Author's Note: Okay, I had my fluffy birthday chapter; I swear the next chapters will be moving the plot forward! Thanks so much for all the birthday wishes! And crazedduke, I updated before the end of the week, where's my cookie? Just kidding, keep your cookie. I have birthday cake. :D Now on with the story!

DOUBLE DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. Didn't own Teen Titans yesterday, either!

Chapter 8

It's been about a month since Vic died and school is so different now.

Everyone went on with their lives, of course, but the whole school seems… Darker, without Vic's upbeat energy. Nobody's seen Gar since the night of the accident, but he texted me the next day. He told me since he was 18, he volunteered for some medical testing. He said it was to make some extra money, but I think he just wanted a reason to not come to school. I can't blame him. If I lost my best friend, I wouldn't want to come to school either.

Wally had lost a lot of his pep and vigor. The fact that Jenny -Or, Jinx or whatever the hell she calls herself now- might have been the cause of Vic's death was just too much for him. Even when we would go out as the Teen Titans, the question on all the civilians' minds was "Where's Kid Flash?" Robin gave up on trying to get him to fight with us. Besides, the crime level has been too slow for Kid Flash anyway.

On the bright side, my 18th birthday was coming up. Richard and I were walking home from a date, hand in hand, discussing the matter of my party… Or, lack thereof.

"Kori, how have you not had a birthday party in high school?"

"I never really wanted one. I didn't have many people to invite and I don't know how to host a party."

"Then you won't have to. That settles it; I am throwing you an 18th birthday party at my house."

"Richard, you don't have to do that. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure Bruce wouldn't let you do that."

"Already taken care of. Bruce and Alfred are going out of town this weekend. So that means I am throwing my beautiful, amazing girlfriend an 18th birthday party."

I sigh, knowing there's no way to win this one.

"Fine, if you insist."

He grins in triumph and kisses my cheek.

"I do insist. You deserve a fun party."

"If you- Richard, look at that cat."

He turns to see what I'm looking at and there's a small striped kitty waking on the sidewalk. Normally a stray cat wouldn't be a big deal, but this cat was. A little because it had big adorable eyes, mostly because it was green. Once the green cat saw us looking at it, it starts running away from us. Out of instinct I follow it. I hear Richard shouting at me not to follow it and it probably had rabies or something, but I ignore him. I'm sure he's running right behind me though. We follow the cat down a dead end ally. The cat looks terrified when it realizes it's trapped.

"There's nothing to be afraid of little kitty. I'm not going to-"

I stop in the middle of my sentence, too shocked to remember what I was going to say. As my eyes adjust to ally's dim lighting, I see a large silhouette appear behind the cat. Then, before my eyes, the cat shifts into a boy with pointed ears, green skin and familiar green eyes. As the larger figure comes closer, I see the figure is a very tall, muscular man who has two different eyes peeking out from under a hoodie. One grey eye I never thought I'd see again, the other appeared to be a red light. I gather my thoughts before finally speaking.

"Gar? Vic? Is that you?"

"No ma'am."

"You must be mistaking us for someone else."

"I'd know your voices anywhere. Oh my God, Vic, how are you alive! And Gar, what the hell happened to you, we've all been worried sick!"

They both sigh.

"Well, no point in trying to deny it now. Gar, you tell your story first."

"Fine. Well, those medical tests I volunteered for? Turns out they were trial runs for some DNA altering cure for cancer. Whatever they did altered my genetic makeup too much and now… Well, now my skin is green and my ears are pointed and I can shift into animals on command."

I was about to ask how that was possible but then I remembered I'm literally an alien and therefore had no room to talk. Sometime during this conversation, I felt Richard come to my side and wrap his arm around my waist.

"Okay, I spoke my piece, they think I'm crazy, Vic, it's your turn now."

Vic looks conflicted but tentatively reaches up to pull down his hood, revealing his new face. His new, half human half robot face.

"My dad just couldn't let me die. When the doctor declared me dead, he somehow managed to get my body home and perform his own operations. The end result was this. He decided having a son who's a monster was better than having a dead son. When he realized I was horrified by what he did, not happy, we got into a fight and I left. Last week, I ran into Gar and we've been sticking together ever since. Nobody will take us in cause they're afraid of us. So we spend our nights anywhere I can find an outlet to use."

"That isn't fair; you shouldn't have to live like this."

"But it's how the world works, Richard. Admit it; even you're scared of us right now."

"No, I'm not."

"I'm not either."

Vic and Gar look shocked by this.

"You're not?"
"Why?"

"Simple. You're our friends. Just because you look different on the outside doesn't change who you are on the inside."

"Plus, we can help you."

"How?"

I smile at their unison.

"Because we are Robin and Starfire of the Teen Titans. And I think you'd both make great additions to the team."

"Well that's nice, but where will we live?"

"You can stay with me at Wayne Manor, Bruce won't mind."

"Alright, but I don't wanna impose forever. I've been thinking about building a place on that rocky island off the shore line."

"Huh… We'll talk more about that later, you might be on to something there. In the meantime, let's head home and talk about picking aliases for you."

Gar and Vic smile and follow Richard and I back Wayne Manor. I was over the moon. My friends were back and everything seemed to be falling back into place.

Oh, Kori, when will you learn? It is my job to make your life as abnormal as possible for the sake of entertaining very kind strangers on the internet. Woo! Got the original five Titans together! Don't worry; the story STILL isn't over yet! There's still so much to resolve! Next chapter is Kori's birthday party, what could possibly go right there? Until then, my lovely readers and reviewers, please R&R! -Starprincess