It felt like he had died and gone to heaven.

There were huge banners hanging in the common room. In bright, hand painted letters they said "Welcome Mark!" and "Happy Birthday!" There were Mylar balloons, many with congratulatory statements on them. All of it was obviously Starfire's work.

And there was a huge buffet table, loaded with all kinds of food, including Cyborg's famous Metropolis style ribs, which smelled absolutely heavenly. But even better than that, there was a teen aged girl with dark hair and glowing blue eyes, grinning happily at him.

"Mar'i!"

He bolted for her, the food forgotten. They exchanged a quick hug, and she was about to kiss him but he stopped her as he subtly nodded towards the buffet table, where his mother and her father were having a quiet chat.

"I see your mom wore her old costume today, instead of her monk clothes. She still looks really good in it … she's what … 43 years old?"

"Yeah she is, I wasn't expecting her to come today; but when she heard there was going to be a party, she got dressed and got into the T-Car and …"

He stopped mid sentence and did a double take. His mother, the strict abbess of vegetarian Azarathia, had a plate with ribs on it, and she was nibbling on one while she chatted with Dick.

"My mom's eating meat … she never eats meat."

Mar'i shrugged. "Well, they're uncle Vic's recipe, they're better than sex."

He gave her a funny look. "And you know this, how?"

She smirked. "Well, that's what my mom says. But we don't have to take her word for it, we can find out on our own, right babe?"

He frowned at her. "Don't even joke about that. My mom has me under a death threat if we mess around … I'm sure that's what they're talking about right now."

Mar'i glanced casually at the two parental units.

"They're just talking … you worry too much, Mark. Come on, let's grab some ribs before they're gone."

They quickly loaded up their plates with food, grabbed some cans of soda pop and made their way to a place to sit. Before they could find a place at a table, Starfire intercepted them.

Unlike her husband, Starfire did not show her age. She was more developed and voluptuous than during her teen years, but she didn't look a day older than 29. And she still had her winning smile.

"Mark, I am so happy that you have come to live with us." She quickly glanced at Raven. "Your mother still looks so lovely in her old costume. If not for her few gray hairs she looks the same as the day she married your father."

"Mom works hard at the abbey, a lot of physical work. She's still lean and muscular, much more than anyone else and works so much … sometimes I wonder when she sleeps."

The princess sighed. "I know that Azarathia is very important to her; but I wish that she would return to live with us."

"Not gonna happen." He interjected. "She's fanatical about Azarathia. The Order of Azar is strict. A lot of candidates leave after a few months, once they realize the work and discipline is hard as rocks. Living in a stone age monastery sounds cool, until you actually do it … but there are people who have stayed on. Anyway, there's no way she'd ever leave."

Their conversation was interrupted by a male voice Mark hadn't heard more than a few times in his life.

"You sure have grown since I last saw you."

"Uncle Larry!"

Negative Man wrapped his arms around the young man.

"You didn't think I'd miss your 16th birthday party, did you?" He turned to face the two Tamaranians. "You ladies don't mind if I borrow him for a few minutes? I promise I'll bring him back."

Starfire assented and Larry led Mark away. The lad grabbed his plate of food and took it with him

Over by the buffet table …

"Don't worry, I'll make sure they stay out of trouble. Though to be honest, it won't be easy."

"I've had the talk with him, he knows what will happen." She replied.

Grayson crossed his arms. "It's not him I'm worried about."

"What do you mean?"

"You mean you don't know?"

"Know what?" She dead panned.

He quickly checked to make sure no one was within earshot.

"Tamaranians have voracious libidos. Like insatiable."

Raven arched an eyebrow. "Are you just bragging to me, or is there a point to this story?"

He tugged at his collar. "Well … you see … after we concluded the Brushogan business in Tokyo and we came home … well … Star … well she wanted to do more than just kiss."

Raven's eyes widened. "You mean you two were … but how? I never sensed anything."

"Like a pair of wild weasels … remember how Star's dreams at night were affecting you?"

"She was a bubbling cauldron of emotions at times. Some nights I couldn't sleep … oh … now I remember, Vic shielded her room."

"That's right. A perfect psionic shield, no emotions can leak out of there."

