Author's note: I'm here again, and with another chapter. I would have updated sooner, but the site has been stupid for the past week or so. And because I'm a praise whore, please review. And if you told your friends about my fic, I wouldn't hold it against you. More feedback means a better story.

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I sped down the streets of Jump, still cloaked and avoiding traffic.

I wonder if they canceled our per diem.(1)

I thought I told you to shut up and leave me alone.

You told me to shut up and not hassle you for a while. It's been several hours and I've been good.

I guess you're right. And no, I don't think they cut off our per diem. I bet Uncle Dan said he would take care of it. Everyone would trust him to do it, but he's not heartless enough to dump me out all on my own.

You know, he probably would do something like that. He'll probably get away with it, saying the paperwork just got lost or something.

That's why I said it.

We need to call Jenny too.

You move right along from one subject to the next, don't you?

It keeps you from getting to far off subject.

What'd I do with her number?

Front left pocket of your jeans.

Right.

I pulled over into an alley and pulled out my cell. I dialed Jenny's number, and she picked up after three rings.

"Who are you and why are you calling me so early?" Jenny's voice came.

"It's Keith from yesterday, and I'm calling to ask if you still want to go get coffee with me. And it's ten o'clock, hardly early."

"Ten o'clock? Already? Damn, it's later than I thought. Yeah, yeah, coffee sounds great. Pick me up in half an hour?"

"I'll be there. Now let's see if I can figure out how to get to your apartment."

I heard Jenny giggle, then stop when she realized I was serious. "Oh don't worry, I'll figure out my way over there."

"Well, okay. I guess there isn't much I could do anyway. See you in half an hour."

The phone line clicked and I put it back my phone back in my pocket after saving Jenny's number to memory. "Now to figure out a way to get to Jenny's."

--

"Hey guys, while I got you all here," Robin said to the rest of the team in the kitchen. "If any of you see Keith, from yesterday, give him a communicator. He impressed me with Rancid and even if we didn't make him a full Titan, he should be an honorary Titan. And he should have a communicator if he ever needs a hand."

"Oh glorious! It will be wondrous to have a new friend on the team."

"Down Starfire. Are you sure this a good idea?" Raven asked.

"Yeah man, I mean, we just met the guy yesterday, and we've only seen him fight once," Cyborg reasoned.

"He took down Rancid in less than a minute without taking a single hit," Robin stated. "And he has the makings of a really good fighter, especially with his invisibility."

"I'm not doubting that," said Raven, "but I still have uncertainties."

Beast Boy cut in before Robin could speak. "I spent a couple hours and several pieces of pie talking with him, and we got to know each other pretty well. We didn't get too far into what his plans for the future were, but I think he's staying in town, and he's a nice guy."

"And Terra was a nice girl," monotoned Raven.

Cyborg said it before Beast Boy did. "That was low, Raven."

"It had to be said."

The green elf held up a hand to stop his friend. "You know what? That was the first thing I thought. I couldn't not think about that. I had just come from visiting her so there was no way I couldn't make that connection. But sometimes we need to take a chance."

Raven glared.

Robin cleared his throat. "I know that some of you don't like this decision, but I'm making it. We need new blood, and I think he would be good for us. All of us. I'm going to call the commissioner and tell him to keep an eye out for Keith."

"Why?" asked Beast Boy with an eyebrow raised.

"Keith took down a dangerous criminal without a second thought. I'm betting on him doing it again." People who didn't know Robin as well as the rest of his team did would have missed the slight smile that was crossing the Boy Wonder's lips, but they caught it.

"You really want this guy on the team, don'tcha Robin," Cyborg laughed and his face split into a broad grin.

"I just think he would make a good addition to the team." Robin kept his trademark cool exterior.

"I also think that Keith would be a splendid teammate," Starfire remarked. "His hair is long enough for me to perform the braiding maneuvers on."

Raven ignored the snickering from Cyborg and Beast Boy while she talked to Starfire. "Don't get your hopes up about that."

--

I walked up to the apartment I hoped to be Jenny's and knocked on the door. She quickly answered and bounced out the door. "Ready to go?" she smiled.

I was suddenly very glad I had been kicked off the tour.

"I'm more than ready. Where's the good coffee around here?"

"Just down the street. We can walk there. It's a hole in the wall place, but really good coffee. I work there the two days a week I'm not at Vine."

