A/N: WARNING: this is a SHORT chapter. I needed to introduce a character, and I needed to give a filler between two of the teenage chapters. Don't be mad, the adults should get good soon...

Disclaimer: We've been over this...I don't own Teen Titans

TT2

Sunday September 6, 2019

Later that night, at about five o clock, Victor got the call that stated his laboratory had been broken into. He was told not to worry since it seemed as if nothing had been taken, and he would be able to assess the damage the next day when he came into work. This information did not calm him in the least; he was very on edge.

"Vic, they said nothing had been taken, right?" Gar started in an attempt to calm his unnerved friend. "Don't worry, I'm sure it's fine."

"But what if they stole the blueprints for my holo-ring? Who knows what they could do with them. They could be sold on the black market, or mass-produced, or…or…." Vic trailed off and sighed. "Whatever, I just won't think about it."

"Yea, think about something else to keep your mind occupied…Jenna, perhaps?" Garfield quipped.

Garfield and Raven had been told about "Jinx", and they both acted surprised when they heard (though they had both already known). Victor had pulled him aside when they both volunteered to go get drinks from the fridge and thanked him for keeping his secret.

"Who even knows about my new project?" he asked himself aloud. "I mean, who would WANT my project, besides the millions of dollars it's worth? It doesn't make any sense."

"What if whoever broke into your lab did not break in for your rings. What if they broke in for something other than those rings?" Kori suggested innocently. "I am meaning, that is not the only project you are working on right now, correct?"

"Well…no…" Victor trailed off, rubbing his bald head. "I guess there's no use worrying about it tonight, anyways."

The five friends continued to watch the football game in silence, Raven and Kori in hushed conversation as not to bother the boys watching their precious sports. Suddenly, Victor's cell phone that was situated on the coffee table began to ring loudly, making 3/5 of the people in the room jump.

Victor picked it up, and without a word, went into the hallway. The caller ID read Jenna. "Hey there," he stated into the receiver.

"Hey babe," the voice on the other end sounded. "Look, I'm sorry, but I can't come back tonight. After my staff meeting, I got an emergency call from my sister, and she wants me to look after her son. He's sixteen, but they had a scare lately when someone broke into their house and she doesn't want him alone. I'm really sorry," she smoothly lied.

"Well, if he doesn't mind, he's welcome over here to watch the game with us," Victor offered. "Really, it's ok."

"Are you sure?" Jenna asked. "I mean, I know you already have a lot of people there with the Titans and all…" she trailed off.

"I'm sure, Jenna. You can bring him over, it's fine, I promise," he told her.

"Thanks," she replied sweetly. "You really are the best."

"Only second to you. I'll see you in twenty."

"Bye babe," she closed, before a short beep signaled the end of their connection.

Victor returned to his living room and plopped down into the comfortable seat cushion in between Richard and Garfield. "Jenna's coming over, and she's bringing her nephew…she's on babysitting duty for tonight."

Garfield and Richard grunted in response, watching the play with immense interest. "Cool," Kori and Raven both responded uninterestedly, both caught up in conversation with one another.

Victor rolled his eyes and chuckled to himself. "Some things will never change."

A commercial soon came, which meant the girls would join their fiancées on the couch, cuddling close, while engaging in conversation.

"The New Titans are doing pretty good, aren't they?" Gar asked, loosening his grip around Raven's waist to brush back locks of his emerald hair. None of them were wearing their rings, besides Victor, who insisted he didn't want to tear hic couch's fabric with his gears.

"Yea, they are. This new team's amazing. Might just outdo us!" Richard joked with a small smirk. "And I hear they take after their predecessors. Kyle is the spitting likeness of Batman and I, and Sara and Kimi are most definitely the group's Starfire. And not to mention Taku, the group's Beast Boy."

"I've actually heard that," Raven commented. "I read in the papers, some reporter's opinion, that this group is most definitely like us."

"Did you hear about my daughter's new little nemesis?" Kori asked gleefully. "She has her first big foe...I couldn't be prouder!"

Richard looked to his fiancée in an inquisitive manner, but let it go. "Apparently. Anyways-" but Richard was cut off by the ringing of the doorbell. Victor happily jumped up to go answer it, knowing it would be Jenna.

"Who is it?" he asked in a sing-song voice as he approached the door.

"Who do you think it is?" she retorted.

"I don't know. Some random caller at five-thirty," he replied innocently, before letting the door swing open. "Hey baby."

"Hey yourself," she replied, leaning up on her toes to kiss him softly. "I couldn't stand being without you for an hour," she stated in a soft and sad voice, poking out her lower lip. "Did you miss me?"

"More than I've ever missed anyone," he replied truthfully, with a small smirk.

"Well," Jenna stepped back and motioned to a figure in the doorway. "This is Jake. He's my nephew. Jake, say hi."

