Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans… YET!
Note: We just came back from the future and as I am out of plot options (for the moment), we will now be going into… THE PAST!!!!
Bats in Jump City Chapter 11:
Tim stepped out of the time portal, eyes starry from the kiss on the cheek that Oracle had given him. That was when Batgirl pushed him up against the wall of the building they'd landed outside of. She raised a finger to her lips and hushed him and Tim could make out Robin's figure squished against the shadowy wall next to him (Warp's an unconscious lump next to the garbage can). Hearing voices approaching, Tim immediately quieted.
"So do you all know the plan?" a deep male voice asked.
"Sir, yes, sir. We've gone over it three million times and counting, sir," a girl said in a mock military fashion.
"No worries, we're using our parents' names, Sarah, Jack, and John," a boy assured the older man.
"This may be our first undercover operation, but I have a feeling it'll turn out quite nicely," came the smug voice of another boy. "No 'teenage mafia' can stand up against the bats."
Batgirl, Robin, and Tim exchanged glances and waited for the voices to fade into the distance before finally speaking.
"I don't think we're in the right time," Batgirl said slowly.
"What gave it away, Babs? Our past selves just walking past us towards their first undercover mission that's bound to fail?" Tim said partly hysterical.
"Tim, shut up and calm down," Dick said laying a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "Think about it guys, we've arrived two weeks before all our troubles truly began. We could prevent all this from happening! We could storm Warp's lair, stop him from ever hiring Slade, and be back in time for lunch."
"Dick, I don't think we should meddle with the time stream," Babs said frowning. "We've already talked to our future selves; don't push your luck. What would happen to the version of ourselves that exists in this time? They would continue on with their lives but we'd be erased from history because they never traveled in time and had never met their future-future selves."
"Are you saying that we should do nothing?" Dick asked outraged.
"No," Babs said facing him. "I'm saying we should go to Central City or maybe even Metropolis, just anywhere outside of Jump City and Gotham. We can fight crime there while lying low. When our two weeks are spent, we go back to Jump, kick Slade's butt, and hand over Warp."
Tim rubbed his temple with a frown. "I'm really confused, but I'll go with whatever Babs says."
"Dick?" Babs asked without glancing at Tim. "We wouldn't do anything without you."
"We'll be back in time to save the day?" Dick asked uncertainly.
"You heard what Nightwing said," Babs assured him.
"I think I'll regret this in ten years," Dick groaned.
"If you did, I think Nightwing would've told you," Tim chuckled.
At the Gotham City Bus Station…
"Sooo…" Babs said staring up at the list of times and departures.
"Metropolis?" Tim suggested.
"What if we run into Superman there and he thinks we're slacking off and decides to roast us?" Dick asked with a hint of worry.
"I thought we'd already established the fact that real superheroes don't use their heat vision on people just for the heck of it, Dick," Babs groaned.
"Central City?" Tim said reading another sign.
"The Flash's town? He'll think we're obsessive fans," Dick said picking through the contents of his backpack.
"Correction: He'll think YOU'RE an obsessive fan boy, which you are," Babs said with a smirk.
"Um… Steele City, Jump City, New York City , Keystone City, Central City, Metropolis… there's not much else on the list except for some random city I've never heard of called Blüdhaven ," Tim frowned.
"Perfect," Dick and Babs said at the same time, before both laughing and making Tim feel EXTREMELY excluded.
"Now that we're on an empty bus with nothing to do for five hours and about five cups of coffee dripping through our blood, how about a story?" Tim asked quietly.
"Sure, Tim," Babs said wrapping herself in a blanket-like coat. "What did you have in mind?"
"How'd you guys meet?"
There was a silence for a moment but then Dick spoke as if in a trance. "I joined Bruce first. It was right after… after my parents were killed and I was hoping for vengeance. I became his partner in crime under the name Robin. It was just me, Bruce, and Al those first few years, but then Gotham City meets Poison Ivy."
"My old friend Pamela Isley – yes, that's right Tim, I was friends with Poison Ivy once – was on a save-the-trees kick," Babs supplied. "So she started taking advanced classes with a questionable professor who, in the end, subjected Pam to some 'testing' which turned her, quite literally, green."
