Disclaimer: Teen Titans and the rest of the DC heroes and villains, aside from original characters devised by myself and JOUNOUCHI-sama, belong to DC Comics and Warner Brothers, not us. We make no money or other profit whatsoever from this story, only the satisfaction of knowing this story's at least being read keeps us going.
Note: Sorry I've been away for so long, been a little low on energy when it comes to this story. But never mind that now, I'm back and I'm ready to do some more chapters for this story. Darkwinter999, your concerns have been well-noted and I will try my best to make Nightwing/Redwing a little less Stu-ish.
In the meantime, if you readers remember correctly, Redwing's cousin just came in at the end of the last chapter I posted. Whoever this guy is, will he be a new ally to the Titans like Redwing . . . or a wildcard that might be more trouble than necessary? Then again, that question hasn't been quite answered when it comes to Redwing, either, so the possibility does certainly exist. . . . Red herrings aside, though, let's rock!
~FTF~
"Titan of the Future"
Chapter 5: "To Encounter"
~FTF~
In Smallville, Jonathan and Martha Kent were just going about their day like normal when they saw a fiery blur in the sky. At first thinking it might have been Clark, they weren't all that worried. Then that blur crashed down on the ground – and they could clearly see that it wasn't Clark. The boy there looked somewhat like Clark, but his costume was largely black with a winged symbol colored red-and-gold like a sunset.
Jonathan came out first, keeping his shotgun ready to defend himself with in case the strange boy turned out to be hostile. "Who are you?"
"Hey, Grandpa," the boy greeted him, looking completely unsurprised and holding his hands up in surrender.
"Who are you?" Jonathan repeated.
"Flamebird," the boy replied. "Or would the name Jonathan Kent II be better?"
"Jonathan Kent II?" Jonathan repeated. "What are you talking about?"
Flamebird lowered his hands but kept them visible. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just got hungry and I figured to come here. Don't exactly have any money on me right now." He sighed.
"Really? Where'd you come from?" Jonathan asked.
"The future," Flamebird replied. "Anyway, is it ok if I come in? I'm starving, and Grandma Martha's apple pie sounds good . . ."
Martha smiled. "Let him in."
"You sure?" Jonathan asked, catching a nod from Martha.
"I'm sure," Martha confirmed.
Jonathan chuckled a bit. "Might as well. Who else would know about the pie but family?"
"Thanks," Flamebird said, sighing with relief. After being let inside the Kent residence, he was escorted to a seat in the dining room while Martha cooked up something for him to eat.
"So, who are you, exactly?" Jonathan asked.
"Well, I'm from the future, and I'm Clark's son," Flamebird replied. "He named me after you."
"Hmm, who's your mother?" Jonathan inquired.
"You'd probably call her Wonder Woman," Flamebird answered.
Jonathan arched his eyebrow with interest. "Really? Clark and Diana . . . together?"
"Yeah," Flamebird admitted. His tone grew somber. "Kinda hard to have kids with a dead woman."
Jonathan's amused expression faded into a saddened look. "I'm sorry to hear that. Even if she wasn't the first person I would have thought suitable for Clark . . . I still wouldn't wish that . . ."
"Are you going to tell Clark?" Martha asked.
"I'm not sure," Flamebird admitted. "On the one hand, my dad deserves to have every last bit of happiness he can get with Lois while she's still here. On the other . . . I'm kind of scared for my own existence. I mean, if my dad and mom never get together . . . I might never be born."
"I understand that," Jonathan said. "But I'm sure Clark taught you this, too, just as we taught him – sometimes, the life of an innocent person is worth more than what you want for yourself."
Flamebird smiled softly. "How did I know you were going to say that?"
"Maybe because I lived long enough to see you as an adorable little tyke?" Jonathan quipped.
Flamebird chuckled. "Thanks." He inhaled through his nose. "That pie smells so good."
"I guess that means she's ready," Jonathan remarked. "Now come on, let's eat, and maybe you can tell us if you have any brothers or sisters."
~FTF~
Back at Titans Tower in San Francisco, Bruce Grayson was getting himself ready for his date with Wonder Girl. He had properly applied the right amount of cologne, dressed in the finest suit he could afford, brushed, combed, and gelled his hair, and he even had a bouquet of Cassie's favorite flowers. There was just one more thing he needed, of course.
Goddess Aphrodite, please guide my hand and my lips so that I can be the proper gentleman on my date with Cassie, he thought.
"Well, that's interesting," a female voice remarked. "Never thought I'd hear a man pray to me."