We started down the street, talking casually, a fact I was appreciative of. "A working girl, huh? I like that."

Jenny glared at me in a half accusatory manner. "Are you saying you like girls who wait on you hand and foot?"

I quickly put my hands up in defense and laughed. "Not at all. I'm merely saying that you know how to work and aren't afraid to do so. I don't want a girl who's utterly high maintenance and doesn't know how to do anything for herself. It was meant as a compliment."

"Yeah, well, make sure you keep those compliments coming. They're doing you more good than you think."

"Just as long as you don't expect me to start spouting Shakespeare," I smiled.

"That's good. I think Old Billy is overrated. Don't get me wrong, he was a really good writer, but when he goes on and on about the little things, I just get bored."

"At least it's not because you don't understand him. I hate when that's the reason."

"I know. People don't like him because they don't take the time to really read him and understand what he means. If people don't try, it's worthless."

"How'd we get to talking about this?"

Jenny opened her mouth, and then paused. "…I don't know. How did we get talking about this?"

"Well, we started out with coffee, then you working, then compliments, then Shakespeare, then why you don't like Shakespeare, then why other people don't like Shakespeare, then we're here."

"Interesting stream of consciousness we had."

We couldn't help it. We laughed. We were still laughing when we got into the coffee shop.

"So what can your meta powers do besides that light show from last night? I mean it was cool, but something tells me that's not all you can do," I commented as we sat down at a back corner table.

"Well, my powers are bad luck." Jenny started. "Maybe not bad luck per say, that's just the best way to put it. It's all probability. Bad things have always happened around me. When I was younger and couldn't control my powers, stuff was always breaking around me. Now I know how to control that so stuff doesn't just randomly happen. Now I mix sorcery and my natural powers to have greater manipulation over it, but it's still mostly just destroying stuff."

"That sounds like more fun than what I can do."

"Really now?" Jenny gave a coy smile.

"Stop smiling while I try to form coherent thoughts. You're much to good at it and it's very distracting."

"I told you to stop lying," Jenny blushed.

"I'm sorry, I was too captivated by your beauty to remember," I grinned.

"Well what are your powers, since you insisted on knowing mine?"

"Nothing near as cool as you. All I do is turn invisible and teleport. I mean, I can do some tricks with it, but that's it."

"Tricks?"

"Watch." I reached over and lightly touched her hand.

"What? What are you doing?" Jenny was slightly alarmed, but was hiding it well.

"Look at yourself." I bit back a smile.

Jenny looked down at herself and gasped. "What happened?"

"One of my favorite tricks. I can extend my invisibility to other people and things," I said as I removed my hand and Jenny returned to the visible world.

"Now that's cool. How long can you do that?"

"Depends on how long I my energy holds out. I can go a couple hours, easy. I mean, I was riding around cloaked for a good four hours this morning."

Jenny's eyes widened slightly. "That's impressive. You can keep something like that up for that long, while your concentration is elsewhere."

I blushed slightly. "It's not that big a deal."

"No, that's actually fairly impressive. And I'm not easily impressed. So where'd you learn to control your powers? Darkway?"

"Never heard of Darkway, whatever that is. I taught myself everything I know about controlling my powers. Other people had suggestions on what I could try to do, but I didn't really have any formal training. I've been disappearing since I was three and teleporting since I was five. And before you ask, my favorite game did quickly become hide-and-seek."

Jenny giggled at that.

"So what was that Darkway thing you asked me about?"

To my surprise, Jenny let out a heavy sigh. "Well, there's something I didn't really want to tell you, but there's some things in my past that I'm not proud of."

I raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything, letting Jenny continue.

"My powers manifested early, kinda like yours. But since I'm bad luck, my powers gave my parents hell. Everything was always breaking around my house. My mom ended up leaving when I was six. Dad didn't blame her. I couldn't either. She couldn't take it anymore. She told us goodbye, so it wasn't sudden or anything."

Jenny sighed again.

"When I was ten, my powers got dangerous. I tried to suppress them, but that made it worse. I ended up melting a playground and someone from the H.I.V.E. Academy showed the next day. He told dad and me that his school was a place that could teach me how to control my powers. What he didn't tell me was that his school also taught me how to be a high powered mercenary and thief."

