? Cause I really need to get changed." Beast Boy scratched the back of his head, a bit embarrassed at his own tardiness. In looking at him Jynx could see that he was still only wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. At first it didn't seem that big of a deal to her, until she turned her wrist to check her watch that is.

"WHAT? You're not ready yet? You were supposed to come here ready so we could leave."

"We…uh, kinda slept in."

Jynx looked at Cyborg who in turn could only laugh. Letting out a loud sigh she stepped out of the way, letting him run past her, slamming the door behind him. She moved over to the large mirror plastered on the wall of the hotel room, as if she still wasn't sure whether or not her hair was tamed enough yet. Cyborg watched her, looking at the clock anxiously, begging it to move be slower. It wasn't that he didn't want to go to the wedding, quite on the contrary. He was actually quite excited about such an occasion, there was only the one detail that bugged him. Even though his friends may have bought his story about Jynx changing sides, his teammates from Titans East wouldn't be so easily swayed. After all, it was only a few weeks ago they were stopping her at the hope diamond exhibit. In his shortsightedness he had boxed himself rather good into the worst of corners. He just hoped that when the truth was out, it wouldn't cause too much of a scene.

"Hello, earth to Babe…what's with that serious look on your face?" When Cyborg had snapped out of his thoughtful trance he had come to find Jynx standing directly in front of him, bent forward with her hands upon her hips. The particular way she leaned allowed him a fairly decent amount of cleavage to look at, whether that was an intentional tease or not he could only guess, but considering her personality it was most likely so.

"Hmmm? Oh…I was just thinking is all."

"Really?" Jynx smirked, straightening herself and turning her back towards him and looking over her shoulder. The back of her dress was almost non existent, the spaghetti straps attaching to only the thinnest sloping piece of fabric creating an open "V" to expose her back, sharing with the world her lack of bra. "You sure you weren't enjoying the view?"

"Ummm hehe no…" Cyborg scratched the back of his head, a sweatdrop forming on his forehead. She seemed unusually chirpy today, especially after her reaction to his lies about her. He decided not to dwell on it, if she was in a good mood and had she forgiven him, he wasn't about to complain. "Actually…I was thinking about what we're going to do about today."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the team is coming today to the wedding…"

"Yeah…and?" Clearly she wasn't getting it, turning back forward, crooking an eyebrow as she tried to guess what this could possibly do with his mood.

"Well…they're going to see you with me…and they know first hand about your current activities. Most likely, they're gonna tell everyone else and the lie is going to blow up in our…my face."

Jynx blinked as his words sunk in, and an annoyed scowl fell upon her face.

"Great…I suppose that means I'm going to miss the reception then huh?"

Dick Grayson stood in front of his bathroom mirror, adjusting his tie here and there, overall, just trying to kill time before he left to be on his way outside the city and to the cliffs where the ceremony would be held. In doing this he also hoped that his concerns about Bruce and the whole Ireland honeymoon would leave him be for the moment so he might enjoy the ceremony, and if possible, the reception.

"Well, I have to say I'm a little surprised to see you actually dressed and ready." For the first time in a while, Dick was surprised, Barbera's arrival triggering no such signs that he might pick up on. Either she was getting better, or his mind was just too consumed at the moment for him to notice. He would rather hope it was the latter. He tried to hide his surprise the best he can, not even turning to speak as he continued to fiddle with his cufflinks and tie.

"Was I that much of a procrastinator when we were dating?"

"No, I just figured you would still be going on half-cocked on some kind of self riteous crusade against Bruce." Batgirl stepped forward from her place in the living room, leaning up against the wall adjacent to the door. When he finally looked, Dick could see that she was no longer donning the cape and cowl, but instead war a deep blue sequined dress, her hair pushed back behind her ear on one side, held in place by a black hair clip.

"Ouch…give me a little credit. It is my best friends' wedding."

"Considering your behavior lately, I don't think you deserve that credit. Besides, wasn't the bachelor party last night? I'm assuming some kind of alcohol was involved."

