Blanket Disclaimer: Poison Tonic LX does not own the Teen Titans or any characters therein. Don't sue her, please, because if you do I won't have a home anymore…-Ralph, the muse
"So, Rush, why d'you want to be a superhero?" The Kid asked.
He pondered this for a moment, unsure how to word his answer. Then, finally, he shrugged.
"The rush, I suppose." He said, though he'd been quite disappointed so far, and of course that wasn't the entire reason…but they didn't need to know that.
"The…rush?" The Kid repeated skeptically.
"Adrenaline, kid. It's where the name comes from…the adrenaline rush you get when you're pushing yourself beyond your normal capabilities." He explained, bored, as he absent-mindedly fiddled with his retracted bo-staff.
The Kid looked at the Sorceress, who was peering at him as if she was delving into his very soul, which she may very well have been.
She shrugged. "He's telling the truth."
"Of course I am." He said, half indignantly. It was strange—for once in his life he was being (mostly) truthful (to them), and the Kid didn't believe him!
But, the Kid nodded.
"Okay. Umm…why?" The Kid turned back to him.
He blinked. "Why…what?"
"What I mean is…why just because of the rush? Isn't there any other reason? To save people, to uphold justice, something?"
He cocked his head to one side, confused. "No. Does it matter? And if so, why does it matter what my reasons are so long as I am helping people?" He asked curiously.
"I guess it doesn't, but…I've never met anyone being a superhero for such…selfish reasons."
He shrugged nonchalantly, leaning back into his chair and paying very close attention to the clacking of his bo-staff against the table. "You've never met a superhero like me before, then."
"I suppose…" The Kid said uncertainly before changing the subject. "Do you have any history with criminals of any sort?"
"Yes." He replied without hesitating.
The Titans gave him a surprised look.
"Really?" The Kid asked.
He nodded. "You could say that at times my methods are…questionable." He vaguely wondered what methods he was talking about. Certainly not superhero—he'd only just started that afternoon. But he was sure that even if he'd always been a superhero it would be true…probably. "I have contacts who owe me favors. But you don't have to worry about your secrets or whatever getting out through me. I won't tell them anything about you and vice versa. That, of course, is subject to change—for example, if I heard someone was planning to set off a large bomb in Jump City, I would be obligated to tell you. On the other hand, I have no such obligations towards them if you try to smoke them out or whatever, though I won't participate in any such thing should it deal with said contacts."
"What sorts of favors?" The Kid asked skeptically.
"Nothing illegal." A lie, of course. "And nothing that would obstruct justice, or anything like that." Another lie. Luckily, the Sorceress didn't seem to notice…or if she did, for some reason she was choosing not to speak up. "Just little things." …Mostly little things…depending on your definition of 'little', of course…
The Kid didn't seem quite satisfied, but dropped it with a look from the Sorceress.
Finally, another member of the team other than the Kid or the Sorceress spoke up.
The Dolt cleared her throat. "I wish to inquire as to where your place of coming from is, New Friend Rush?" She said sweetly.
His mouth twitched as he bit back his instinctive sharp retort of "none of your :censored: business."
Then, trying to think of an answer to give her, he realized… "I'm…not sure, actually."
This whole 'honesty' thing was weird…
"You do not know where you come from?" The Dolt gasped, hands on her cheeks.
He shook his head. "Hmm…I've lived in Jump on and off for a while now…five years or so, I think. Before that was Europe…no, first China and then Europe…then there was Metropolis, and before that Gotham," He couldn't help but glance at the Kid when he said this, "So that means the orphanage would've been in…Bludhaven. I think. And before that…" He trailed off, frowning.
"That's alright, it doesn't—"
Surprisingly, the Sorceress joined him in cutting the Metal Man off.
"If I/he stop(s) now it'll bug me/him all day." They chorused in almost perfect unison.
Everyone looked at the Sorceress, who blushed lightly and looked away, muttering something about having the same problem.
The Dolt giggled.
"Never mind that." The Kid said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Did you fight crime in all of those cities?"
"Hardly." He snorted automatically, and cleared his throat, quickly amending, "That is…I was a kid then, after all."
"That makes sense." The Kid nodded. "And you're an orphan?"
"I said as much, didn't I?" He rolled his eyes.
"What happened to your parents?" The Dolt asked with a breathless gasp.
"That is none of your business." He snapped before he could stop himself.
