Beast Boy yawned widely, exposing all his teeth and stretching lazily. It was one of those rare mornings when he was awake at a reasonable hour, but he blamed that on the fact the Titans hadn't had a late-night mission in a couple days. It happened randomly sometimes—that criminals would take a break from doing their evil things in favor of sleep like normal human beings for once. It didn't happen often (not nearly often enough in his opinion) but it did happen, and he was excited that it was the second morning in a row he got to wake up on his own rather than to some kind of alarm of a bank being robbed at four am, or Cyborg deciding to pull a prank or Nightwing demanding they train and wake him preemptively. The extra rest made him happier, and he was even up pretty early, even considering making breakfast for the others.
He glanced at the clock as he entered the main room and it read 11:38 am back at him.
Ok, it was early for him.
Maybe he'd just make lunch.
He shuffled tiredly into the kitchen and started pulling out things randomly, tossing ingredients from the fridge this way and that and kind of hoping they'd land on a counter. He'd just decided on making tofu waffles and was looking for a spoon when the beautiful red headed girl sitting at the bar stool handed it to him.
"Thanks," He said gratefully, taking the utensil and turning back to the stove.
"No problem." She dismissed easily, going back to glancing curiously around the room.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"WOAH!" He whipped around, brandishing the wooden spoon at the stranger in their kitchen. No— not even— the stranger in the tower!
"Took you long enough." The girl nodded casually to him with a hint of amused disapproval.
He blinked.
"How long have you been there?!" He demanded warily, wondering if he should just start yelling or pull an alarm or something. Then again, she'd watched him half-make breakfast and hadn't killed him yet… plus, she was gorgeous: pretty green eyes and a wild main of thick red hair. She was obviously a hero (or a villain, depends on how this confrontation went) because she was thin and lean yet powerfully built. Her arms were thick with muscle through her plain white tank top.
"About two hours." She said with a bluntness that made BB want to think it was truth. The way she said it was rather insulting and degrading to the Titan's security, meaning it probably was true if she got that much enjoyment at flaunting it. "I've got to say, you guys need to open your eyes a bit more— even in your own place. Cyborg came in forty minutes ago to check the computer and Starfire passed through and even waved but didn't say anything. Raven's on the roof meditating, but you'd think she'd've pick up my presence by now. Or, maybe she has and just doesn't care." The red head tisked happily, obviously enjoying this immensely.
Beast Boy really didn't know what to say. So he stared.
"…"
".."
"…want some tofu waffle?" He finally asked cautiously.
She raised one incredulous eyebrow. "Sure." She accepted. He hesitated, still a little (ok, a LOT) thrown by this situation, but made her a plate.
"Most people don't like tofu." He said, out of lack of anything better to say.
"You don't say." She noted calmly, taking a bite and not reacting like Cyborg did, so he assumed she didn't mind tofu.
"Are you a vegetarian?" He wondered aloud.
"Not at all." She responded casually. "I assume you are as a byproduct of being animals half the time?" She challenged conversationally, taking another bite.
"Pretty much." He shrugged, watching her eat, still in some sort of shock.
"Are you going to eat or just stalk me while I eat alone?" She demanded, and he blinked.
Awkwardly he turned away and made himself a plate as well, leaning against the counter opposite where she sat at the island and eating too. The motions of eating didn't make it so awkward.
"So," She prompted chattily. "If you can turn into any animal, which is you favorite animal?"
He blinked yet again.
"Dude, no one's ever asked me that before!" He said in surprise, frowning as he thought about it. "Uh, let's see… what about— no… well there's— no, not that… maybe… huh, I'm not sure. I guess I don't have one." He shrugged.
"Everyone has a favorite animal." She insisted.
"Well, what's yours?" He challenged.
"I asked first." She qualified. "It's not fair to ask questions instead of answering them."
He puzzled over that for a moment. "Who are you?" He blurted out.
She raised one eyebrow again. "Did you not listen to a word I said? I'll tell you when you answer me." She said simply, taking another bite and pointedly pressing her lips together.
"How will I know you're even telling the truth!" He exclaimed.
She sniffed as if his insinuation was insulting. "I happen to be a very honest person, for your information, but I don't take kindly to people hedging my questions. I will tell you the truth if you tell the truth. You have my word." She dismissed him.
"I don't know if your word is worth a baloney sandwich," Beast Boy scoffed. "And how would you know I'm telling the truth? Fine then, my favorite animal's a T-Rex." He said in triumph.
She shook her head knowingly, taking another bite with a sly look. "Nope. Doesn't count, because it's a lie."
"Oh, and how would you know?" He laughed.
"Because I am that good." She said evenly with a cold, slightly crazy grin that suddenly made Beast Boy's own grin fade a little, his confidence suddenly waning.