Jenny closed her eyes and drew back, waiting for me explode. But I just sat there, digesting what I just heard.

Eventually, I spoke. When I did, my voice was even and calm. "You said yesterday that you had gotten out of your previously line of work."

Jenny nodded slowly.

"I take it that was the line of work you were talking about."

Another slow nod.

"Did you lie to me?"

"I swear to you, I'm legit now," Jenny half-cried frantically.

"Did you ever kill anyone?" My tone was dead serious.

"No, I never killed anyone. I swear I never killed anyone. That's something I never want to do. I've done a lot of property damage and pulled a lot of robberies, but I don't like hurting innocent people."

"You're not on the run, are you?"

"No! The last time I got out of jail was the last time. I love my freedom and I hate jail. I never want to go back, so here I am."

I didn't say anything for a while, I just sat there, thinking.

"Last night, you said I made you tingle in special places. Did you mean that?"

"………What?"

"Just answer the question. Please."

"Well, at that point in time, yeah, you did." Jenny looked at me with a hopeful, half-smile on her face.

"You're honest. That's more important to me than past sins. If you're a good person now, that's all that matters."

Jenny's visage was filled with skepticism. "Are you messing with me?"

"No. I'm completely serious."

Jenny paused and it was her turn to stare at me. "Then what was the question about last night for?"

"Well, I wanted to know if you were really honest, and that question came to mind. That, and I wanted to know if I really had that impact on you."

Jenny smiled and blushed. "Last night was incredible, you're the nicest guy I've met in a long time, and…well…I haven't gotten laid in a while."

"Now see that's great. I really like that. You can admit something like that with only slight embarrassment."

Jenny smirked evilly. And now knowing what she used to do, I wasn't surprised by how good she was at it.

"Well, now that you know about me, when was the last time you got some?"

"Six months ago," I replied without hesitation.

Her eyes widened slightly when I answered so quickly, but she recovered easily. "You went out on the town and picked up another pink haired former criminal like me, I suppose."

"Well, not quite. The tour I was on at the time, the assistant lighting tech was a nineteen year old who was new to the touring life. She had done other work as local crew in her hometown, but it was her first time on tour. I took it upon myself to get her accustomed to the lifestyle. We got close, and ended up sleeping together a couple of times."

When I finished, Jenny was staring at me with her mouth open. "You do realize that I'm female, right?"

"Last night made that rather clear," I smiled.

"Then why did you try to tell me that story? Girls generally don't like it when guys they like tell them stories about people they've already slept with." Her eyes flashed pink to emphasize her point.

"Okay. But you kinda need to understand something. I never had a good female role model. In fact, I was raised by all guys. Guys who were all along the vein of my dad and my uncle, who you met briefly last night. I've gotten over all embarrassment about sex and everything associated with it. It actually takes a lot to embarrass me."

"Really…" Another evil smile. It was scary how good she was at that.

"Hey everybody!" Jenny yelled as she hopped up on the table. "This guy right here hasn't gotten laid in six months, and he's not getting any from me either!"

The look of surprise on Jenny's face when I jumped up on the table beside her was more priceless than a MasterCard commercial. "Yeah, and my dad and uncle just kicked me off the tour I was just working on so now I'm out of work and homeless!"

Jenny's face went from amused to depressed in a second. I decided then and there that I hated seeing Jenny depressed.

I sank back down into my chair and looked at Jenny, her head hanging slightly. "Look, it's not that big a deal. I was planning on telling you, but I'm more than a little pissed at my dad and Uncle Dan. And it's rather difficult to introduce into regular conversation."

"But you don't have any problem shouting it out in a crowded coffee house."

I sighed. "I didn't know you'd take it this way. And I said it was difficult to introduce into normal conversation. Yelling in a coffee house is hardly normal conversation. At least I don't think it is. Do you regularly have yelling conversations in here? If you do, I'm impressed."

"I can't believe that they just kicked you out like that," Jenny muttered.

"Don't worry about it." I tried to wave her off.

"You're the nicest guy I've met in a long time. Why would they boot you with no warning?"

"I never would have guessed that a former mercenary could be such a softie. And it wasn't so sudden. There were signs; I just didn't want to see them. I wish they had dumped me at the end of a tour instead of the middle of one like they did."

