A/N: Hey howdy everyone. I'm going to have some more extensive author's notes at the end of the chapter. Apologies again for floating the Thanksgiving chapter in the middle of the story; I tried to get this chapter done in time to have the Thanksgiving bit go somewhere in here, but it just wasn't happening and I didn't want to lower the quality by rushing. Anywho, the chapter turned out mostly how I wanted it to with a little more work. Hope you guys like it, and please remember to review ;)

Chapter Twenty Eight (picks up right after Chapter Twenty Six)

"Who are you?" Damian all but growled.

"Billy Hong. I just introduced myself a moment ago. I really wish you'd pay attention."

Lian stepped in front of Damian, thinking it for the best if she kept herself positioned between the angry teen and their mysterious guest. "Your name doesn't really tell us an awful lot about you though, hon. How'd you get in around our security system?"

"I'm a magician," Billy said simply.

Damian scowled. "We were given supplies from the Justice League that takes magic into consideration."

Everyone turned to look at Jai, who'd gone pale. "Th-the Thanagarian stuff…" He cleared his throat nervously. "The Thanagarian stuff blocks the magic. I'm still trying to figure out how it works."

"Perhaps we should give Hawkman a call then," Damian said with a light sneer.

Lian frowned. "I think we should give Tech more than one day before we start going over his head. And, y'know, deal with the matter at hand. Billy? You wanna tell us why you're here?"

"To join your team." He smirked. "Again, I've already said that." He leaned his elbows on the conference table and knit his long fingers together.

Lian shrugged, then sat down across from him. Slowly, the rest of the Titans took their seats and turned to face the stranger. "Alrighty. Why do you want to join us?" Lian asked.

"Because you need me."

"We most certainly do no-"

"Shaytun, I think we should hear him out."

"I'm supposed to be the leader here, and I don't think we need to waste our time listening to every stray who turns up on our doorstep. This sets an awful precedent."

Lian rubbed at her eyes around her mask. "Everyone in favor of hearing Billy out say 'aye'." She held up her hand and shouted "Aye!"

As did nearly everyone else seated at the table. The only person who didn't join in was X'hawn, and that's because he was too busy staring fearfully at Damian.

Bart smirked. "You're outvoted Shaytun. Billy, please continue."

"Thanks." He nodded at Bart. "For starters, I'm tactically useful. You guys have assembled yourselves into a pretty good team, but you're a little low on powers. Shaytun, Speedy, and Tech are gifted, but still normal humans with exploitable limitations, and Burst is still learning how to use his powers. You have notable limits that your enemies will exploit."

The room went silent, and one by one the Titans snuck looks at Damian. His expression was stony. Finally, he winced and begrudgingly nodded. "He's not wrong."

"No, I'm not," Billy said, obviously satisfied with Damian's reaction. "In addition…for personal reasons, you'll find me quite useful a few years down the line."

"What happens then?" Lian asked.

"What else?" Billy returned. "A cosmic level crisis."

"Mm, we do seem to go through an awful lot of those, don't we?" she joked. Billy smiled at her, and she fought not to blush.

He was really cute. Not like Damian, who was all power and muscle and brooding good looks. Billy was almost pretty, with his slender frame, his shining brown eyes and his long, silky hair. Plus it was really, really fun to see someone else get under Damian's skin so competently.

"You said for personal reasons. What reasons?" Damian snapped.

Billy reluctantly turned away from Lian and gave his attention to Damian. "My abilities derive from my ability to channel the Zhutanese deity Meshta. This, and the actions of my father, have earned me the enmity of a demon king named Neron. When he makes his next bid for power, I'll be at the center of an incredible battle whether you accept me on your team or not. Meshta has led me to believe that I'm not meant to fight Neron alone, thus why I've come here."

"Who's your father?" Damian asked.

Something pained flickered through Billy's eyes, but it was gone almost as soon as Lian noticed it. He pressed his lips into a tight line, and then finally answered. "His name was James Jesse."

"The Trickster?" Bart yelped. "I remember that guy! Didn't he get shot in the…I'm sorry."

Billy's face was an expressionless mask, betraying no emotion despite his momentary lapse at the first mention of his deceased father. Lian made a mental note to get the full story on the Trickster's death from Irey once they were alone.

Apparently that kind of respect eluded Damian. "I still don't see why we should allow you to join our team based on the provenance of a deceased second rate supervillain."

Billy's eyes narrowed in dislike. "There was nothing second rate about my father, just so you know. And I'm not asking to be let in just because my father was a reformed supercriminal. I'm just giving you some background. Neron takes issue with me because I can channel his primal enemy, and because my father disrupted his bids for power on Earth. Multiple times. Your father was bloody useless during those messes, I might add."

