Chapter 4 – Nex Venator Procul Nox Noctis
"Oh, my. Cyborg my friend this is brilliant! Absolutely top drawer. Would you look at this place, Rose?" The Doctor spun in place, arms thrown wide.
"Yeah. Very machiney." Rose agreed with a straight face. "Got cranes and workbenches and everything."
The Doctor and Cyborg gave her an identical Look, the Look reserved by men for women who failed to appreciate a really fine piece of grease-lubricated, chrome-plated steel sophistication.
"How's your grasp of hyper-dimensional physics, my mechanically enhanced friend?"
"Dunno. The T-ship uses a quark-tachyon pulse emitter so I didn't have to mess with hyperspace."
"Oh, that takes me back! Quark-tachyon pulse emitter? Simple, efficient, and compact." The Doctor enthused. "Mind you, it's a trifle slow, but overall not a bad trade off. What's your coil efficiency?"
Rose traded a look of her own with Raven as Cyborg opened his mouth.
"Why don't we leave the two of you messing about down here?" Rose interrupted the incipient geek-fest. "Me, I could murder a cuppa. And I wouldn't say no to the odd biscuit."
"I'm game. Been a while since lunch." Beast Boy said with a big grin. "Rose, you like tofu?"
"On occasion." She answered. Beast Boy's grin got wider and Robin chuckled.
"I suppose somebody besides Beast Boy had to." He commented. "Cyborg we'll bring you down something."
"Great! As long as it's not tofu." Cyborg said, powering up a monitor. When the others left he and the Doctor were deep in conversation, huddled over the computer screen.
Rose got more than a simple cookie. Beast Boy managed to surprise everyone with a passable tofu ramen. They spent the meal cautiously feeling each other out. By the time Raven had taken some Salisbury steaks to Cyborg and the Doctor the Titans and Rose were trading war stories.
"And she ended up knighting the Doctor and making me Dame Rose of the Powell Estate, and then banishing us from the Empire." Rose said. "She was not amused!"
The others were laughing at her story, Beast Boy literally rolling on the floor.
"And the best part? I won a tenner off the Doctor!" Rose finished triumphantly.
"Hey, does that mean you're a knight?" Beast Boy asked eagerly. Rose cocked her head.
"I guess so. Though I don't think I get to dress up in armor or anything. Dunno, really."
"Wow, now we have a knight and a princess, right here in Titan's Tower!" Beast Boy said excitedly. He grinned from ear to ear.
"Princess?" Rose asked curiously.
"Yes, I am a Princess of the Royal House of Tameran." Starfire said casually. "Although I believe I also have the title of Grand Ruler Emeritus. At least that is what John Smith said. Galfor, my k'norfka, is the current Grand Ruler."
"Yeah, I been meanin' to ask you about that. Who's this other John Smith then?" Rose leaned forward. "He must have been really something if he's anything like the Doctor."
Starfire's eyes started to glow. "He took us to a different universe and told us many things. I wonder if anything that—person—told us was true at all."
"Whoa, Star, calm down." Robin said raising his hands.
"He deceived us! He would have made us murderers, my husband! On my world such a person would be put to death!" She lapsed into a string of Tameranean that Rose bet was profanity. She was impressed, despite not knowing what the alien words meant the sheer venom was awe inspiring.
"Starfire." Robin said forcefully. Starfire blinked, the brilliant green glow fading from her eyes.
"I'm not condoning what he did. But at least he warned us. We'll stop them, Star. But if the worst happens—now the authorities know how to stop them too."
"There's a cheery thought." Rose said. "Look, I admit maybe the Doctor underestimated you. Some of the stories you lot told me were amazing. But don't make the mistake of underestimating the Slitheen. They're nasty things, and smart too. They are very, very dangerous."
"If we could handle my father," Raven said coming back into the room, "Then we can handle these Slitheen. Besides, you and the Doctor are our ace in the hole."
"Kind of nice to have allies." Rose said, turning to smile at the blue-haired girl. "Usually the Doctor and I stumble into the middle of trouble and have to save the day while running away from the monsters."
"Sorry about before." Raven said. "I'm not usually that clumsy."
"Not to worry." Rose assured her. "I was being a bit of a wet Nellie about it. But that whole Bad Wolf thing was—well, it was like nothing you could ever understand. For that few brief minutes I was a goddess. I could see all of time and space. I literally had the power to do anything. It was wonderful and terrifying and if the Doctor hadn't taken the power away it would have burned me to ashes." She shuddered.
"I never ever want to feel like that again. Even thinking about it gives me the screaming abdabs. That's why I lost it when I thought it might be starting all over again."
"Believe it or not," Raven said, "I can relate. My father tried to use me to end the world." She shivered just the smallest bit. "It wasn't—pleasant. If I thought it was happening again—" She looked at Rose.
"Let's just say I know how you feel, and leave it at that, all right?"
"Friends?" Rose said, holding out her hand. Raven studied her a moment, then held out her own hand.
"Friends." She agreed, shocking the other Titans. Raven never made friends with a stranger so quickly.