"Not for me it wasn't…" Dick would be lying to himself if he tried to convince himself that he wasn't the least bit hurt. Not that he still cared for her, they were over, long over, and nothing could change that. In any case, even if they weren't, the only woman on is mind wasn't from this planet…and as far as he knew, still hated his guts.

"Oh…really?" Barbra stepped forward, leaning in close and sniffing around his mouth and nostrils, moving back to the wall slowly once satisfied, almost surprised. "Hm, so you can be responsible when you want to, it just takes you a while."

"Dammit Barb, back off will you? I get it, ok? I lost control because the one person that makes me want to quit this whole charade threw me out of her life. Can you really blame me?"

"Quit?"

"Yes…the whole going to college thing? I was hoping to find something else, anything else. The last thing I wanted was to turn out like Bruce…because I knew that if that happened…" Dick paused, almost stopping the conversation there completely. He would rather not speak of such things with her, the past few weeks haven't seen the two on the best of terms with each other.

Barbra's angry and cynical eyebrows relaxed, her eyes no longer flaring out her frustration, but rather coaxing him to continue. Just knowing that he would open up to her was a step closer to getting him back to normal, and maybe even getting these paranoid thoughts of their mentor out of his head.

"I knew…that if I turned out like Bruce…I wouldn't be able to be with her or anyone else like her. I wouldn't be able to have a normal life if I kept being just the mask and cape. So I went to college, reluctantly leaving her behind to do so, and tried to find a normal life." He laughed cynically at himself, knocking his head back against the wall out of frustration. "I actually thought I could get that, and I would come back to get her and it would all end like some kind of kiddies fairy tale storybook."

There was silence for a moment, Barbara carefully choosing her words before she spoke, not wanting to say anything too harsh on such a painful subject. She herself had once been so naïve as to search for a normal life, and unfortunately she had met the same fate as he, returning once again to the mask.

"Dick…it's not stupid to dream of something more. We've all done it."

"God, sound like an after-school special why don't you?"

"I'm serious. I went to college too you know, and we both ended up the same way. So how do you think I feel? At the very least you know what you want, you have someone you love, and just you hit one little speed bump doesn't mean you have to give up." Dick looked at her, confused almost, but his mind open to what she was trying to say. "Love requires effort. You can't expect it to come easily, if it did, it wouldn't be love. You have to work at it, so maybe instead of sitting her, obsessing about what Bruce's possible hidden agenda, you should get your ass out and see her."

"Barb…"

"She's going to be at the wedding right?"

"Yeah, she's the maid of honor."

"Well, what a better chance to sit down and talk with her, work things out. Now we're already running late, let's go."

For the first time in a long time, Dick smiled, and this time, it wasn't for the benefit if someone else, not to make anyone else feel better…it was because he wanted to. A large weight seemed to life off of his shoulders, who would have thought an ex-girlfriend would be the best source for advice on love, and freely give it out at that?

"Thanks Barb."

Saturday 12:15am, 1hour and 45mins until the Wedding

Raven looked at herself in the large mirror on the bathroom door and couldn't seem to stop smiling. The blush on her cheeks perfectly accenting the innocence of the gown gracefully draped over her body. In less than two hours she would be walking down an aisle of sorts, signified only by a break in chairs, the sounds of the sea crashing against the rocks below soothing her. The sky today was the perfect shade of baby blue, not a single cloud in the sky, as if they somehow knew it was her day, and did not want to spoil it with their presence.

Her heat beat heavily in her chest, almost making her lose her breath. She was so excited, something she had never really felt before in her life. She was so happy it hurt, tears running down her cheeks, but only seemed to make her smile more. Outside in the living room Susan had already arrived; waiting in her dress with Starefire in hers, ready to whisk their friend off to the cliffs outside the city. This was it, today was the day, they were going to be married…and they were going to be so very happy together.

"Soma? You about ready, we're going to be late?"

"Coming."

Well, tomorrow marks the end of crazy week for me. Which means I won't be so stressed and pressed for time. Although depending on how polished I want these next few chapters, they still may take some time. Plus I am going home next weekend and won't be able to work on them until I get back. But FEAR NOT for I, BRANDO…erm…ANSA, will bring you that which sustains your life functions. LOL j/k. Later Days!

ANSA