Damian jumped to his feet, face set in anger. Again, Lian dove between them, desperate to put some space between the heated young men. "Whoa! Okay, so I think we should all probably just take a step back, and take some deep breaths. Um…and not punch anyone. That'd be my favorite part, the not punching."

"You're freaking out your teammates, Wayne," Billy said.

And then the room went quiet for a new reason.

Billy closed his eyes in a wince and gave a little nod. "Right, I'm not supposed to know your identities yet. I'm…sorry. That was unprofessional."

"Unprofessional?!" Irey shrieked. "Unprofessional is one thing! That was creepy! How do you know who we are?! Do you know who we all are?!"

Billy turned to look at Irey with a sad smile. "Yes Iris, I know who all of you are. But I promise you right now, my intentions suit yours. I come here as an ally."

"How do you know our names?" Irey asked.

"Meshta told me. He's told me all about you. All of you. I really am here to help."

Lian studied Billy's face, looking for any sign of anything the least bit dubious. His low, quiet voice rang with confidence and sincerity. "I…trust him."

"I don't," Damian said immediately.

"You don't like him though," Irey said with a snort.

"I don't see how that's relevant."

The girls both rolled their eyes.

"We could give Piper a call."

Everyone turned to look at Jai, who seemed to regret speaking once everyone's attention was on him. "Um, it's just…he was friends with the first Trickster, wasn't he? Maybe he can vouch for Billy's claims."

Bart turned back towards Billy. "Tech's right. What do you think Billy? You okay with us looking into your background a little before we make a decision about your place on the team?"

"I still don't think-"

"We need a tank, Shaytun, and magic users are tanks by default," Cassie said, speaking over Damian.

Damian crossed his arms over his chest and let out an indignant huff.

"You're perfectly welcome to investigate my claims," Billy said. He rose to his feet and casually smoothed some wrinkles out of the dark fabric of his dress shirt. "I'd also suggest giving Zatanna and her cousin a call. I have a fair few references in the magical community."

"Alright, sounds good. In the meantime, um…continue keeping our identities secret for us?" Bart asked.

Billy smirked. "Of course. When do you think you'll have made your decision about me?"

"Check back next weekend," Cassie said. She glanced around the room, taking in the scowl on Damian's face, Lian's reddened cheeks, and Irey's slightly dazed smile. "I'm sure we'll have made our minds up by then."

"Alright. I'll see you all in a week." He nodded first at the girls, then at Jai and X'hawn, who were sitting together on the other side of the table, and then he headed for the exit. He gave one more polite nod in Bart and Cassie's direction, then disappeared in a puff of smoke without acknowledging Damian.

Irey let out a nervous giggle. "I like him."

"Me too," Lian said. "The boy's got style."

"And magic users are useful," Jai added.

"Especially if they're healers," X'hawn said with a thoughtful frown.

Damian glared at all of them in turn, clearly resenting their enthusiasm. "We're waiting until next weekend to vote about this stranger."

"I've got something to put up to vote now," Irey said. "I vote we never have Shaytun represent us when we're trying to recruit new members."

A chorus of "Ayes" sounded from around the room. With a sound startlingly similar to a growl, Damian stomped out of the room, muttering darkly under his breath.

The kids spent most of Sunday getting to know each other and doing some basic team building exercises. It wasn't the most encouraging start to an incarnation in a legendary dynasty like the Teen Titans, but Cassie and Bart kept reminding them that it took time to develop a rapport with your teammates. The way Cassie and Bart worked with each other (and with Conner and Tim) couldn't be learned over night.

Lian still felt a bit gloomy when her father picked her up from the airport (Cassie was giving rides in the Titans jet to anyone who needed it). She dragged her feet a little as she walked over to meet him by the Starbucks, where he was waiting with a cup of hot chocolate for her.

"Hey Li. How'd the first…you okay Peanut?"

"Yeah. Just a little discouraged." She took the hot chocolate from him and worked to put a smile on her face. "Thanks Daddy."

They started walking towards the exit, Roy casting glances at her every now and then. "I didn't get any messages from anyone saying there were problems. Everyone's okay, right?"

"Irey got a little banged up in our first fight, but she shook it right off."

"Speedsters are good at that. So no one's hurt?"

"Nope. We just…kinda suck at working with each other."

"Oh." They'd reached the car by that point. Roy unlocked it and Lian threw her bag in the backseat. "I wouldn't worry about that, honey. That'll sort itself out with time."

Lian flopped dramatically into the passenger side and crossed her arms over her chest. "What if it doesn't? And really, there's no reason for us to be as bad at talking to each other as we are. I've been friends with the Wests forever, and X'hawn's really nice even though he's quiet. And Bart and Cassie are like the best peer mentors we could have hoped for. It's just…"

"Damian?"