"Whoa, dude!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Raven, you never do that! What's the deal?"
"The deal is none of your business, Beast Boy." She said calmly, settling into a chair. "Just because I'm creepy doesn't mean I'm a complete paranoid."
"I believe the expression is "ouch", friend Beast Boy." Starfire said, chuckling. Beast Boy laughed ruefully, accepting the rebuke. Then to Rose's amazement the teenager shrank into a tiny green kitten and sprang onto the table. Walking over to Raven's place he sat down and stared at Raven with the most adorable face Rose had ever seen.
"Is that supposed to make me melt?" Raven asked, raising one eyebrow. "I don't do melt."
"Aww, he's adorable." Rose said, leaning down to see better. The kitten turned the full force of his cuteness on the blonde girl."
"Don't encourage him." Raven rolled her eyes. "He'll be doing cute and fuzzy for days."
"How can you resist that face?" Rose scooped up the kitten and turned him to look at Raven. "Look at that face. Little and green and oh my God, those eyes."
"Beast Boy is very good at the large eyes and the soft fur and the purring." Starfire agreed. "He can be very charming friend Rose, but do not let him deceive you. Beast Boy is very fond of the practical jokes. And they are not funny." She frowned sternly at the kitten, which just looked up at her with a sad and pathetic expression.
"Oh, he is doing it again." Starfire said fretfully. "Why must I be so weak against the face?" She reached out and stroked his head, smiling in spite of herself. The kitten's purr doubled in volume.
That's when it struck Rose. She was cuddling a teenage boy. For all he was shaped like a kitten now she was cuddling him against her—.
"Oh, you cheeky bugger!" Rose sat the kitten back on the table with rather more speed than gentleness. "What a sneaky way to nick thrup'ny!" Her face was blazing red. "Starfire you were right!"
"I was?" She asked, confused. Startled, the kitten turned into a bird which flew onto the floor and became Beast Boy.
"What? What'd I do?" He asked in a panic.
"Don't play the innocent with me. Very clever, Mr. I'm-so-cute-please-pick-me-up." Rose retorted.
"Why are you mad?" Beast Boy looked bewildered.
"Tell me he's kidding." Rose appealed to Raven. "There's no way anybody's that clueless."
"Oh, Beast Boy is a past master of clueless." Raven said calmly. "He probably doesn't understand. Do me a favor. Don't enlighten him. Please."
"Look, I'm sorry, ok? I don't know what I did but I'm really sorry." Beast Boy didn't look guilty. He just looked confused. Rose stared at him, trying to decide if it had been deliberate or not.
"Sorry. Guess I overreacted. Forget it." Rose said finally. Beast Boy relaxed with a shudder.
"You're not doing so well tonight, Beast Boy." Robin said, trying to hide a grin. "Better pack it in."
"Yeah. I'll just go sit in the corner." Beast Boy's ears drooped.
"That is not necessary, friend Beast Boy." Starfire said cheerfully. "Please stay. But perhaps a little less becoming the animal? It seems to upset friend Rose."
Rose decided not to comment, in case Beast Boy was really oblivious to what he'd done. Human men were bad enough without shape shifting. She'd hate to be the one to put ideas in his head…
Looking for an excuse to change the subject she looked out the floor to ceiling windows. Outside the sun was setting.
"You have the most beautiful view." She said, walking to the window. "It's amazing."
"Sometimes I watch the sun set from the roof." Starfire said, moving up beside her. "It is very peaceful. Sometimes I fly in the starlight because I cannot contain my joy."
"How come you can fly?" Rose asked curiously. "You and Raven don't have wings, but I saw you flying."
"All Tameraneans have the power of flight." Starfire answered her. "Sometimes I wish Robin had the power of flight as well. While Raven can fly, she takes little joy from it. And Beast Boy must assume the shape of a bird to fly, and so cannot speak."
"Wish I could fly. I'd love to go flying with you."
"Truly?" Starfire broke into a radiant smile.
"Yeah. Always wanted to fly through the air like a bird." Rose smiled back.
Just then Robin's communicator went off.
He studied the display and his face turned grim. "Titans, we've got trouble."
"The Slitheen?" Raven asked.
He nodded. "A young couple went for a walk on the beach—and they didn't come back. So their friends went looking for them."
"What are you saying, Robin?" Beast Boy swallowed.
"They found them behind some dunes. According to the police report the bodies were skinned and it looks like something…" He paused.
"Ate part of them." Rose finished his sentence. He nodded. "Clothes were gone too?"
"Yeah." Robin was watching her. "You've seen this before?"
"Yeah. It's how the Slitheen hunt. They kill somebody and hide the bodies. Guess they were in a hurry this time. Ordinarily the bodies are so well hidden nobody ever finds them. How much did the victims weigh?"
"Excuse me?" Robin blinked.
"Were they fat?" Rose asked in exasperation.
He glanced at the report. "No. The girl weighed about a hundred and ten, the guy weighed a hundred and sixty."
"Pounds or kilos?"
"Pounds."