I looked at Jenny's downcast face and brought it back up so I could look in her pink optics. "Look. It's not your fault that I got booted. It was going to happen anyway. Don't worry about it. Right now all I'm worried about is making sure you have a nice time today, and finding a place to sleep tonight." I yawned. "I didn't do that emphasize my point, but I haven't slept since six a.m. yesterday. I guess it took more out of me than I thought."

Jenny smacked her hands on her thighs. "Okay. We're going to go now. I'm going to get you a place to crash, and then you're going to sleep. That way, the next time you take me out, you aren't dead tired and homeless."

"I'm not even going to bother arguing. I think it'd be fruitless. So where is this place that you're going to get me to crash at?"

Jenny just smiled and pulled out her cell phone. "Baran? ... I'm coming over. ... Make room for Keith to crash over there. ... What? Stop whining. ... How'd it go with Nikki last night? ... You got lucky? Good for you. ... If it weren't for Keith, you wouldn't have gotten laid last night. So you're going to put him up for at least tonight, or I'll hex you into the middle of next week. ... Great. We'll be over soon."

She flipped the phone closed and smiled at me.

"You have such a way with people," I smirked.

"I've known him forever. And don't worry about him, he can take pretty much anything thrown at him, as long as it doesn't require to much thinking."

--

BANG BANG BANG! "Open up Baran, its Jenny!"

"It's open," came the muffled reply.

"What the hell are you watching?" Jenny demanded as we stepped in, finding Baran collapsed in an oversized armchair. Well, for anyone else it would be oversized. For Baran, it suited him well.

"Project Runway," he rumbled.

"Any particular reason?"

"…It's kinda like a train wreck. You want to stop watching, but you just can't look away."

"Good enough for me." I tossed my bundle of possessions in a corner and flopped on the couch. "Wake me up in a couple hours."

Jenny started to walk back out the door when she realized something. "Uh, Keith? How am I supposed to get back home?"

I sighed and flipped back over. "Come over here and grab my hand."

Jenny looked skeptical, but did what I said anyway. "Hold on tight."

flicker

We were both three miles closer to Jenny's apartment.

flicker

We were teleported another three miles.

flicker

We were standing outside Jenny's apartment.

"Okay, last stop. All off the Keith express." Jenny smiled at that and I felt a little happier. "I'm definitely going to need to sleep once I get back."

"Call me later on. I've got work later tonight, but you could stop by."

"Will do." A few teleports later, I was back at Baran's and fast on my way to sleep.

--

Several hours later I woke to the sound of Baran crowing about his favorite designer being kicked out.

"Are you blind! Her outfit was much better than his! I can't believe they have the nerve to call themselves designers. That's horrible."

"I'll say," I mumbled as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

"What?" Baran was understandably confused, as he didn't know I was awake.

I rolled over and sat up. "I said 'I'll say'. I don't know what I'll say, but I'll say it."

Baran grunted and went back to his show. I got up and checked the clock; glad to see that the bank wouldn't be closed.

I grabbed my stuff and thanked Baran for letting me crash at his place.

"Are you kidding me? If I didn't, Jenny would've beat the shit out of me."

I looked at him funny for a moment before speaking again.

"Nothing against Jenny, but I think you could take her in a fight if it came down to it."

"Yeah, well, you've never really pissed her off. It's not good. Really not good."

"I see. Well, I guess I'll just have to try to stay on her good side. I'm sure I'll end up pissing her off at some point in time, but if you're intimidated, that's not a good sign."

"Yeah, man. She likes you, but all the same, don't fuck up."

I gave a small mock bow. "The same to you, my muscled friend, the same to you." And I was gone.

--

I stood in hell.

Actually, hell was too kind of a place for where I was.

I stood in the line at the bank.

I sighed.

CRASH! BAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAM!

"NOBODY MOVE!" Four men wearing black ski masks carrying guns that were definitely larger than necessary.

"Fuck!" I swore under my breath as I hit the floor.

The four armed men spread out in a well-patterned formation; each one knowing their part. I watched as they got into position, and then I made my move.

I disappeared myself and flickered over to the gunman covering the entrance. I grabbed his gun and ported again.

flickerflickerflickerflicker

I teleported around to the other gunmen, disarming them and dropping their weapons in the far corner.

I wanted to take a moment to watch their faces, but knew better against it.

The one by the registers yelled at the other three to find whomever it was that stole their weapons.