Lian frowned. "There's something wrong with him. Dad, stop right there." Because she didn't want to hear whatever Roy had to say in response to that. "Something besides his obvious social shortcomings and behavior issues. He's…off center. Something's bothering him, but I didn't get a chance to ask him about it. I just kind of made digs at him all weekend. I wasn't being a very good friend."

"Don't beat yourself up about it. Damian's a tough kid. He'll shake it off."

Lian threw a sidelong look at her father, who was suddenly very invested in the other cars on the road. When they reached a red light, he switched his attention to finding a decent radio station, which also kept him from looking at his daughter.

Lian took out her mp3 player and plugged it in. "C'mon Dad, you know there's no good music in Keystone City."

Roy smirked. "I was just talking about that the other day."

She put on a playlist she'd made for car rides, and, satisfied that the music was taken care of, went back to scrutinizing her dad. He definitely knew something he wasn't telling her. "You really think it'll just take time for us to get better?"

"That's all it took for my group back in the day."

"I thought you guys worked together really well-"

Roy cut her off with a loud laugh. It took him a moment to get control of himself. "I'm sorry, Peanut. That was rude."

"Um…you guys have a pretty epic reputation, y'know, being the first Titans and all. Weren't you a good team?" Lian asked, feeling like one of her most cherished childhood assumptions was about to be put to the test.

"Li, after a year of fighting with us Garth had to quit the team because he started passing out from an anxiety disorder. Being a Teen Titan made him lose his self-confidence, and he was never really that confident to begin with. Donna tried to learn what life was like outside of the Amazons through the filter of four teenage boys, so you can imagine the issues she got from that. Wally was really broody and catty, and Dick was overburdened like you wouldn't believe. We almost fell apart every other meeting. I'm surprised we all lived through our years as Teen Titans."

"Oh."

"I had this conversation with Mia once back when you were in preschool. She used to think we got through everything with effortless ease too. We all work together really well now, but that's because we've known each other so long. We also know how to work together professionally even when we're driving each other crazy, but that takes time to learn too. You guys will get there."

"I hope so," Lian said with a thoughtful frown. "So what did you do while I was away? You weren't bored, were you?"

Roy smirked as he pulled onto their street. "I kept myself busy."

"That's cryptic."

Then he pulled up to the curb next to their house. The driveway was still occupied by a moving van. Lian stared open-mouthed at her father. "You guys didn't!"

"We did."

With an excited squeal, Lian threw her arms around Roy's neck and kissed him. "Oh Daddy, I'm so proud of you! You're finally getting over your issues!"

"Hey, watch your wording," Roy grumbled. "I'm still the dad here."

Lian ignored him and dashed out of the car instead. She tore through the house until she found Dick and Tim, who were both sitting in the kitchen munching on pizza. She tackled Dick from behind and fiercely hugged him. "Hi!"

"Hi…" Dick set down his pizza and patted the arms that were clenched worryingly close to his windpipe. "How'd the first meeting go?"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE FINALLY MOVING IN!"

Tim scratched an imaginary itch on his face which incidentally blocked his amused smile from view.

"What do you mean finally?" Dick asked, looking a touch indignant.

Lian abruptly ended the hug and then marched to stand in front of him. "You guys have been dating on and off since before I was born. I'm turning fifteen in the spring. So yeah, this is a fucking finally moment."

"She's not wrong," Tim said with a wry grin. Lian smiled at him.

"Does your dad let you swear at him like that?"

"Well he doesn't like it…"

Dick frowned. "I'd prefer it if you didn't swear at me. Frankly, I get enough of that from your dad."

"Kay. Hi Tim! How goes it?" She sat down across from them and helped herself to the moving buddy pizza.

"It goes…"

"Lian!" Roy's shout came to them from the front hallway. Lian set her slice of pizza on a paper plate and then went over to see what he wanted. He was holding her backpack and looking a little surly about it. "Notice anything different about the hall?"

"Not really."

"Take a nice, deep breath."

"Kay…oh ew. It smells like pee in here."

Roy scowled. "Yeah, funny, isn't it? Here." He handed her the bag and walked past her towards the kitchen. "You and Arrow Dog have an appointment at the vet after school tomorrow."

"But Daddy-"

"I'm giving you a ride Li," Dick called.

Lian pouted. "You guys suck."

"Language!" Roy yelled after her. He was answered by a slamming door.

Shrugging it off, he went into the kitchen to get his own pizza.

"Knock knock."

"That's a little redundant when you've actually knocked on the door," Jai said without bothering to look up. He was in the process of styling his bangs, which had gotten trickier since he'd added the blue streaks to them. It was hard to angle his hair just right so that the bits of color looked attractive instead of messy.

"Can I come in?" Irey poked her head into the room, but respectfully remained in the hallway.

