Original idea: After writing Of all the things... I got a new idea on how to fix the 52. Would bring back all the well known missing people in the 52, plus bring back the real Tim and Kara. Will get to because it ignores half the future continuity of the series instead of being dependent on it. Needs better title. Basically, this was me rebelling against the New 52. This started around the time Damian died.

Outsiders

1

"This is insane..."

They gaped at Donna, having finished explaining what she could. Those gathered with her were the only ones they could reach on the comline, indicating one thing. They hadn't been changed. They hadn't been touched. They were fine. Well most of them.

Their group was gathered in the old Mount Justice medical wing, largely out of commission but since the Titan Towers weren't available, they had to make do with this. The reason: both Red Robin and Supergirl were negatively affected by what had altered their universe, and they needed to hear this this too. The kids, Jai and Irey, plus the one Stephanie picked up in Gotham, Collin, were resting on nearby beds. The new kid was paying attention at least. Wally was with his wife Linda near their kids while the two Batgirls, Stephanie and Cassandra, were near their two hurting friends. Mia, their one archer, looked like she would need the bed rather soon. It was rather shocking news, for all of them.

"How can you be certain?" Mia begged, not wanting to believe what she said. "It could just be some kind of... I dunno... a meta's new power messing with people's heads or some spell that changes our perception. Maybe if we talk to-"

"As much as I wish it was," Donna continued, "it isn't. This is our world but we have no place in it. Everything's been altered: people, friends, family, history's been rewritten. Somehow the League's been around for only five years, going on six, consists of only a few early members, and the Teen Titans don't really exist! The Justice Society, the Doom Patrol, even Young Justice and the Outsiders, they just never existed!"

"How is that possible?" Stephanie demanded. "I mean, I remember them! All of them! And we're right here! If we never existed, how are we here?!"

"I'm not sure." The Amazon rubbed her aching head. "It's like we slipped through the cracks or something."

"An interdimensional and temporal collision shift." Hearing that many five dollar words in a row made everyone look over to Tim, still lying in the bed. He rubbed his eyes, sigh heavily. "I think Kara and I got some kind of backlash from it. Felt like I was being torn apart for a few minutes..."

"I saw some creepy lady with a red cloak," Kara murmured, still aching. Both of them were. It was a good thing both were with these allies of theirs or they'd be in some emergency room with no explanations.

"Same here." Sore, the bird pushed himself into a sitting position. Cass snapped a glare at him telling him to keep still while Steph helped prop him up with pillows. He gave both of them appreciative smiles as he settled back into position. "Think she's behind this?"

"Possible." Donna and Wally looked at each other, trying to remember if they or any of the Leaguers ever ran across someone by that description. So far, nothing else was coming to mind. "Either way we should stay low until we can figure out what caused this and how to reverse it, if we can."

"Why can't we just go ask the Justice League?" Colin seemed greatly unnerved by this, having never had much interaction with heroes other than Robin. It was that interaction though that made it so he could come there. Batgirl had vouched for him, and Red Robin verified his story. He heard about Collin from Dick.

The adults shook their heads. Linda explained best she could. "Flash didn't recognize me. Neither did Iris. They hardly seem to have a relationship. They were married and had kids and grandkids before this... shift. They were helping me with Irey and Jai before. And from what I saw online, there's only been one Flash. How do you think he'll react to seeing two? And a little girl speedster too?"

"Also..." Wally hesitated, looking at the two who had felt the change immediately. He especially didn't know how Tim would take it. He was barely coming back into the swing of the community and now this... He swallowed and pressed on. "Besides us not existing, there's another Supergirl and Red Robin. Completely different from the two of you."

Kara visibly went three shades paler, seemingly ready to vomit. Her reaction was somewhat expected, but not liked. "Are... Are you sure it's just not Karen? We are the same person from different universes after all..."

Donna shook her head, having looked over the articles as well. "There are rumors of a Power Girl too. Unconfirmed, but I know her from anywhere. No, there's two of you from this universe here. Same with Tim."

