Starfire looked up at her old home. It was falling apart, in desperate need of repair. Hopefully Cyborg was coming, and he could fix it. She walked up to the door, expecting it to scan her and then slide open. When it didn't, she pushed the doors open, crushing the metal with a screeching noise. As she walked through the empty halls, her footsteps sending up dust clouds and making echoes off the walls, she recalled the wonderful times she had shared here with her friends. She could still hear Robin scolding Beast Boy for a prank he pulled on Raven; still hear Cyborg trying to get Beast Boy to eat real meat. Echoes of her laughter rang off the walls from over five years ago, from a joke that Beast Boy told her. Tears filled the Tamaranian's eyes. She was overwhelmed with a feeling of belonging; with a feeling of home.
She reached the living room that was on the top floor. Dust covered every inch of the floor and walls. The furniture that had once sat here was no more; in their place was simply emptiness. She walked down the hall on the left, to her old room. She pushed the door open and went inside. She collapsed in the middle of the floor, reducing herself to a puddle of tears.
Raven had arrived in the city not long after dawn. She had been wandering through the city to all the places she had gone to frequently while living in Jump City: the book store, her favorite coffee shop, the pizza place, the mall that Starfire had always tried to take her to. It all rang a small sadness in her, to know that she left it all behind. Sure, Jump City would never compare to the Astral Plains or Kogore; couldn't hope to match up to the Grand Temple of Zathia. But it was home. Since Azarath had been destroyed, it was all she had to call 'home'.
She now stood outside of the Tower. The doors had already been forced open – a sign that none of the electronics would work. She walked through the building, fazing through floors and ceilings, until she reached the living room. She could see footprints in the dust, so obviously fresh that someone was here. She could also hear a light sobbing sound, coming from the direction of the bedrooms.
It would seem that I'm not the only one that's home, she thought calmly. She walked to the kitchen and set down her small bag. She leaned on the counter and folded her hands, not sure what to do next.
Sand crunched under Nightwing's feet as he made his way up to the Tower. He could see that the door had been forced open – no doubt the work of Starfire. He wondered who else had arrived. He looked up at the Tower. It would need repairs. It might even be too much for Cyborg to handle. He frowned as he walked through the door, not entirely ready to face his past.
The stairs were dusty and very creaky. Nightwing sneezed as the dust reached his nostrils. His eyebrow twitched in annoyance. He had never expected that he would be called back to his past. He reached the top floor, where the living room and kitchen were.
He noticed the young woman in dark clothing almost immediately. His frown was replaced with a slight smile. "Raven?" his now-deeper voice asked. The smile was almost apparent in his voice. His smile became a little bigger when she turned to him. She smiled back and walked over to him. He dropped his bag and opened his arms.
They hugged for a moment, and then she said, "You grew."
"I hear time does that. You let your hair get long," he commented.
She smiled little bigger. "No scissors in the other dimensions. I only came back to this dimension for a few hours at a time every other year or so."
Nightwing's smile stayed put. "I like it."
The Tower that he had worked so hard to build might as well have been in ruins. Cyborg grimaced as he looked at the dilapidated building. All his hard work gone to waste; even the door was broken. He shook his head and entered the building.
He reached the top landing to see Robin and Raven – only they both looked different. Robin wore a new costume (no doubt that he had taken a new name, too), and Raven's hair reached to her waist. "Well this certainly is a surprise," he said. Both of his old teammates looked over at him and smiled.
"Cyborg, it's great to see you," Nightwing said.
"It's great to see you, too, Rob," Cyborg said with a grin.
"It's Nightwing now," he said.
"Nightwing… ominous," Raven commented. Cyborg nodded in agreement.
"Anyone else here?" Cyborg asked.
"Us three, and Starfire is around here somewhere," Raven answered. Both she and Cyborg could see the frown that Nightwing probably tried desperately to hide.
In the brief moment of silence, there was a large "THUMP" from the roof. The three Titans looked up, wondering what could have caused the sound.
Beast Boy grumbled as he noticed that he'd landed too hard. He really hoped he hadn't broken the tower any more than it already seemed to be. He stood up in his human form and looked out over the horizon, his back to the vast ocean. His nostrils took in the salt air that he had missed; his ears brought the rushing, bustling sounds of the city to him. Beast Boy smiled. There truly was no place like home.
As Beast Boy stumbled down the stairs from the roof, he heard the now-grown voices of his teammates. The tracking skills he'd learned in the wild told him that there were three people in the living room. He reached the bottom of the stairs, unstrapped his belongings from his back, and walked into the living room.
He saw the three people he had sensed: a tall, dark, somewhat-brooding figure – no doubt Robin – a classy-looking half-robot man – obviously Cyborg – and a violet-haired beauty, whom he had to assume was Raven. His old teammates stopped their conversation and looked over at him. "Hey, guys," he said, trying to sound nonchalant.
"BB! Great to see you, man," Cyborg said with a grin. He went over to Beast Boy and they shared a man hug – the hug guys do where they somewhat high-five, hold it there and then slap each other on the back.
"Yeah, Beast Boy it's great to see you," Robin said.
Raven's eyes were filled with the sight of a tall, well-toned, green man. She couldn't believe how Beast Boy – 'Beast Man,' her mind corrected – had grown. She only then realized that, after Nightwing once again corrected someone on his new identity, she was the only one still quiet. She swallowed, looked into his emerald eyes and said, "Hello, Beast Boy."
Her breath stopped as Beast Boy looked her over. What was he looking for? Did he think she was someone else? Did he not recognize her? Had she changed that much?
"Raven?" he finally said. "Is that really you?"
"Really," she answered simply, not sure if her voice would betray her tension.
"You look…" Beast Boy began, probably trying to find the words of 'weird', 'stupid', or something of the like. "Amazing. I like your hair long."
Raven suppressed a blush. She had never been called 'amazing' before – at least not about her looks. She smiled a thank-you to Beast Boy. Then she heard the footsteps of the final Titan and sighed an internal sigh of relief for the distraction from her.
Starfire's eyes were tinged a slight red color – no doubt she had been crying – but she was smiling. "My wonderous friends!" she exclaimed as she entered the room. From the corner of her eye, she saw Nightwing tense up. It only then occurred to her that they hadn't come together. That meant that they had broken up.
The greetings for Starfire came again from all of them, Nightwing being the last. Starfire hugged each of them gently – she had finally learned to control her strength, is seemed. Beast Boy was about to say something, but he was interrupted by the sound of a sixth person.
"Hello?" called a feminine voice from the stairway. Raven tensed up even more than Nightwing had tensed up. She remembered that voice very well.