"Tiger." He said.
"Lie." She countered smoothly.
"Rhino."
"Lie."
"Dog."
"Lie."
"Squirrel."
"Really? Complete lie."
"Bear, gorilla, panther, crocodile, piranha, cheetah, mouse, parrot, ant, fly, chinchilla, iguana, spider, hawk, eagle, shark, whale, elephant, fox, frog, cat, bat!" He shot out quickly in one breath.
"Lie, times twenty two. Interesting choices though." She noted cheekily.
He glared at the counter, honestly trying to think up a real answer, when Cyborg walked in.
"I smell lunch! Please tell me it isn't tofu B, I don't think I can stomach one more-!" He came up short upon seeing who Beast Boy was talking to. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" He shouted, sonic cannon out in a second and pointed at the red headed girl, who didn't even do more than glance his way and take a pointed bite out of her waffle to show she didn't care he had a weapon.
"Name's Barbara." She said evenly, swallowing her waffle and shooting him a casual grin.
"Woah, woah, woah! You tell him but not me!?" Beast Boy demanded.
"I'm not waiting on him giving me an answer, now am I?" She accused right back lifting one eyebrow challengingly. He fell silent, frowning at that logic.
"FOCUS!" Cyborg yelled again. "Who the heck are you and why are you in our tower! And B, why are you giving her waffles!?"
Beast Boy blinked, coming up short.
"He was being polite, which is more than I can say for you." Barbara snorted, jamming her finger at his metal chest in a scolding way before turning back to her waffle. "You didn't so much as say hello when you came in here earlier."
"WHAT!?" Cy squeaked (in a manly way, of course).
"Apparently she's been sitting here for two hours." Beast boy said unhelpfully.
"Yes, and instead of ignoring me, Beast Boy actually offered me breakfast, which is far nicer than yelling, wouldn't you say?" The red head asked innocently, taking her last bite of waffle triumphantly as Cyborg stared at her like she had two heads.
"Why are you in our tower?" He demanded.
Barbara frowned. "You didn't answer my question." She huffed.
"What!? That's not the point, why would I-?"
"Trust me, just answer her question." B cut in with a wide-eyed look to Cy, who sighed dramatically in defeat.
"Fine! Yes, it's nicer then yelling! Now would you please tell me what the heck you're doing in out tower!" He pleaded.
"Oh, that's easy! I'm waiting for Nightwing." She said happily.
Cy and B exchanged surprised and bewildered looks.
"Why?" Beast Boy asked.
"Did you answer my question yet?" She hummed smugly. He frowned and started grumbling under his breath as he went back to thinking.
Cyborg rolled his eyes. "Fine then, why are you waiting for Nightwing?"
"Oh, I'm going to kill him." The red head said in the same cheerfully bright voice.
"WOAH, WOAH, WOAH! We can't let you do that!" Cyborg yelled, aiming his sonic cannon at her again, Beast Boy brandishing his wooden spoon unhelpfully beside him.
Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. "Relax, not literally. Maybe." She brushed them off, checking her nails casually.
"Who are you!?" Beast Boy demanded of her.
"Name's Barbara, didn't you hear?" She smirked at him.
"No, I mean like how do you know Nightwing!? How did you get in here!? What the heck is going on!?" He howled.
"You didn't answer my question yet, so stuff it."She quipped right back.
"ARGH!" Beast Boy threw his hands in the air in defeat. "I don't know what my favorite animal is! I honestly don't know!"
"And that, is the truth." Barbara nodded, giving him a look that said 'was that so hard?'.
"Dude! THAT was the question you couldn't answer!?" Cyborg said in exasperation at BB.
"What!? It was a hard question for me!" The green boy said defensively.
"You two are ridiculous." A monotone voice said, as Raven came drifting in, taking a seat on the edge of the couch in the main area and opening a book carefully.
"What? You're not going to ask who she is?" Cyborg demanded, pointing to Barbara like blaming her for stealing a cookie, and the red head pushed his hand away in irritation.
"It's rude to point!" She scolded him, though he ignored her in favor of looking incredulously at the back of Raven's head.
"I sensed her three hours ago and she's done no harm nor do I think she's a threat. She has the same aura as Nightwing, so I figure she's a friend of his." The sorceress deadpanned, not bothering to turn around or look up from her book.
"See? No problem!" Barbara grinned triumphantly.
"Wait, three hours!? You said you've been here for two!" Beast Boy cried.
"Sitting here for two. I was looking around at first." The red head shrugged while the boys gave her flabbergasted looks.
"It's not her fault you two are unusually unobservant." Raven said dryly without looking up, and Barbara let out a short laugh at that while the boys floundered.