I was still invisible, so I thought it was going to be easy.

Then they all pulled handguns from within their coats.

Fuck.

I ported over to one of the lackeys and dropped him with a one-two combo. Before his friends could figure out where I was I had gone to the side of the others.

One of the gunmen yelped as he felt an invisible hand clamp down on his shoulder, then he was being hurled at one of his partners.

The leader glanced at his partners, one unconscious on the floor and the other two in a crumpled heap, trying to get up.

I teleported directly in front of him, hoping to surprise him.

However, he must have caught the flicker my teleportation, because-

BLAM!

-he shot me.

I stumbled back as pain seared across my shoulder.

The last bank robber let out a small noise of surprise when I reappeared, the pain having broken my concentration.

I let that work to my advantage as I brought my foot up into his groin.

CRASH!

"Titans…go?"

I jerked my head around to see the entire team of teenaged superheroes standing in the now fully destroyed entrance.

"Yeah, Titans go get this fucking bullet out of my shoulder," I hissed painfully.

"Oh, friend Keith, you are damaged!" Starfire wailed as she flew over to me.

"You're goddamn right I'm damaged!" I growled through clenched teeth.

Starfire recoiled by my rudeness, but the bullet was a large caliber and I was in too much pain to care.

"Secure all these guys," Robin said in full leader mode. "Raven, see what you can do about Keith's wound.

"This may hurt a lot." Raven said as her hands glowed black with telekinetic power.

"Wait. Waitwaitwaitwait. Are you planning on pulling the bullet out of me with your powers?"

"Yes."

"Okay, just making sure. Pull away, and don't be offended by the amount of obscenities I'm going to say."

Raven didn't say anything; her eyes just glowed gray and I felt the bullet slide out the same way it came in. It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would, but it still hurt.

I also let out the stream of curses I had warned her about.

Raven's hands glowed blue, and the pain in my shoulder started to ebb.

"That's good," I near-purred.

"Glad you appreciate it," Raven said.

--

The four would-be bank robbers were loaded in the back of the police wagon, and I was being looked at by one of the paramedic.

"I'm telling you, I'm fine. Raven fixed me up in no time," I protested.

"I know, I've seen wounds that she's fixed before. I've never found any problems with them, but I still feel better if I check them," the attractive medic explained.

"No problem, ma'am, I understand."

"Could you please excuse us for a moment please?" I looked up to see Robin addressing the ambulance worker.

"Well, I guess I can give you a clean bill of health. I'm Susan Parker, in case you were wondering." Susan held out her hand.

"Keith Danes," I said as I gave her a firm handshake. "Pleased to meet you."

Susan smiled as she said goodbye, and I turned back to the Boy Wonder.

"So, what'd you want to talk to me about?" I asked with a smile.

"Those guys you took down have robbed three other banks across the city. We've been trying to get them, but they have it down to a science. They always get out before anyone shows up. With you slowing them down, they're going to jail."

"I kinda got that after I saw them being loaded into the back of the truck over there. And I thought they were too organized for first timers."

"I didn't think you'd be so observant."

"Well, I don't have anything on you, but look at who you were trained by. The freakin' Batman, dude. That's something I'll never be able to have over you. I had to figure out everything by myself. You had a mentor to show you the ropes. That's pretty cool."

Robin brushed the comment off before changing the subject. "Are you staying here in Jump?"

I gave him a funny look before answering. "Yeah, for a while at least."

"When you first met us, you indicated that you were leaving town quickly. Why did you lie?"

I felt like I was in a sudden interrogation. "I didn't lie. When I talked to you, I had every intention of leaving. I was working on the AFI tour and we were suppose to be leaving, well, now actually, but I was kicked off."

"Why were you kicked off?"

"My dad and uncle wanted me to get out of that lifestyle. I grew up with them on the road, working on all kind of tours, everything from .38 Special to the touring company of Cats. I loved it, but they wanted me out, so they kicked me off the tour. Kind of a dick move when you think about it."

"So you just decided to stay here?"

"Pretty much, yeah. I don't have any family anywhere else, at least that I know of, so this place is as good as any."

Robin still didn't seem satisfied. "Why do you keep stopping crimes all over the city?"