"So, I've been completely replaced." They watched as their resident Robin just shut down. All emotion left his face and he became perfectly still, like a statue. Steph and Cass looked at each other anxiously, knowing this was a real problem for Tim. He didn't take people's deaths well, and he especially didn't take very well to being replaced by Damian as Robin. Too much had happened to him over the years, and they were breaking him down to nothing. It was like he was disappearing.

"Tim-"

Without warning he jerked himself straight and slid off the bed. Both Batgirls jerked up to stop him when he raised a hand, not looking at them. "Don't. Please, I... I just need a few minutes alone."

"But..."

Behind the girls, Kara started bursting into tears, her breathing ragged and hard. Like him, she couldn't believe she had been replaced. Completely replaced. Conflicted on who to comfort, the Batgirls couldn't move while Tim left the room for a more private corner to break down in. The others sensed they could do nothing more for him right then so let him leave. After all, comforting a bat who wasn't ready for it only made them go into hiding.

Mia followed him out though, making sure he was okay. After walking through a dark hall for a bit, she watched as the smartest and strongest titan she knew, crumble to the floor against a secluded wall, trembling. She could hear him break down into tears and heavy gasps. She looked away, making sure she wasn't seen or heard as she stayed a good twenty feet away from him. There wasn't anything she could do for him anyway. Same with the rest. They could only be there for each other.

Five minutes passed and she thought her heart would break hearing his sobs. The footsteps of Donna and Stephanie were drowned out by his heartbeat in his own ears, but not to the archer. Worry was on both the more experienced heroes' faces, heartbreak even on the blond. She inclined her head to where the boy was hiding just around the corner, prompting them to take care of it. She didn't think she could.

Steph soon had her arms wrapped around her old boyfriend, and he couldn't find it in him to shake her off. Desperate for any acknowledgement of being real, Tim held on to her for dear life. Both were soon held tight by Donna, rubbing both their shoulders. Softly she tried to sooth them with her voice. "We'll get through this. So long as we have each other, we'll get through this. You're not disappearing Tim, not from us. We'll figure this out."

Only strangled sobs answered her. Being replaced like this... After everything he'd been through... Everything he'd done... Now this... How were they going to get through this? How was he?

2

Two months had passed before they could really get out of their self-pity and take a look around the world. Flash was, as usual, the first to recover. He'd been out and about with his family as a cover, trying to get a better idea what was going on in the world. Donna was flying about too, coming back to the old League headquarters every night to make sure the others were okay. The rest were fixing up the cave, making it function like it once did. Tim led them in this, being the only other person who remembered how it was before being completely decommissioned. It kept him and Kara distracted from being replaced by someone just like them, yet not.

Both of them were still pretty shaken up by the whole ordeal. Kara wanted to fly to Smallville and talk to the Kents for advice, but they told her point blank that until they knew more they couldn't contact any more of their families. A quick search online regarding them and other family members though put an end to most of their wishes. The Kents were dead now. Stephanie's parents never met and she couldn't find her mother at all. There were no records of Mia's existence and Lady Shiva was reported to be too young to have a child Cass' age. Collin also had no birth records. It didn't even look like Tim Drake really existed either, except on paper.

As a result, the bird didn't even check up on the batclan. None of them really kept an eye out for their families that couldn't remember them. It made it easier to bear. At least for those who weren't paying attention to the outside world.

"Ya know," Wally started after the third month began in solitary, "it kinda looks like they're getting their feet knocked from underneath them out there. The League's been turned from heroes to potential menaces by the press, especially Superman. Apparently they're not very good at keeping in people's good graces."

"With any luck they won't have to deal with Checkmate again. Pliers." Cass handed Tim the tools he needed as he reworked the zetatubes. There was a chance the tech they knew by heart could be adapted to the tech they found there. It was a good thing this place used to be the headquarters for Tim's first team else they'd all be lost. How this place survived the 'Shift' was still a mystery to them. Along with how they did. "Any other pertinent news before you go back to fixing up this place?"