She frowned. "So, you're telling me that when you were both 16 years old, that you were occasionally having sex, right here in the Tower?"

He looked away and she saw a hint of a blush form on hie face.

"It was more than just occasionally."

"Dear Azar … don't tell me that it was ..."

"Every night." He interjected. "Sometimes more than once."

"And you couldn't wait until you were adults and you could marry."

"Hey, Star told me the you bribed Gar with sex if he would marry you."

"It wasn't a bribe. It's common knowledge that married couples have sex, I just reminded him that if we were married, that ..."

"He would get laid like tile." He interjected with a smirk.

She glared at him.

"I never told anyone that I said that, were you spying on us back then?" She asked in a very indignant tone.

"Of course not, it was just a lucky guess." He replied. "Gar did look pretty happy after you guys tied the knot. You must have been quite the bedroom tigress back in those days."

"I thought we were talking about Mar'i and Mark." She said in an icy tone.

"I'm sorry, you're right … look, Star isn't going to back me up on this. As far as she is concerned they could start sleeping together tonight."

"You're still her father."

"OK … look, I'd feel like a hypocrite if I told them to … behave."

Raven narrowed her eyes. "Just because you were a horny teenager who couldn't control himself ..."

"She's going to ask him for it."

She face palmed. "I knew this was a mistake."

"I'll talk with Mar'i and explain why this is important for you. But I can't make any promises. Sure, they might control themselves at first … Raven, you know how much you wanted to do it with Gar."

"We were in love."

"So are they."

"And we waited until we married."

"Which was just a few months after you started dating. They can't get married until they're both 18, that's two years … look, I know Mark is a good kid and you've raised him right, so maybe it won't happen right away."

"I shouldn't have agreed to this."

"If you make him go back to the abbey ..."

"I know, it's too late for that, he'll hate me if I do that. Damn it, why didn't you tell me this before?"

Grayson sighed. "Because he belongs in the Tower, and you know he does."

Raven slowly shook her head. "If he gets her pregnant ..."

"Then we'll be grand parents. But don't worry, Star already has Mar'i on the pill."

"Please … stop … I don't want to know."

Grayson tenderly wrapped an arm around his dear friend. "You know what? I kind of like the idea of us being grandparents. But that won't happen until they're adults."

"Azar help us." She moaned. "Dick, please, for my sake, have a VERY stern talk with him. Tell him he's a dead man if he gets her pregnant, even if you don't mean it."

"I will."

At the other end of the room …

"So, uncle Larry, what do you want to talk about? You aren't also gonna tell me to keep my hands off of Mar'i?"

Negative Man did a double take.

"What? No, that's not what I want to talk about, but now that you mention it, I would be on my best behavior, if you ever want to be a Titan. What I'm here for is to talk with you about your inheritance."

"I have an inheritance?"

Negative Man leaned against a wall and crossed his arms. "I'm guessing your mom hasn't told you."

"Told me what?"

"She hasn't told you that you are the sole heir to the Dayton fortune and that I'm your trustee."

"The Dayton fortune? Who are the Daytons?"

"I'll take that as a yes that she hasn't told you. Have you heard of Steve and Rita Dayton?"

"Oh, them, they were billionaires or something, before they died. What do they have to do with me?"

"They were Mento and Elastigirl."

"They were? I know dad was in the Doom Patrol when he was kid."

"He was more than just a member of the Doom Patrol. Steve and Rita were his adoptive parents. Let me guess, Raven never told you."

"No, mom never said they were his parents."

"Well, they were. When they died, your father inherited their fortune. When he died the judge appointed Raven as your trustee. Other than take some money to get her little monastery going, she didn't want to have anything to do with the estate, so I got stuck managing it for you."

"For me?"

"Mark, you're one of the richest people in the whole world."

Larry pulled out a copy of Forbes magazine. It was dog eared on a article. He opened the magazine and showed it to him.

"Look for yourself."

Mark became wide eyed as he looked at the list of the world's wealthiest people. At place number 5, with an estimated net worth of 67 billion dollars, was the name "Mark Logan"

He looked up from the magazine.

"Uncle Larry, this is a joke, right?"

"Ask your mother."

The green lad turned as shouted, the anger clear in his voice.

"Mom!"