"He's right, Starfire." The Sorceress agreed. "You shouldn't pry like that. It's obviously a sore subject for him—it would be for anyone."
He gave her a grateful nod, which she returned before asking a question of her own.
"You seem fairly new at this." He nodded. "Do you happen to remember your first…mission?"
His mouth twitched. Of course he remembered his first mission, it had been just a few minutes before, unless you counted the time he'd helped the Kid out in Dr. Chang's office.
Well…no, that wasn't it, technically…
"Ah…when I was a kid I helped people out a lot." Which was the truth, as long as you didn't delve too far into the fact that he had only really done so for more of a rush, and that he'd stolen from other folks in order to help the aforementioned people.
She nodded, motioning at him to continue.
He shrugged. "That's it, really. I guess it just stuck with me."
"Where did you learn to fight?" The Kid asked. "And where did you get all of your gadgets?"
He scowled deeply. "Look, what does that have to do with anything? The point is I can fight and I do have weapons, and I want to help people. That should be all you need to know."
"We just want to make sure you won't—"
"Betray your deepest, darkest secrets to the highest bidder?" He asked bitterly, narrowing his eyes. The 'Spanish Inquisition' thing was getting really old really fast, and starting to grate on his last nerves. "I'm a lot of things, sure, and not all of them something to brag about, but a traitor has never been one of them."
And that was actually the complete, Honest-to-God truth.
The Kid pursed his lips.
He stood. "I'll just leave. Nothing can be worth this."
"Sit." The Sorceress snapped.
Surprising himself, and everyone else, he did.
"You're taking this too far, Robin." The Sorceress said, frowning in the Kid's direction. "You've never been so meticulous before."
"He's the first new member we'll have gotten since…Terra—the second new member to stay in the Tower, if we make him a Titan. I just want to be careful."
"You're not being careful, you're being paranoid." She crossed her arms over her chest. "He's no Terra. Trust me this time. Like he said: he can fight, he has weapons, and he wants to help. The rest is just technicalities. You didn't know so much about the rest of us for months after we put the Titans together. If and when he decides to tell us is his business."
The Kid's jaw set.
"I gotta agree with Rae on this one, Rob." The Metal Man said.
"We can't…we can't blame everyone else for what Terra did." The Comic Relief added softly. It was the first time he had ever heard the green shape shifter say anything remotely serious.
"Fine. We'll put you on the team temporarily, and if we like what we see, we'll take you on permanently." The Kid said, tossing him a communicator.
He nodded approvingly at the decision, but didn't put the communicator away. "You realize you don't have to make a decision right now. You could mull over it for a while."
As soon as he had said it, he wondered about what he was saying. He wanted to become a Titan, and now technically he was one…and he wanted them to be able to think on it?
"No. If Raven says you're okay…I'll trust her." The Kid said, and stood, all but storming out of the room.
The Dolt stood and flew after him with a cheerful wave; almost as if she hadn't noticed all of the tension the others had been feeling.
"Welcome to the Titans, Rush." The Metal Man clapped him hard on the back. Something in the tone of the half-robot's voice implied that he'd better not prove the Sorceress wrong.
Surprisingly, he wasn't planning on doing anything of the sort...mostly.
He just nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."
The Metal Man nodded and left, saying something to the Comic Relief about a video game. The Comic Relief hurried to follow after, yelling about beating his bolts out, to which the Metal Man replied with a mockingly disbelieving laugh.
The Sorceress didn't say anything, just nodding at him.
He gave her a small smile, but she didn't seem to notice it, or if she did she didn't do anything to acknowledge it.
He sighed and started out of the room, thinking about all that had happened.
The Kid was an idiot sometimes (for example: choosing the Dolt over the Sorceress), but other times he seemed to be remotely intelligent.
Then again, he had heard of what had happened with that geokinetic chick a while back (she was the 'Terra' chick they'd mentioned a few times, he thought)—he had also heard that the Sorceress had warned them about her.
The Kid apparently had to learn common sense the hard way—never question the empath, for one, and never trust anyone at first, for two, especially if you were going to be trusting this person with secret codes and, in particular, your life. And lastly, don't trust someone new over someone you've known for quite a while longer.
But…he would give the Kid the benefit of the doubt.
After all, at least he had learned from his mistakes.
A voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Hey Red."
(THE RUSH)