Disclaimer: :slightly muffled but still loud yelling from under bed: I WON'T SAY IT! I ABSOLUTELY ON NO UNCERTAIN TERMS REFUSE:eyes glint as authoress is dragged out from under bed: Oh my…scary lawyers…okaysoIdon'townTeenTitansnowleavemealone! You so don't want to sue me, I'm liticaphobic and would so totally embarrass the crap out of you!
"What's wrong with him, daddy?" Jaelyn asked, looking in the backseat at the Boy.
"He's really sick, angel. That's why we're going to Timmy's house—Tim's foster father is going to make him all better." He explained with a smile that was more confident than he was.
"Oh." She said thoughtfully. "Well…if you wake him up and he drinks my cocoa, he'll feel a little better." She tore her eyes away from the Boy long enough to look up at him. "I know he will daddy. People always feel better when they drink my cocoa."
"Like magic." He nodded. "Audra told me. And I'm sure that's true, but right now I think he needs to get some sleep, okay?"
She looked like she wanted to protest some more, but instead just nodded. "Okay, daddy, if you say so." She sighed, then brightened a little. "So what's his name?"
"It's Neo. And the other one back there is Nemo." He replied. "Those three in the back seat are Beast Boy, Maxwell, and Starfire, the woman sitting right there is Raven, and the metal guy on her other side is Cyborg. And everyone, this is my soon-to-be daughter, Jaelyn Summers."
She smiled and waved shyly, then buried her face in the crook of his neck.
He chortled. "Oh, so now you get shy. They've been here the whole time, angel."
She shook her head and giggled.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Soon-to-Be Daughter of Friend Rush!" The Dolt exclaimed. "What is your favorite color? How did you learn to do all of those things? Will you be my new friend?"
She glanced up. "You're funny, lady." She remarked.
He coughed. "Did Miss Lena or Karin teach you to talk that way to your elders, young lady?"
"Oh!" She blushed, covering her mouth with her hands, but almost immediately pulling them away. "I'm sorry, Miss Starfire! I didn't mean to be rude! It's a pleasure to meet you, too! My favorite color is purple, and of course I will! And please, just call me Jaelyn!"
"Wondrous!" The Dolt clapped her hands together enthusiastically.
She smiled, then looked at the Squirt. "So your name is Nemo Dawson? I like that name! My name's going to be Jaelyn Dawson in two more years! That means you'll be my uncle!"
The Squirt blinked dumbly at her. "Huh?"
She tittered at his bewildered expression. "Daddy is going to adopt me in two years, silly! That means I'll have the same last name as you and him and your other brother, and I'll be your niece! Can I go ahead and start calling you Uncle Nemo now, or—"
He cut her off. "Slow down, there, angel. First, your last name isn't going to change even when I adopt you, okay? Second, Nemo isn't really my brother, he's my clone."
She gave him a confused look. "Clone? Like the sheep?"
"Sheep?" The Squirt piped up indignantly. "You're comparing me to a barnyard animal?!"
"Well I've never heard of a human clone before, or I'd compare you to that! I've only heard of the sheep!" She retorted, sticking her tongue out at him.
"Jaelyn, behave." He said sternly. "You too, Nemo. And yes, Nemo is sort of like the sheep, but much more sophisticated and interesting."
The Squirt snorted. "Sheep…bah!"
"You sounded exactly like one just then." Jaelyn pointed out with a smirk.
The Squirt blew a raspberry at her.
"Ahem." The Sorceress cleared her throat, and both children quieted.
"Thank you." He nodded at the Sorceress, who returned the favor.
"Rush, are you seriously going to adopt her in two years?" The Original asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'll retire from thieving—assuming, of course, that I haven't already done so in order to officially stay with the Titans—adopt her, and take over the orphanage."
The Comic Relief choked on air. "Dude, you mean you were planning to quit being a thief in two years anyways?" He exclaimed disbelievingly.
He shrugged. "I've been planning it since I found Jaelyn and opened up the orphanage."
"Yeah—why did you open the orphanage in the first place?" Cyborg asked.