"I'm not most guys," Bruce answered, turning to see Aphrodite, the Olympian goddess of love, in all her sensual, voluptuous finery in front of him.
"I can see that," Aphrodite commented.
"So, what brings you here?" Bruce asked.
"Your prayer," Aphrodite replied. "Plus, I find it interesting that I have a worshipper outside Themyscira. And if Diana isn't going to have that much of a love life, I can certainly watch out for her little sisters."
Bruce smiled softly. "Thanks. I . . . want to make sure Cassie has a great time with me. That's why I asked your help."
"Look at it this way; you'll never go wrong with me on your side," Aphrodite said. "Just stay on Cassie's good side, and we're – how shall I put this – golden."
"Thanks," Bruce repeated. He smiled softly. Just then, he heard a knock on the door. He turned to see if Aphrodite was still there, only to find she'd disappeared. Figuring it was Cassie, he answered the door, finding her standing on the other side in a red blouse and black knee-length skirt with nearly sheer stockings and fashionable black boots. "Hi. You look great."
"So do you, Bruce," Cassie replied.
Bruce retrieved the bouquet and gave it to her. "These are for you."
"Thanks," Cassie said. She placed the flowers close to her nose and inhaled through it. "They smell great. Thank you."
"You're welcome," Bruce replied. "Ready to go?"
"Yeah," Cassie answered. "Just let me put these away."
Once the flowers were taken care of, Bruce and Cassie exited Titans Tower, standing on the island surrounding it. "Where are you taking me?" she asked.
"Have you ever had dinner in Paris?" Bruce asked.
"Not like this, no," Cassie replied.
Bruce smiled. "You're going to love this. I guarantee it." Linking her hand with his, they flew into the sky at high speed, Bruce leading her toward Paris. He'd been scouting the world in his spare time, looking for good places to eat. Besides, it was easier to pass for just another young couple in love outside the places where they were known so well in their superhero identities.
~FTF~
After once again experiencing Ma Kent's apple pie, Flamebird thanked the Kents and resumed his path to Titans Tower. Ma Kent had given him a special present, though, something she felt a dearly departed member of the family would want him to have.
Once he got into the city, he found himself in a fight with the Brotherhood of Evil. Frankly, he had no idea what they were up to, but it was probably something thoroughly depraved. Thus, it was his duty, he believed, to stop them.
Goldilocks attempted to grab Flamebird with her hair. "Not exactly the best idea you've had, little lady," Flamebird commented, and a quick surgical blast of heat vision cut him free, much to her pain as her hair burned.
"You big creep!" she yelled. "I'm gonna make you pay for that!"
"You can do that," Flamebird answered unconcernedly, just before tying her up with a length of cable. Plasmus came after Flamebird, but Flamebird dodged him and used his arctic breath to freeze him in place. "That should cool you down for a while. Who's next?"
Warp teleported all around Flamebird, attacking him from different angles in an attempt to get the better of him. "Even you're not fast enough to catch me!" he taunted.
"Wanna bet?" Flamebird asked, shooting some heat vision into one of Warp's portals. Just as Warp was about to attack him again, the blast of heat vision came out of another portal and struck him in the side.
"How . . . ?"
"You're predictable, that's how."
At that moment, multiple tentacle-like spears came at Flamebird, who barely managed to dodge. "Whoever you are, pretty boy, you're not going to last long here," Gemini taunted him.
"Really?" Flamebird asked. "Because it looks like I beat the crap out of all your friends."
Gemini responded to that remark with a brutal whip-punch that caught Flamebird by surprise with its speed and force. "Not so cocky now, are you?"
"Wow, you can really hit," Flamebird remarked. "Gonna be a real shame, doing this to a lovely lady like you."
"Why, thank you," Gemini preened. "But flattery won't save you."
"No, but it gives me enough time to do this!" Flamebird retorted, literally turning up the heat to essentially sunstroke Gemini into submission. "Hmm, you don't look so hot . . ."
"Who are you?" Robin asked.
"Hi!" Flamebird greeted. "You must be the Teen Titans! Nice to meet you guys!"
"You didn't answer the question, smart guy," Robin insisted. "Who are you?"
"Flamebird."
"Flamebird? I thought Flamebird was a girl," Ravager remarked.
"Well, she wasn't using the name by the time I got to it," Flamebird said. "Is there a problem?"
"Depends," Supergirl answered.
"On what?" Flamebird asked.
"On whether or not you're trustworthy," Robin replied.