"There is a Teen Titans."

The resounding 'thunk' and 'ow' coming straight after the statement made Wally smile. He was all too happy to hear about this. "Uhg... what?"

"You heard me. There's a Teen Titans." His smirk only grew wider as his best friend's brother pulled out from underneath the panel he was working on, gaping at him. It was rare to get the kid off guard like this, even now. "They aren't like how we were of course. They're actually the first generation of Titans here and-"

"Spit it out Wally." Tim's sharp glare could duel Batman's at that point. "Who's on the roster?"

"Just remember that they may not be the same people you knew, 'kay kid?" When he didn't get a response, he just let the names fly. "Well there's Kid Flash/Bart, Wonder Girl/Cassie, Superboy/Conner, and some newer people called Solstice, Bunker, and Skitter. And of course, there's you. Or your double. Evil twin..."

The teen glared at him during the last part. "It's too soon to tell if he's evil Wally. And just call him my doppelganger. It's as close to accurate as you're going to get."

That made him laugh a bit. "Yeah yeah, I get it. So... It looks like he's friends with your friends..."

Tim looked away for a moment before picking back up his tools and going back to work. "Should it really be that big a surprise? If we're the same person why wouldn't we have the same friends?"

The speedster shrugged. "Well, this other Supergirl doesn't seem very social... and has very odd tastes in clothes... So does your doppelganger. Looked like a show girl when I saw him. Wings and all."

"Wings?" The slight whine in his voice made the man snicker. Yeah, wings. The bird sighed heavily. "Man, I'm glad when the shift happened I was in that I was in my new uniform."

"No wings, no cowl. Where did you get the idea for that costume?" He wanted to know for a while the reason why he changed from looking a lot like Batman to a red Nightwing with a cape. Besides the obvious fact that he still hero worshiped Dick that is.

"My time in the Uthernet. Socket wrench. 8mm." Cass passed over the next tool without question. She could read him like a book and knew he was keeping his hands busy to help him get used to the new intel. If there wasn't so much to work on around the cave, he would never have become as chatty as he was right then.

"What was that like?" Wally asked, trying to keep him in a good mood. If Dick ever found out about his bad ones, he'd have his hide handed to him. That was if he ever remembered who they really were.

"Don't recommend it. Takes away a lot of inhibitions. I think that does it for this section. Now we just need a zetapoint to test it with." He crawled out from under the thing and closed the panel. "Did you fix up the one in Happy Harbor?"

"Pretty much." The speedster zipped out and came back with a melon in hand. "It was in pretty bad condition, I'll tell ya that, but not out of neglect or sabotage. It looked more like a half-finished project."

"Yeah? Well so is this place." Tim took the fruit and eyed the man for a moment. "Cantaloupe?" All Flash could do was grin. The teen shook his head and placed it in the tube for transport. "If it doesn't work, you can't blame it on the fruit. Coordinates in... and energize."

He tapped a panel to the side for a moment then they watched as the place lit up. In an instant the fruit was gone, and Flash was zooming off to elsewhere. It gave them a minute or two to breathe and take in the latest information. "So the Titans exist..."

"Your friends are alive," Cass reminded him. She cocked her head to the side curiously. "Do you want to see them?"

The bird paused for a second, seriously considering it before shaking his head. "One Red Robin is enough for them right now. How will they take it when they find out there's two? I don't even know how the others will take it. Nightwing might handle it better and I'm pretty sure Robin would try to kill me, again. And Bruce..." He shook his head again. "He'll do test after test, I'm sure. Take complete control of the investigation."

"And Barbara?"

He took a long breath before answering. "Honestly, I have no idea what she'd do, especially now that she's Batgirl again."

Tim took a small break from his repairs and went to his computer not too far off, activating a program on it that kept track of Jason. He was the only one he looked up online, just to make sure he didn't come over uninvited and started beating the crap out of him, again. So far the rogue bird seemed to be acting in a more predictable manner, even civil. Something involving owls occurred in Gotham recently and he had helped, a bit. It was... strange.