"Because I have a crap load of money, nothing else to spend it on, and if I own the orphanage I can make sure no one adopts Jaelyn before I can." He replied with another shrug.
Everyone stared at him—even Jaelyn.
"So…it's not because you hated the orphanage you grew up in and wanted to open a better one or something like that?" The Original asked.
He blinked. "No…well, maybe a little bit, but not really. Plus…I love kids. They're seriously the biggest rush a guy can get—they're on an almost constant rush themselves, after all."
"It all comes down to that with you, doesn't it?" The Sorceress asked dryly.
"...Basically, yeah. Is there a problem with that?"
She just rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.
"Anyhow…" He trailed off and shrugged. "That's how it is. I'm not much for mushy crap, even if it would win me brownie points or something."
"Umm…what are these points of the brownie?" The Dolt asked sheepishly.
"Don't worry about it, Star." Cyborg said. "We're here."
They saw the Kid standing on the steps of the humongous mansion next to three men and a boy, both he and the other boy waving at them.
One of the men, very obviously Bruce Wayne, wore a sharp navy blue business suit with a white shirt, but no tie, and looked imposing without seeming to be trying to do so…which, of course, made him all the more imposing.
Another wore a butler's uniform, with a single ring of gray hair about his otherwise bald head, one arm folded in front of him while the other was at his side.
The last was of the African American persuasion, wearing a brown turtle neck and dark green pants, looking cheerful but serious at the same time.
The boy was very obviously excited, as his arm waved back and forth with the energy only children possess, and wore a white t-shirt and black jeans.
"Hey, Mr. Dawson!" The Child said as he stepped out of the car.
"Hey, Tim." He replied, opening the back door and scooping the Boy up carefully.
He heard the Child gasp.
"Th-that's Owen! Bruce, that's Owen Williams! How do you know Owen, Mr. Dawson?"
"Let's not waste time on that, Tim." The Engineer said. "Best we get him inside first and start to figure out what's wrong with him, don't you think?"
"Lucius is right." The Businessman agreed. "Bring him inside…Mr. Dawson, is it?"
"Rush, at the moment." He said. "A pleasure."
The Businessman nodded and led them inside, to a room that looked like a laboratory and made him shudder. He felt the Squirt, who was holding onto his shirt, mirror his movement and scoot closer to him, and the Boy, unconscious though he was, shifted.
"Couldn't we do this somewhere else?" The Sorceress asked. The Businessman and Engineer gave her a confused look. "It's making them uncomfortable." She waved a hand at them.
"There's no need for anyone but…Owen…to stay." The Engineer said. "I'm sure Tim would be more than happy to take you on a tour of the house or something."
The Child nodded enthusiastically.
"We aren't leaving." He said, hearing the Squirt echo him.
"Very well then, you'll have to deal with it." The Businessman said irritably. "We can't exactly do this in the living room, after all."
"It's best if you all wait in the living room, at the very least." The Engineer said. "You would only get in the way here, so Tim…"
"I shall take care of it, sir." The Butler said. "If you would all please follow me."
"I'm not leaving." He said with a frown, arms tightening around the Boy.
"Lucius said to leave, so you will leave." The Businessman said, voice deathly serious.
"No, I won't." He replied with the same tone, meeting the man's gaze evenly. "He needs a familiar face in here in case he wakes up."
"Listen, boy, as long as we're under my roof, we'll do things my way—no highway option."
"Listen, sir, as long as we're messing with my clone, we'll do things my way. So…I'll sit in the corner or something, but I'm not leaving."
The Businessman's scowl deepened, and he opened his mouth to say something.
"It's fine, Bruce" The Engineer said. "The kid should have someone here it knows in case he wakes up while we're working. He won't get in the way."
"The minute he does, he's out."
"That's fine with me." He gritted out, glaring at the Businessman. If he didn't know better, he'd say this was the man who had raised Robin instead of Batman.
"You don't understand, sir." A sharp pain suddenly exploded in the back of his neck. "You see, he won't be awake to get in the way."
His world had gone black before he hit the floor.
(THE RUSH)