"You just saw me beat up the Brotherhood of Evil!" Flamebird shouted. "How am I not trustworthy?"
"Plenty of other people who want to beat up the Brotherhood of Evil," Robin observed. "Doesn't make them all trustworthy. We should know."
"Oh . . . you mean that creep Caulder," Flamebird surmised. "Well, I'm not with him, I don't want to be with him, and I'm entirely on the side of the good guys."
"What are you doing here?" Robin asked.
"I'm looking for my cousin Nightwing," Flamebird explained. "We're from the future, and we were chasing down this time-jumping crook when something went wrong and we got spat out in different time periods. I was wondering if you could help me find him."
Robin looked at Flamebird. "We know what you're talking about."
"You mean you've seen him?" Flamebird asked.
"Yeah, something along those lines," Kid Devil replied. "He actually slept in our Tower."
"So he's one of you guys?" Flamebird asked.
"At least until he is able to return to his own time," Miss Martian answered. "He is a very . . . interesting person."
Flamebird smiled. "I know."
"So you're here looking for him?" Ravager asked.
"Yeah," Flamebird affirmed.
"He's out on a date with Wonder Girl," Supergirl mentioned. "They're in Paris right now."
Flamebird chuckled. "Nightwing always did know how to impress girls."
"You wanna wait for him?" Robin asked.
"Might as well," Flamebird replied. "Not like I got anywhere to stay right now."
"You may stay with us!" Miss Martian declared. When the other Titans looked at her oddly, she just smiled. "I can tell when someone is telling the truth. He is telling the truth."
"All right," Robin said. "But don't think we won't be watching you."
"Aye-aye, captain," Flamebird replied with a mock salute.
Robin resisted the urge to groan in irritation. I can see it runs in the family.
~FTF~
The date with Cassie had been quite pleasant, Bruce reflected quietly. After finishing dinner at a restaurant he'd enjoyed taking past girlfriends to – or technically future girlfriends, given his particular origins – they'd gone to see the sights of Paris. The Bastille had been one of them, and Cassie let out an involuntary shiver as they toured the place.
"Something wrong?" Bruce asked.
"Just some bad auras," Cassie replied.
"From all the bad karma built up in this place?" Bruce surmised. "I get that."
"Yeah," Cassie concurred.
"Wasn't your mother an archaeologist or something like that?"
"Yeah, she is. She'd have loved seeing this place, although she was more interested in stuff even older than this."
"She's an interesting woman," Bruce remarked offhandedly.
Cassie arched her eyebrow with interest. "You sound like you've already met her."
"Let's just say we know each other well back in my time," Bruce replied somewhat cryptically.
"Why do I get the feeling there's more to this than you're telling me?" Cassie asked.
"Because there is," Bruce answered. "I'm just trying not to completely warp the timeline." His cocky demeanor vanished as he remembered a stack of newspapers they'd passed back at the restaurant. Specifically, the date was now prodding his brain like a jackhammer. "Oh, crap."
"What's wrong?" Cassie asked.
"We'd better get to Central City fast," Bruce replied, all levity gone from his voice. "Very fast."
"What's going on, Bruce?" Cassie questioned him.
"Today's the day another Flash dies," Bruce stated grimly. "Unless we stop it." He immediately sped out of the Bastille, quick-changing into his Redwing costume with Cassie following him, changing into her Wonder Girl costume.
~FTF~
He had to stop them. Stop Inertia's machine, stop the Rogues, and somehow save the city from being completely obliterated in the process of his twin's scheme. How he was going to do that without his link to the Speed Force . . . was something he didn't quite know, but he owed it to the people he loved to try.
Steely resolution settling within his golden eyes, Bart Allen, alias the Flash, ran toward the machine, even as the Rogues moved to intercept him. With reflexes honed from years of training by Max Mercury, by Jay Garrick, by training sessions in Young Justice and Teen Titans, he dodged or deflected the Rogues' assaults. Using moves he'd learned from the police academy and from Robin, he fought off the Rogues that were trying to stop him.
Unfortunately, the Rogues wouldn't give up, either, which made it rather difficult for Bart to get to the machine. Just as they aimed their weapons at him, ready to just shoot him down, something zipped in front of them and disarmed them, with a little bit of extra injury thrown in.
"What the hell?!" Mirror Master shouted.
"Nope, not quite," a voice remarked.
Bart looked curiously at his savior, realizing that the costume was different even if the voice sounded like a very recent acquaintance. "Nightwing?"
"Redwing now," the young man replied. "Someone's already using Nightwing, and he does a better job of it than I do."