"Everything hinges on how much experience they all have with alternate worlds and timelines. Unless they have their minds wrapped around that nicely, it'll take a lot to convince them we're telling the truth."

"DNA not proof enough?" his long time comrade and near sister asked, cocking her head again.

"Not this time around. They're more likely to think clones if Superboy's around. Without Martian Manhunter on their team, the League can't verify a stranger's statement with memories." A slight glare appeared on the lad's face as he stared at the screen, not really thinking about what was on it. "Unless we have a clue why the Shift happened or how, we won't even be able to give a conspiracy theorist something to write about. And you know how Bruce is. He doesn't believe in everything until he sees it, but he'll never deny the possibility of something."

Cass nodded, seeing his point. "So... we wait?"

"For now." He sighed heavily. It went against everything he was, everything all of them were, but they had to wait until they got the lay of the land before they could do much of anything. There was one thing though they could look into. "Donna has a theory she wants us to look into as soon as we have enough Zeta tubes set up, but it won't be for a bit. She's gathering more basic intel first then-"

"We have salad!" Wally appeared right next to them, showing a slightly crushed cantaloupe to them. "Fruit salad that is. Still need to work out the kinks."

The teen nodded, closing his laptop. Having Black Bat know of something he was working on the side on was entirely different from having the speedster know. AS much as he trusted him, this was personal. "Apparently."

There was still a lot of work to do.

3

Another month passed. Majority of the zeta tubes were online and they had a way to get around the world without alerting the League. Tim and Wally had worked hard to make sure this revamped Cyborg couldn't trace or detect the tubes activities either, keeping the energy consumption under the radar best they could. Wasn't easy, especially when they found out how his cybernetic parts worked. They figured if Batman's network didn't get them, Cyborg's would. Good thing Barbara wasn't Oracle here or they'd be screwed.

With the tubes finished, everyone had to find new projects to work on. Mia and Colin took to checking out the local town and getting to know what was going on in the streets these days.

And that's where I stopped

Actually, I'm surprised I went past chapter 1. this was a pretty good idea. Too bad I never went back to it.

Anyway, premise is simple: all the people we lost when the 52 started, or were rewritten beyond recognition around the time of Damian's death, existed still because of some anomaly when "The Shift" occurred. Tim's not handling it well, and neither is Kara, especially since they both do and don't exist in this world. They're temporal anomalies, and that never sits right in Scifi stories. Anyway, Despite telling others that they can't see their families or be part of their world really, Tim can't sit still and ends up making a mess of things by trying to make it look like the other Tim is in two places at once. This really could help save his secret ID, but Tim mostly uses his talents to do good work for people and to save Dick's life (kinda threw out the crime syndicate story line...). And eventually he gets cornered and caught. The Batfam interrogates him in the cave, Titus gets attached to him, and he ends up saving Alfred's life to prove he's not a threat but actually another version of Tim Drake. Their confrontation was pretty fun in my mind, mostly Tim chewing out swan queen for being a bad leader/soldier/brother/everything! Things happen (not sure what, hence why I stopped) and eventually both Tim and Kara have to make a decision to save the world by ending the temporal anomalies they are. They 'die', but in exchange they get Damian to come back to life! Tim tells Dami to be a good boy and be a good brother in his place, leaving that world with a smile on his face. I think I had them join the Monitors or something. The two of them mostly become forgotten while the others get blended back into the new universe. Damian's the only one who remembers them in the end and starts trying to find a way to get them back. I think I planned a sequel where they did come back... But I don't remember how.

Yeah, it was a long adn complicated idea, but I can't remember who the bad guys were, what else was going on, and what exactly happened anymore. ^^; I can't even remember what the main conflict was other than everyone wanting to survive. Hence why it's here now. Up for adoption! BUt you better know scifi stuff to pass this one.