"Her father, Commissioner Gordon, wasn't buying the story behind how Poison Ivy was born that Babs gave him and out comes the Bat-signal. Bruce and I dove into the battle unprepared and Poison Ivy was able to use her mind-controlling spores to… to, um…"
"What?" Tim asked Dick curiously [he doesn't fully understand what Poison Ivy can do with her spores because Batman developed an antidote for most of them ages ago. "She made you attack each other? Jump off cliffs? Trash the police station?"
"Nah," Babs laughed. "Pam made them fall in love with her, though I'm pretty sure that was accidental."
Dick's cheeks were red as he continued the story. "So anyway, Bruce and I were in the middle of trying to catch Poison Ivy as she's hopping around from plant to plant in the park when she blows a cloud of pollen at us and we start sneezing uncontrollably.
"Being under mind control is a funny thing; it's like you know what you're doing so that you can be embarrassed about it later, but you can't actually do anything about it while you're under."
"That's when I chose to make my entrance," Babs said proudly. "I waltzed into the park in my handmade Bat-costume with nothing but my wits, a previous knack for gymnastics and karate and I gas mask I'd borrowed from Gotham PD. I found Robin drooling at Pam's feet."
"This is the part where I'm embarrassed; Poison Ivy set me on Batgirl like a hound and I obeyed, going at her with all I had."
"Being as clever as I am, I quickly realized that I had to take down Pam to release Dick and Bruce from her evil mind control, so I did with success and that was the formal introduction between Batgirl and Robin and Batman." Babs finished with a slight bow.
"Babs, you're forgetting the formal introduction between Barbara Gordon, Dick Grayson, and Bruce Wayne," Dick protested.
"Oh yeah, that was fun," Babs said smiling. She grinned at the look of confusion on Tim's face. "The day after Pam was arrested, I decided to find out who the Dark Knight and his sidekick were so I did some research, figured out who it was, hacked into their security system to allow me access onto the mansion's grounds, and knocked on their front door asking for the Dark Knight."
"She's awfully pushy," Dick said sticking his tongue out at the girl.
"Tell me about it," Tim agreed, earning himself a punch on the shoulder.
"Come to think of it, that wasn't actually the first, first time we'd met," Babs said tossing a blanket to Tim and Dick each as they prepared to sleep. "We went to the same school for years."
"We did?" Dick asked in surprise but quickly tried to cover up his mistake. "I mean, we did."
"You didn't know?" Babs asked hurt shown all over her face. Without a word she covered herself in her coat and fluffed her backpack like a pillow to sleep.
"One more question, Babs?" Tim asked after moment.
Sigh. "Fine."
"How did Batman make an antidote for Poison Ivy's love spores if he never had an adequate sample?"
There was a pause before Babs answered softly. "Pammy gave me bottled love potion before turning to crime. I didn't believe her until I saw that my best friend had turned into a vegetable but after seeing that it worked, I gave it to Bruce so that he could churn out an antidote. Now, go to sleep, Tim."
Shifting so that her back was turned to the boys, Babs slowly reached into her backpack and fingered a rose-tinted perfume bottle with a handwritten note attached.
Dear Babs,
I know about the huge crush you've got on a certain Dick Grayson. That's why as a last parting gift to one of my best friends, I'm giving you a nice bottle of love potion. Use it wisely, kid, since you won't be getting another chance at this. There's only enough for one person – or just enough to concoct an antidote. It's your choice, Babs, but either way, no hard feelings, 'kay?
Love ya'
Pam
Babs withdrew her hand from the empty bottle, rolled over, and went to sleep.
Author's Note:
Um, yeah, sorry about the approximate three week wait. I hereby give any readers permission to send encouraging hate mail the next time I take an unexplained leave of absence for more than two weeks.
ALSO, for the Poison Ivy back story, I partially took that from the cartoon The Batman. Other notes include the cities mentioned in the bus station scene. They ARE real DC places and if you look up Blüdhaven, its Nightwing's base of operation (or was until Slade blew it up and Nightwing moved to New York City). I'm not quite sure if Central City is actually the Flash's real hometown, but it was either that or Keystone City. Many apologies if I'm wrong!
JaxWin