Meanwhile, Wonder Girl had caught Inertia in her lasso and shocked him, channeling all her anger from the thought that Bart Allen would have died because of him into the lasso. With Inertia and the Rogues downed for the moment, Bart picked up Heat Wave's flamethrower and used it on the machine that trapped the Speed Force, freeing the lightning from its cage.
"Hey, Bart," Wonder Girl greeted him. "Long time, no see."
"Yeah," Bart said. "Thanks a bunch. How'd you know I was in trouble?"
"Thank Redwing," Wonder Girl replied. "He already knew how this day was going to go for you, since he's from the future and all."
"Yeah," Redwing confirmed. "I didn't think Robin and Wonder Girl needed any more dead friends."
"Thanks," Bart said.
Just then, Valerie Perez, Bart's girlfriend and an intern at S.T.A.R. Labs, came over along with Iris West-Allen. "I didn't see this coming," Iris remarked, looking at Redwing curiously. "And you, I don't think I've ever seen before. But . . ." She looked at him with gratitude. "I owe you my grandson's life."
"Let's just say my future isn't as good as it could be," Redwing answered. "Bart being there could make it better. That's why I came here."
Valerie hugged Bart tightly, who pulled off his mask so he could look at her with his uncovered eyes. "Bart?" she asked.
"I think . . . I love you, Val," he answered quietly, as though he wasn't sure how she'd react.
Valerie hugged him even tighter, and he returned her embrace.
"Hey, Bart!" Redwing called out. "Visit Titans Tower sometime! Everybody misses you, man."
Bart smiled at Redwing. "Thanks. I'll do that."
"And Rose will be happy to see you, too!" Redwing added, prompting Wonder Girl to jab him in the side with her elbow. "What?" Wonder Girl just looked at him like he was some kind of maniac or moron, to which Redwing answered with a charming smile.
"Who's Rose?" Valerie asked.
"Old friend of mine," Bart replied. "We were Titans together, once."
~FTF~
When Redwing and Wonder Girl returned to Titans Tower from their date and from saving Bart Allen from certain death, they found a surprise waiting for them. "Hey, Bruce," a voice familiar to Redwing greeted him. "Nice to see you. And you're already macking, huh? Just your style."
"Flamebird?" Redwing asked, seeing his cousin waiting for him.
"You know him?" Wonder Girl asked.
"He's my cousin," Redwing replied. "We're crime-fighting partners. And apparently he's followed me to take me back to our time."
"Not just yet," Flamebird amended. "My machine was damaged, too. Looks like we're both stuck here for a while."
"We've been getting to know him," Ravager added, smirking. "And you . . . we had no idea you were so interesting."
"What have you been telling them?" Redwing asked.
"Oh, not much," Flamebird replied. "Just that you're really fond of Aunt Kara's daughter's cat. Like, so fond you tried to kidnap her back when you guys were little."
"That was a long time ago!" Redwing protested.
"Yeah, but she still remembers," Flamebird rejoined, grinning at Redwing's distress.
"You guys act more like brothers than cousins," Kid Devil observed.
"Well, I guess I know to keep you away from my daughter when I have one," Supergirl commented with a grin.
Redwing sighed. "I really miss the days when I was the cool, mysterious guy from the future to you all."
"You're not as cool as you like to think you are," Flamebird said. "You want cool? I'm a Prince of Themyscira."
"Wait, how's that even possible?" Blue Beetle asked. "I thought all the Amazons were women!"
"They are," Flamebird affirmed. "My mother is Wonder Woman."
"You've gotta be kidding me," Wonder Girl uttered in sheer disbelief, and the other Titans looked puzzled, too. "Diana is your mother?"
"Yeah," Flamebird admitted.
"So who's the lucky guy?" Wonder Girl asked.
"Superman," Flamebird answered.
"Well . . . I guess it was going to happen, sooner or later," Robin mused.
"I thought they were together already and just keeping it on the down-low for the public," Ravager brought up.
"That's what you think," Robin mumbled.
"Something you're not telling us, Boy Wonder?" Ravager asked sarcastically.
Robin decided it was a good idea to keep his mouth shut, lest he let something slip that would compromise Clark's identity. It wasn't something that needed to be known by everyone, after all.
"I think things will be very interesting around here," Miss Martian observed.
"Tell me about it," Kid Devil commented.
"You guys are just full of surprises, aren't you?" Supergirl remarked.
"We are," Redwing admitted with a smile, nudging Flamebird with his elbow. Flamebird just punched him lightly in the shoulder.