"Hive is robbing the museum," Robin reported. "Titans go!"
Xander easily kept pace with the Titans as they answered the call, ending up squeezing behind Beast Boy's seat in a specially designed aircraft that probably came apart into individual sections as needed, if Xander was any judge. The colored piecemeal look of the vehicle certainly suggested it.
"Sorry the meet and greet was interrupted," Cyborg told Xander over the communication system.
"Very rarely have we ever had villains schedule a convenient time for a crime," Xander replied. "At least we aren't being called in the middle of snu-snu."
Robin didn't join in the laughter but you could hear the smile in his voice, "Too bad we can't interrupt their day like they interrupt ours."
"Being a hero is either reacting to crime or invading everyone's privacy to prevent it," Xander agreed. "Of course if we planted bugs on them we could find their lair and wait for the most annoying time possible to attack."
"That's evil," Cyborg said with a laugh. "Priming tracers now."
"ETA is in five," Starfire announced cheerfully.
"Five what?" Beast Boy asked, but before he could answer the Titan's craft flipped over and forcibly ejected everyone.
"Seconds I believe," Starfire replied grabbing Cyborg while Raven used her telekinesis to float herself and Robin, and Beast Boy took the form of a seagull.
Following his symbiote's memories, Xander shot a ball of webbing above him, using tactile telekinesis to form it into a gliding wing. "Does this normally happen?"
"Saves on parking fees," Cyborg replied.
"We've got the front," Robin announced as Raven guided them towards the front of the museum.
"The Caboose is us then," Starfire cheerfully announced.
"Roof is us and Beast Boy," Xander said.
As the group got low enough they saw the villains exit the museum.
"Or we could be fighting in the street in front of it," Cyborg said.
In seconds a battle royale had formed with neither side appearing all that concerned with collateral damage as energy blasts and explosives were tossed about like confetti.
Xander found himself throwing up screens of webbing to prevent needless destruction of the surrounding area.
Mammoth quickly gained the upper hand, knocking a rhino Beast Boy back a dozen feet and quickly turned to attack Xander, thinking he was trying to block all their escape routes. Starfire zipped between the two and caught Mammoth's fists, green fire leaking from her eyes as she yelled," You will not touch my Baby's daddy!"
Mammoth shrank back. "You're pregnant?"
"No, he is," Starfire responded firmly.
"Is this some alien thing?" Jinx asked as the fight stopped.
"Yes, but on our part," Xander replied.
"Should you be fighting in your condition?" Mammoth asked nervously.
"We were just putting up some webs to absorb stray blasts," Xander replied. "The Titans aren't trained to work with us yet, so we decided to hang back and not get in the way."
"I thought you were trying to trap us, sorry," Mammoth apologized.
"Well that killed the mood," Cyborg said.
"Yeah, my battle boners gone," Billy Numerous agreed, causing half the Titans to make faces of disgust.
"We were just covering for Billy to escape with pictures of the tablet of that Horus guy," Mammoth said.
"Stop giving away our missions!" Jinx complained zapping Mammoth in the ass with a hex bolt.
"Ouch!" Mammoth rubbed his ass. "Sorry."
"Dude, posters of it are available in the gift shop for like, five bucks!" Beast Boy complained.
Jinx smacked herself in the head. "Next job I'm going alone."
"Hah, we didn't commit a crime big enough to justify you guys getting involved," Gizmo said with a grin.
"And with something small like this we can be out before you even finish the paperwork," Jinx said with a smirk.
"I do not enjoy the paperwork," Starfire admitted.
Robin sighed. "Oh no," he deadpanned, "Hive escaped before we could stop them."
*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*
"You were absorbing emotions throughout the battle," Raven noted once they'd returned to the tower, which had required catching a city bus and transferring at midtown to the harbor line. The Titans all had bus passes on them and Xander had to borrow bus fare from Beast Boy.
"Yes, fear and excitement are very nutritious," Xander assured her. "You already knew we fed on emotional energy."
"Yes, but I felt an… echo and it's getting stronger," she explained.
Xander froze. "We are about to give birth. Our Other did not think it important to mention."
"What do we do!?" Beast Boy exclaimed.
"Boil water and tear up some sheets!" Xander ordered.
"On it!" Beast Boy yelled running off.
Xander settled back into the chair.
"Breathe, Honey," Starfire told him, taking his hand and trying to get him to try Lamaze.
"Just watch our belly," Xander told her as a black bubble slowly began to form over his stomach.
The Titans leaned in close as what appeared to be a ball of tar expanded into a small black figure… that immediately leapt onto Cyborg's face.
"Arrrgh!" Cyborg yelled throwing himself backwards as it turned to liquid and started covering his entire body.
"Don't fight it!" Xander ordered, jumping to his feet. "Accept the bond!"
"Is this normal?" Starfire asked.
"Unfortunately," Xander agreed cheerfully.
"Wedgie!" Cyborg yelped rolling around on the carpet. "How is this possible?! I don't even have those parts!"
"What do we need to do?" Robin demanded.
"Nothing," Raven said feeling the amusement of Xander and his symbiote, as well as Cyborg calming down under the projected joy of his symbiote as it bonded to him.
Cyborg laid still, his entire form covered in a layer of solid black before it morphed once more into skin and hair. Opening his eyes he climbed to his feet with an expression of awe. "I-I can feel," he whispered examining his now human looking hands.
"He's human?" Robin asked.
"He's still a cyborg, but his Other can easily substitute for missing skin and even limbs if need be," Xander explained.
"I can see that," said a red faced Raven, quickly turning away.
"Huh?" Cyborg glanced down and saw his symbiote had replaced more than just his legs. "I-I'm so happy!"
"Yes, we can see," Xander told him.
"Ahh!" Cyborg covered himself with his hands.
Typing by: The Last Primarch!