"Who is this?" Starfire's voice came from the doorway, and they looked over to her watching Barbara curiously.
"Barbara." Said red head in question answered shortly, and the other three who'd already met her were slightly surprised by the stiff tone she had when talking to the alien girl. After all, she acted as if she already knew them so she must've known Starfire, and who could not like Starfire, innocent and naïve as she was?
"Oh good! A new friend!" The red headed alien cheered happily floating over to where they stood in the kitchen. "I waved at you earlier, but I was needed to help Cyborg with his car and could not stay to talk to you properly! It is a pleasure to meet you, friend Barbara!" She chirped happily, hovering close to the new girl like she did when she was excited to meet new people.
"Likewise." The human red head said shortly, without much enthusiasm, and taking a step back in the name of personal space.
"Aaaaaaaand back to my question! WHY ARE YOU HERE!?" Cyborg demanded.
"To kill Nightwing, duh! Didn't I say that earlier?" Barbara smirked cockily up at him.
"Why would you want to kill friend Nightwing!?" Starfire fretted, looking concerned and worried.
"I have my reasons." Barbara said coolly to her, and no one but Starfire missed the way she so obviously had something against the Tamaranian. After all, she'd given a good reason not to answer the other's questions, but simply snipped Starfire just because.
"Every time Nightwing is brought up, you feel exceptionally angry and hurt." Raven said smoothly, finally glancing up and looking back at her. "But you feel no animosity to us… for the most part." Her pale purple eyes darting to Starfire as she spoke, something the boys didn't miss but didn't elaborate on, knowing Raven didn't vocalize it for a good reason. Starfire was oblivious to it all.
"Thank you for that, Miss. Empath." Barbara drawled sarcastically. "Why don't you start blabbing on how I feel about tofu waffles too while you're at it then, huh?"
"I hardly care." Raven responded emotionlessly turning back to her book.
"Touché." Barbara admitted with a shrug. Suddenly, she tilted her head as if she heard something and glanced at the main door. Her face screwed up into an irritated frown and went to stand at the top of the steps leading down from the kitchen to the main area, crossing her arms expectantly over her chest and glaring dangerously at the door in question.
"Did the door insult you or something?" Beast Boy asked in confusion, glancing between her and the door.
"No." She said casually, totally contradicting her angry look.
"Poor Nightwing." Raven sighed, continuing to read her book.
"Why poor Nightwing? We're not going to let her actually kill him are we?" Cyborg demanded.
"Oh, I'm not gonna hurt him, I'm just going to make him regret ever being born." Barbara said lightly, still sounding odd coupled with her dangerous glare.
"'Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned.'" Raven quoted evenly, and Barbara just let out a sharp snort at that.
"But Nightwing can handle himself right? I mean, if he can take Slade yelling at him right in his face, he can handle a random girl can't he? Funny as it is a girl is after him in the first place." Beast Boy pointed out with a grin.
"No, no—not a random girl." Barbara corrected. "But his best friend he abandoned two years ago and never felt like contacting again until I managed to track him down." She ranted a bit acidly, and they all exchanged alarmed looks. "Not a random girl, but Batgirl."She hissed, and two seconds later, before they could absorb that to react, the main door slid open and Nightwing walked in.
It took him half a second to spot them in the kitchen, and then another full second to process who was staring—sorry, glaring—at him expectantly front and center. And when he did, he stopped dead, freezing in his tracks like someone had pressed pause on life for him.
For an entire five seconds that could've been years for all the Titans' knew, the two Bats stared each other down.
Then they exploded at the same time.
"Babs please-!"
"You ass! You egotistical-!"
"I can explain-!"
"Don't you dare-!"
"I know, I know-!"
"TWO YEARS!"
"I know, please just-!"
"TWO FREAKING YEARS!"
"You know why I-!"
"That's not an excuse you-!"
"Please, just listen-!"
"I already know you moron! You think-!"
"No! I don't think! I didn't think! I-!"
"Cowardly, moronic imbecile! I oughta-!"
"Please!"
"'Please' what!? You expect-!"
"No, no! I wouldn't! I was wrong!"
"DAMN RIGHT YOU WERE!"
"I thought you'd, I don't know-!"
"LIKE HELL I WAS!"
"I know that now!"
"DAMN RIGHT YOU DO! TWO FREAKING YEARS YOU ASS!"
"Please, I-!"
"I had to hear it from that psychopathic brother of yours!"
"Oh god, I'm sorry Babs, please-!"
"Don't call me that! I revoke friendship until you make it up to me, dick! And that was lowercase in case you missed it!"
"Please, just… argh! How!? How do I make it up to you!? It's not like I'm going to just up and leave the Titans Babs!"