I snorted back a laugh. "I haven't been stopping crime all over the city. There was that Rancid guy yesterday, and then these guys today, and that's it. I've done other stuff in other cities, but that's only because I had the opportunity to do it. I'm not going to let shit go down if I can stop it."

I was surprised to see a smile come across Robin face. "I like hearing that. It makes me feel better about giving you this." He reached around behind him and pulled a yellow communicator out. "I want you to be a Titan. And if not a full Titan, at least an honorary one."

I put on my 'deep thought' face. "You guys are based here, right?"

He nodded.

"If I were to accept you offer and become a Titan, what would happen?"

"Well, you would live in our tower and receive a small stipend for protecting the city."

"So, free room and board, and I get paid for making sure bad shit doesn't happen. Is my food paid for as well?"

"Yes."

I snatched the communicator out of his hand and stuffed it in my pocket. "Great, where do you all live?"

"The big T in the middle of the bay. It's a little tough to miss."

"Great. I'll see you guys out there."

Before Robin could say another word, I teleported over to my bike and took off for the bay.

You didn't get anything done at the bank.

Dammit! Cricket, why do you always insist on messing up a good mood?

I'm good at it. Plus it's rather enjoyable.

Asshole.

--

I drove across the land bridge to Titans Island, only after asking three people for directions. I got about two hundred feet from the building.

Z-Z-Z-ZAAAP!

"Holy shit!" I swerved to avoid the laser blasts that were being shot at me from all sides.

Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-ZZZAAAAAAP!

I pulled a tight U-turn and hightailed it back out onto the land bridge.

Cyborg pulled up behind me a minute later, and I was still panting.

"What the fuck do you guys have set up in there?" I yelled.

Cyborg burst out laughing.

"It's not funny! You could have killed me with that!"

"How close did you get to the Tower?" Cyborg asked between gasps.

"About a hundred feet before I turned around."

Cyborg immediately stopped laughing and stared at me. "A hundred feet? Really?"

"Yeah, but what was that?"

Cyborg's face was a mixture of disappointment and anger. "Nobody's supposed to be able to get that close to the Tower. Nobody. I upped the security systems after Slade and his army marched up on the shores last year."

"Sounds like that was fun. Now is there a way in the Tower that doesn't involve me being shot with a large amount of lasers, or do you just like filling new recruits with holes?"

Cyborg snickered at that. "I just don't like seeing anything with my tower go wrong. You understand."

"Yeah, man, I got you. Now can I just teleport inside or will I be blasted if I do that too."

"You'll get blasted."

"Of course."

"Well, if you're with one of us, you'll be fine. At least you should be fine."

I cut my eyes back at the mechanical teen. "Real reassuring there, Cyborg."

"Hey, if you can get that close to the Tower before turning back, you should be able to get away from any internal defenses while I fix them."

"I refer you to my last comment."

"Just come on."

--

I rode into the Titans garage, tailing the T-car closely. I dismounted as the rest of the Titans piled out of their car. I stuck close Robin and Cyborg as we filed into the elevator, and up to a security room.

"Are you sure that I'm not going to get shot at in here? Because I've been shot at enough today. I really don't need any more."

"Yes, you're fine. You won't get shot at unless we want you to get shot at," Cyborg said with a smile.

"You revel in fucking with me, don't you?"

"You know it."

Robin moved beside me silently. "If you're going to be a Titan, you're going to need to tone down the language. You need to be a good role model for the people of this city."

"Yeah, see, you didn't mention anything about being a good role model. I've never been a role model. Hell, I've never even had a good role model."

"So you don't want to become a Titan?" Robin looked confused, even though I didn't know why.

"I never said that I didn't want to become a Titan. I said that I would have a problem being the perfect little role model you described. So don't be surprised if I screw up the language barrier, if you get my drift."

Robin was silent for a minute. "…Not all of us are perfect role models. None of us are."

"Gotcha."

"Since I take it you're serious about being a Titan, one of the first things to do will be to get you in our security systems, so the perimeter defenses don't try to kill you next time."

"That would be appreciated. Being shot at really isn't as fun as people make it out to be."

"I never said it was." Robin turned to the computer and punched in a few codes. "Okay, I need you to type in a personal code for your access. Make sure it's something you'll be able to remember but not easily figured out, and also—"

"Done," I said, standing back up from where I had leaned over the keyboard.