"Hi," the boy mumbled. Victor looked him over for just a few seconds. His first impression was to think as if the boy had not eaten in two weeks. He wasn't anorexic-thin, but he could be classified as somewhat close. The tight black shirt he was wearing showed off the only muscles he had, in his arms and abdomen. He had ruffled brunette hair with black streaks, and dark, almost black, eyes with a bit of green, and a fashion sense that screamed 'I've raided Raven's closet'. A laptop case was slung over his shoulder.

"Hey," Vic greeted, sticking out his hand to shake. Jake merely ignored it and walked past Victor into the hallway, which opened into nearly all the rooms in the house.

"Nice place you got here," he complimented in a monotone voice.

"Uh…thanks," Victor replied. He closed the door softly, and turned to give Jenna an inquisitive look.

Jenna smiled nervously and blushed softly. "Um…Jake's a bit…anti-social with adults. Don't get me wrong, he's plenty social, but only with people his own age. He's going through his 'I'm a depressed and misunderstood teenager' phase," Jenna explained. "Don't mind his manners, he wasn't exactly raised by the best of people. Of course I love my sister, and she's not a villain by any means, but she has a short fuse and no use for politeness," she lied again.

"Ahh…" Victor trailed off. "I get what you mean."

The pair followed Jake into the living room where everyone was sitting. He took a seat in an empty armchair, relaxing for a second. "Guys, this is Jake," Victor explained. "He's Jenna's nephew. He's going to watch the game with us, k?"

There was a murmur of agreement, and Victor and Jenna took a spot on the couch. "Anyways, as I was saying," Richard continued. "Apparently, their new foe is some guy who calls himself Black Baron."

Unnoticed by anyone, Jake's ears perked up as he curled himself up in the arm chair. He began listening intently to their conversation.

"He's apparently really good, or that's what I've heard. Taku really got hurt bad today at S.T.A.R. I mean, this guy is by no stretch of the imagination the next Slade, but he could be dangerous," Richard stated seriously. "And we all know how capable teenage boys are of committing crimes. Just look at Red X. Come to think of it, this boy might be the next Red X."

Victor, though, ignored the 'he might be the next Red X' comment. "Taku got hurt? At S.T.A.R.?"he asked worriedly.

"Yea. Laser to the arm. Apparently the only thing he's susceptible to," Richard responded.

"That's horrible," Raven gasped.

"It was all fine, in the end," Richard told them. "Clara healed him, and he should be able to use his arm as normal as he was able to before. I sense something going on between them. Maybe the next Beast Boy and Raven?"

Raven smirked. "Well I definitely think I see Sara and Kyle as the next Robin and Starfire. He's going to be too obsessed with his work, and one day she'll take matters into her own hands, slap him, and tell him that she loves him."

Kori and Richard blushed thirteen shades of red. "It did not happen in exactly that way…" Kori trailed off. "I assure you. There was no slapping, and there was no 'taking of the matters into my own hands'. There was only my proclamation of love."

"Yea, sure," Raven replied jokingly.

The game came back on and the chatter soon died down (well, Raven and Kori continued talking). Jake pulled out his laptop, and began typing furiously.

Thirty minutes later, Jenna released herself from Victor's arms to go over and see what he was doing as he furiously typed.

"Can I go to Joe-Joe's house?" Jake asked spiritedly, looking back down to his computer and typing again. "He just got his tonsils out and he has them in a jar!"

Jenna looked onto the screen of the laptop and raised her eyebrows. It was apparent he was IMing his friends. "Ew. No. I'm sure your mother wouldn't want you out looking at parts of people's bodies," Jenna told him, responsible female figure that she was.

"Fine," he sighed in exasperation. "Then at six thirty can I go to Andrew's house? He just got the new Korn CD and Leila's going over there listen to it too."

"We'll see," Jenna replied meditatively. "If you're a good boy."

"Well, it takes fifteen minutes to get over there so I need to know by six," he told her. "Besides, I'm ALWAYSa good boy." Then, he added, "Just nothing you ever see." There was a slight pause. "Please?"

"I guess you can go. Your mom didn't tell you that you couldn't hang out with Andrew anymore? I thought she didn't trust that boy?" she asked inquisitively.

"No, that's Tommy she doesn't like," he whispered, keeping his voice down so he didn't disturb the Titans watching the game. "And can I take your car?" Jenna looked taken aback at such a prospect. "Please?"

"If you must. You know I trust you as a driver, so please don't destroy that trust," she told him, kissing the top of his head tenderly. "Be back by eight, I need the car to get home, ok bubby?"

"Ok," he whispered, closing his laptop and slipping it back into the case. "Seeya later Aunt Jenna."

The Titans exchanged slight awkward goodbyes with the teenager they had only seen for all of thirty minutes. Jenna returned to her position with Victor on the couch as she watched her nephew walk out the hallway. Moments later the door closed with a soft click, and they knew he had left.

"Well, he's a nice boy," Victor stated at the next commercial break. "A little quiet, but nice."

"Yea," Jenna started softly and sadly. "I love him like he were my own child. A little hell-raiser, he is, though. I think he has a bit of his auntie in 'em."

Victor chuckled softly. "I'm sure he does, Jenna."

TT2