"And I don't expect you to," She snapped. By now they were both in the main area pacing in circles of each other, Barbara looking like she was a predator stalking her prey and Nightwing looking more jumpy than normal as he tried to avoid getting to close to her less she pounce and eat him whole. For their fearless leader, who was always composed and on top of things, he seemed to be all but begging her to listen and forgive him, and it was strange to watch to say the least.
The Titans were watching the exchange with wide eyes, totally not expecting this total one-eighty from both Nightwing and the girl they'd thought was pretty cool for the first fifteen minutes of knowing her.
"Then what do you want me to do!?" Nightwing pleaded with her.
"I want you to not have left in the first place!" She yelled at him.
"That's unreasonable and you know it!" He demanded right back.
"Like hell! That's what I want and screw you for leaving at all!" She snarled.
"What can I do now?!" He begged.
"You can call me once in a god damned while! I know you talk to Rob, and eventhat little punk of a brother of yours! Why not me!? I get B, I even get A, but ME?! You're the asshole who got me into this gig in the first place, and then you up and disappear on us!? WHAT THE HELL!"
"I know, I know, but you already said you know why I left…!"
"AND YOU DIDN'T THINK I FELT THE SAME WAY!? IT DIDN'T CROSS THAT NERD BRAIN OF YOURS I WOULD'VE COME WITH YOU!? JAY WAS MY FRIEND TOO YOU SELF-CENTERED EGOTICITCAL DOUCHEBAG!" She screeched. She let out what sounded like a strangled sob and turned away sharply, and when she came back, all traced of sorrow were vanished into anger again. "I was at the funeral too you idiot! I had to help B deal with him when he came back— not you, you selfish pig! Where were you but here in your little city with your own team at last! Well you know what, screw you for abandoning us, I shoulda seen it coming!" She spat acidly.
"Babs…" He said weakly. "I… I didn't know, and I didn't think you…. I… I really am sorry, and I can't do anything to change it now. But, as for where was I? I was there! I came back the minute I heard and talked him into leaving Gotham for Bludhaven. I'm sorry I wasn't there to prevent it, but I did what I could!"
"You let him go after the Joker again." She snarled.
Nightwing pursed his lips tightly. "I… I did." He admitted tensely. "If anyone has a reason to hate that clown, he does. I couldn't take that from him."
"You want the Joker dead too." She accused.
"Don't you?" He shrugged helplessly. Barbara seemed to be brought up short and couldn't answer for a moment though she looked furious that he was using her own opinions against her.
"But I would never let him be killed! You know what that would do to B!"
"Of course I do!" He defended angrily. "I didn't kill him myself for that very reason! And I talked to Red, I gave him another option and he took it, didn't he!?"
Again, she couldn't answer and seemed even angrier that she couldn't respond, telling everyone Nightwing was right.
"And by letting him go, he trusts me now! I couldn't lose him again Babs, I just couldn't! I needed him to trust me, and it was the only way!"
"You couldn't lose him, but what about me?" She demanded, her angry tone giving way to hurt. "You'd be willing to lose me?"
"What!? No! Not… you never— well other than leaving, you never had a reason to hate me! Jason did, and I just… I messed up, yes, but Babs… I didn't expect you to… I didn't know…"
"Rob must've told you." She accused sharply.
"And by then it was too late and I… avoided it."
"Avoided me!"
"I knew you'd be angry even if I hadn't originally thought you'd be and I… was scared, ok! I don't like upsetting you-!"
"Oh, great job you've done at that have you!?"
"I didn't realize it'd upset you at the time and by the time I realized you were angry you were really angry, and-!"
"Coward!"
"Yes! I admit it! I don't like you being angry!"
"Coward!"
"Yes! I'm a coward! Are you happy!?"
"NO! No I am not happy, I'm freakin' PISSED!"
"I can't apologize anymore than I already have!"
"Then you can run."
"Well—wait, what?"
"You heard me: run, Bird Brains, run."
Nightwing gulped, and like that he was gone. For the first time they got to witness him going ninja, and he leapt into the air, arching and twisting until he was suddenly in the rafters and gone.
Barbara stood there, arms crossed angrily over her chest and glaring daggers into space.
One second passed.
Then two.
And suddenly she copied him, leaping up and twisting mid-air, springing nimbly off the side wall until she was also in the rafters, all the while maintaining the furious snarl on her face.
Then they were gone, and there was silence.
The Titans stood in silent shock at what had just happened.
Finally, Raven spoke up, turning back to her book in a business-like way.
"Remember boys, what happens when you date a superhero and then forget to call her." She said dryly.
Cyborg and Beast Boy exchanged wide-eyed looks and gulped audibly.