Robin looked at the screen. "Stonecutter? That password is—"

"Great," I cut him off. "At least I think so. And you were trained by the world's greatest detective, would you be able to guess it?"

"I suppose," Robin grumbled. He then pointed to a panel with what looked like a scanner of some sort on it. "Place your right hand here."

I did so without hesitation, a bad idea on my part, because the scanner sent an electrical shock up my arm. "Dammit! I thought that you said you guys weren't going to try to hurt me anymore today."

Cyborg grinned. "I said we wouldn't shoot at you. I didn't say we wouldn't hurt you. And besides, that shock was nothing. We take harder hits than that all the time in the field."

"Yeah, it didn't really hurt, and I've been shocked a lot harder than that, but you could have warned me." I tried to but as much disdain in my face as possible, but it wasn't working, and a smile broke through.

"You were messing with us, weren't you?" Cyborg asked, annoyance lacing his voice.

"Yeah, yeah I was."

"I'm going to kick your butt come sparring time."

"Bring it on, tin man, bring it on," I joked.

Robin brought my attention back to the task at hand. "You need a code name for field missions. I don't suppose you have one ready?"

I smiled. "Actually, I thought about that on the way over here. I'm going to be Ghost."

"Ghost? Why?" Robin seemed genuinely interested.

"It's a nickname from when I was a little kid. I loved playing pranks on the crew by turning invisible and messing with them. My dad started to call me a ghost cause I made the tour look haunted. Plus, it's just a cool name." I smiled broadly. "Better than Robin, anyway."

Robin growled, but seemed to ignore my comment. "Okay then Ghost, say your name into here for voice recognition."

I spoke into the microphone, saying my new codename and a few phrases that Robin specified.

We finally made our way up to the living room, where the rest of the team waited for us. "It is good to see that you have finished the necessary requirements to make sure that you will not activate the security devices upon entering the premises," Starfire said as she flew over to give me a hug.

However, I remembered her hug from yesterday and teleported out of the way. Starfire kept going and wrapped Robin up in her grip.

Beast Boy snickered when he saw Robin trying to get his breath back, and Starfire apologizing.

"So what else do I have to do now? I'm sure that there's something else. Unless it involves shooting at me. If it does, we can wait."

Cyborg broke out in an evil smile. "Well, there is the little matter of the initiation."

"Bring it on, tin man."

--

I flopped down on the curved couch two hours later, wearing a green backless evening gown, three-inch stiletto heels, and a purple turban. I had a plunger in my right hand and a unicycle in the other.

"You know, the thing with the plunger was really nasty. And what I had to do with the rubber chicken? I'm not sure that's legal."

"I said that during my initiation," Beast Boy said.

"Hey man, stop complaining, I had to do this thing twice," Cyborg grunted.

"And we've made improvements. This is better than our first initiation," Robin grinned.

"But now for the last portion of the initiation," Cyborg said ominously. "You have to wash the dishes." He directed my attention to the pile of dishes.

"Well, fuck." I stared at the mountainous challenge before me. "Anything living in there?"

"It growls whenever someone comes near," Raven droned.

I rummaged around in the cabinets for the cleaning supplies, hoping there was enough in the Tower. After arming myself, I tackled the growling mass.

--

"Hey man, how's it going?" Cyborg's booming voice came from behind me. All the Titans had abandoned watching me an hour ago. Apparently he wanted to make sure I was still alive.

"I've had to do this thing twice, so I know how bad it can be. How about you wash and I dry?"

I was shocked at his offer, but quickly accepted. "Thanks man, this is great."

buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz

"Hold on a second, my crotch is vibrating," I said as I pulled my phone from my pocket, ignoring Cyborg's confused and disgusted look.

"Hey, who's there? … Baran? Yeah, what's going on? … Jenny said she's going to be at Vine tonight? Great, I'll see her there. … Yeah, c'ya later."

I put my phone away and saw a strange look on Cyborg's face.

"Any particular reason you look like you just got hit with the worse news ever?"

Cyborg spoke slowly. "Yeah. Is Jenny a pink haired girl, real pale skin, with cat-like pupils?'

I nodded. "And one of the best kissers I've ever met."

"Baran, he's real big, muscular, red hair, not to bright?"

I nodded again. "Any reason you're asking about my girlfriend and my new buddy?"