"That doesn't make any sense. The collars, see? They only shrink the Slitheen a little. They need fat victims so they'll fit inside the skin."
"That's so gross." Beast Boy said, turning a darker green.
"So why go to the trouble of collecting a skin they couldn't use?" Rose said. "They're great stroppy monsters. Can't see one of them fitting inside the skin of a slender girl. Not to mention they're the wrong shape."
"What are you talking about?" Robin asked, obviously containing his outrage at what the Slitheen had done.
"Well, Slitheen are dumpy, really. They look like somebody took a beanie baby from Hell and stretched it out till it was eight feet tall. They're saggy. Not something that can sport an hourglass figure."
"Maybe the Slitheen killed them because they saw something?" Raven guessed. Robin shook his head.
"No. If that had happened they wouldn't have taken the time to skin them."
"We need the Doctor up here." Rose said. "He'll know what to make of it."
"Right." Robin pulled out his communicator. "Cyborg, come in."
"Yo, what's up Robin?" Cyborg answered immediately. "The Doctor and I think we've found a way to track that ship."
"Good. The Slitheen just killed two people." Robin said. "We need you and the Doctor up here right now."
"Killed—oh no." Cyborg sounded subdued. "We'll be right there."
No one said anything until the pair joined them, and then Robin gave them a terse update.
"Well," The Doctor tapped his teeth. "It's got to be one of two things. Either Skon is sending me a message, or—"
"Or what?"
"Or this wasn't done by an adult Slitheen."
"What?" Rose asked blankly.
"The Slitheen teach their children to hunt at a very young age." The Doctor said. "Might have been an adolescent. Or a pair. Kids are sloppy, right? Don't always follow Daddy's instructions in the heat of the moment."
"That's horrible." Rose said.
"Yes. Yes, it is." The Doctor sighed. "Those two are dead because I wasn't clever enough. People always seem to die, and it's rarely the right people."
"Cyborg, you found their ship?" Robin demanded.
"No, but we can track it. The Doctor tells me their hyperdrive is busted as an engine, but it's also their power plant so they don't wanna shut it down. It puts out a signal if you know what to look for. He rigged the dimensional instability transduction coil to the tracking sensors. It set up a resonating harmonic with their hyperdrive."
"English, Cyborg!" Beast Boy complained.
"Their hyperdrive makes the thingie the Doctor took ring like a bell." Cyborg said in exasperation. "Works just like radar, but faster."
"So we can find their ship?" Robin asked, eyes narrowing.
"Yeah. Only thing is this lash-up uses the Tower's sensors so we can't carry it around with us. I don't wanna leave somebody here, either. Splitting the team against these things sounds like a bad move, Robin. But if they move their ship we gotta come back here to find them again."
"Agreed." Robin said. "Doctor, we need you with us. Rose, stay here. Cyborg will show you how to run the sensors."
"Not happening, sunshine." Rose shook her head. She got up and retrieved one of the super soakers. "I fought these things before with just my wits and my heels. And we still kicked their sorry bums. Now I've got me a weapon that can blow these monsters into alien sushi. I'm not sitting on the sidelines my bright little birdy. They're going to find out Bad Wolf can hunt too."
"No." Robin shook his head. "It's one thing to kill in self-defense, Rose. It's another to hunt them down intending to kill them. I can't allow it."
"Really." Rose strode forward, invading his personal space, and put her face mere inches from his. She was nearly whispering but the room was so quiet everyone heard her clearly.
"You can't allow it? What were their names, Robin?" She asked softly. "How old were they? Do they have parents who won't see their babies coming home tonight? Tell me."
"Jonathan Thomas and Marie-Susan Picard." He said quietly. "They were high school students. And yeah, their parents will be grieving tonight."
"Now tell me I'm not coming." Rose said evenly, still nearly whispering. Robin stared at her serene expression. The calm steady eyes, the peaceful little smile—the white knuckles gripping the rifle.
"Would it do any good?" Robin asked heavily.
"No." She stepped back.
"At least promise me you won't shoot first." Robin asked. "Give me that much."
She paused. "All right. I can give them one chance." She said. "But not two. Not for them."
The Doctor watched his companion with an impassive face but inside something cringed. He heard his own words echoed from her mouth and didn't like the sound of them.
"Rose." He said. She turned eyes on him that reminded him of her as she had been with the Time Vortex roaring through her soul. That had been another lifetime for him. Mere weeks for her.
"One chance." He said. "You understand? Everyone gets one chance."
"One chance." She said quietly. "I remember."
"Scary lady." Raven commented quietly. "Glad you're on our side."
"Yeah." Rose blinked, seeming to come back to herself. "Sorry. It's just—it gets to you after a while. Doctor, after this I want us to go somewhere. A nice beach, with nobody else around. Promise?"
"I promise." He smiled. "Good to have you back." He turned to Cyborg.
"So, step one, find Skon's ship. Step three, happy ending and lying on a nice beach listening to the waves."
"What happened to step two?" Cyborg asked, confused.
"Still working on that one." He said. "Shall we get to work?"