Cyborg looked down before staring me straight in the eye. "Yeah. Um…Jenny and Baran are criminals by the names of Jinx and Mammoth."

I shook my head. "No they're not."

Cyborg was startled by the fact that I wasn't protesting in my statement, but rather calmly explaining.

"I don't want to be the one to tell you this, but they are. I've fought them, and I know them. They are criminals. And I can show you."

"They aren't criminals, but lead the way."

Cyborg led me away from the mostly finished dishes and over to a computer. He typed in a few commands, and a video file of a fight came up.

Cyborg pointed with a mechanical finger. "This is Mammoth and this is Jinx. Are they the guys you're talking about?"

"Those are them, but I'm telling you, they aren't criminals. At least not now. And Jenny wears her hair down now."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that they aren't criminals anymore. At least not Baran and Jenny. I don't know about the midget there. Never met him."

"That's Gizmo. And how do you know that they aren't criminals?"

I sighed, growing tired of the argument. "Jenny told me. I believe her."

"Why? She's a criminal!"

"No she's not. And I believe her because she hasn't done anything to make me not believe her. But I see that I'm not going to get you to understand, so I'm going to prove it to you. Just as soon as I finish the dishes."

--

Cyborg parked the T-car a block away from Vine, and we walked up. Baran was standing outside the front door, working as a bouncer. He scowled as I walked up.

"What's he doing here?" Baran growled.

"He's with me. Now, I have a serious question for you. Are you a criminal?"

"No. And I'm not about to lie to a friend, unlike some people," Baran snarled.

"Look, I'm sorry for doing that, and you know that, but it was a long time ago! Get over it!" Cyborg snapped.

"Guys! Stop! If you're going to argue do it somewhere else. And we have someone else to talk to now." I pulled Cyborg along, past Baran and into the club. I didn't see Jenny at the bar and walked back to talk to Baran.

"Where's Jenny?"

Baran glared at Cyborg once more before answering. "She's working over on the bar side. This is the club side. Go inside and turn right. There's a doorway over there that's labeled. If she's not there, I don't know where she is."

"Thanks man." We followed Baran's directions, and found the pink-haired beauty manning the bar, listening to one of the patrons telling an outlandish tale.

I watched for a minute before she noticed me. Her eyes brightened when she saw me, but darkened when she saw Cyborg.

What the hell happened between these guys?

I don't know.

I know you don't know cricket, or else you would have spoken up by now.

Well, it can't just be that they used to fight all the time. That would constitute dislike. Baran and Jenny are definitely angrier than that. They have contempt written on their faces.

Jenny came over and stood before me, hands on her hips and frowning. "What's he doing here?"

"You know Baran asked the same thing? What do you have against him?"

"He betrayed us. And that was worse than anything we ever did. We were criminals, terrorists, thieves, yeah; but we stayed true to those who trusted us."

I turned to face my new teammate. "Alright, what the hell did you do to make them hate you so much?"

"They used to work for a group called the H.I.V.E. They were planning something big, something that could destroy the entire coast, and we needed to figure what it was. I was sent in to investigate. I gained their trust and found out their plans. The other Titans and I stopped them, but I ended up being friends with a lot of the people there. I just didn't know how hard some people took it."

Jenny's eyes burned pink. "Didn't know how hard we took it!" she exploded. "We've been betrayed before, and yeah, it's not uncommon in the underworld, but you were on our team, and our friend, and to us that was as good as family! And I really liked you! And you threw that away like it was nothing!"

Cyborg looked away, ashamed. "You know why I had to do what I did. And you could have come with me."

"No I couldn't have, and you know it. And don't try signing me up for the Titans. I'm not a good guy. Right now I'm perfectly happy being a civilian now. And don't even think about talking to Baran. He took your betrayal harder than me, and you know he's not cut out for hero work."

The three of us stood there, no one talking, everyone staring, for quite some time. Finally, I broke the silence.

"I have something else to tell you."

Jenny's head spun to face me so fast her neck cracked. "What is it?"

Slowly, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my new T-comp. "Heh-heh…I'm a Titan."

Jenny smacked herself in the forehead. "Fuck! I fell for another good guy!"

------------------------------------------------

And so ends another chapter. See you next time. And remember that writers live and die on the feedback of others, so review.

(1) per diem - an amount of money a roadie gets daily for food and other misc. items.