Jai did a quick mental inventory of what he had lying around and decided he didn't mind having his sister present. "Yeah, c'mon in."

"Thankies."

"So what's up?" Jai asked. He finally finished with his hair and started in on his eyeliner.

Irey frowned. "You're heading out again? Already?" Irey had been milling around the house for hours, but Jai had just gotten back from the Tower.

"Yeah. Piper's picking me up so we can talk about Billy."

"Oh, right. I haven't seen much of Uncle Piper lately. Would you mind if I tagged along too? I mean, it's Titans business and I'm a Titan and…" She trailed off, probably in response to the pout Jai was wearing.

"C'mon Irey, you know Piper's like the only person ever who gives me one on one time. Can't you let me have it?"

"But if you get all the one on one time with Uncle Piper ever then I don't get to see him ever."

"So go take a run with Dad. Or Bart. Or Uncle Barry-"

"Okay, okay. I get your point. So what do you think of Billy?" She plopped down on his bed and rested her hands on her knees. An easy smile formed on her thin lips at the new conversation topic.

Jai decided to just come out and say it. "He's pretty hot."

"I know, right?! Like crazy hot, and the way he shut Damian up…I mean, I like Damian, don't get me wrong, but it's kinda nice to see some of the wind taken out of those sails every now and then. Especially since he was being so mean about you and X'hawn."

"Was he?" Jai asked, a bit surprised. As he'd predicted, Damian had avoided him for the weekend. Jai had been perfectly happy to avoid any awkward conversations himself, and as such he really had no idea what his ex-boyfriend thought of his decision to join the Titans.

"Yeah, he was really rude," Irey said with a frown. "That's why Lian was getting on his ass too. Um…so, about Damian…"

Jai made an irritated noise and pushed away from his desk. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Kay. Um, that's cool that you don't." Even though she was very obviously hurt by it. "I just wanted to check that you were okay. I still haven't told anyone anything."

Jai nodded. "Thanks. I'm…well, it's not fun. But I'm getting by."

"I'm really sorry it didn't work out with you guys."

"I'm not."

Irey started at that. "But you took the breakup so hard."

"I did. And my weeks of involuntary confinement gave me a lot of time to think. I realized that it was beyond stupid and pathetic to obsess over some asshole who obviously never gave a damn about me, even if he's the sexiest pile of angst to ever prowl a rooftop."

Irey smiled weakly. "That's the spirit, I guess."

"Mm. There are much more important things than looks."

"That sounds so deep from the kid who just artfully smudged three different kinds of guy liner around his eyes," Irey teased.

Jai smiled exaggeratedly at her as he shrugged into his coat. "I'm not going to be fooled by someone else's pretty face anymore, but I still plan on making use of my own exceptionally pretty face to the fullest."

"Yeah, well I'm sure Uncle Piper will really appreciate you getting all dolled up for him," Irey said sarcastically. "I guess I'll go work on my homework since you don't want me to come along…"

"Still don't."

"Drat. Okay jerk. See you later." Irey zipped out of the room and Jai went back to examining his reflection. Once he was sure he looked flawless, he headed downstairs to wait for Piper.

Dick was most definitely in his happy place.

He and Roy were on the couch, Dick sitting between his legs with his back against Roy's chest. They were munching on the leftover pizza while Dick's belongings sat in various boxes throughout their house waiting to be unpacked. Lian was sprawled out on the floor in front of them finishing up some homework assignments, and Tim was politely asking her about her classes and giving her some pointers for her studying.

It was such a rare thing for him to be sitting with so many people he cared about (or at least, sitting with so many people he cared about without anything disastrous going on). Dick knew he was smiling like an idiot, but anytime Roy thought no one could see he was doing it too.

The domestic tranquility was interrupted by his and Tim's phones going off at the same time. Tim smirked. "I'm guessing the other Titans got back to Gotham."

Dick didn't really need to check who was texting him, but he confirmed it anyway. "Yep, it's Damian. X'hawn?"

Tim nodded. "He wants some advice on talking to teammates."

"So does Damian," Dick said with a laugh. "'How do I communicate effectively with inferiors without making them feel inferior?' Oh god, this kid…"

"'How do I stand up for myself among the experienced heroes without drawing confrontation?'" Tim read from his phone. He scowled. "Your kid's picking on mine, isn't he?"

"Yep," Lian said without looking up. "I don't think he means to be though."

Roy shot Dick and Tim a warning look. Dick carefully extracted himself from his boyfriend, set his pizza on the table, and went to take the call in the other room. Roy was definitely right; it was not a good idea to banter about the kids with one of them present. Tim exited a moment later and went out on the front porch to talk to X'hawn, so Dick went upstairs to his bedroom.

The phone rang once before Damian picked up. "That meeting was unforgivably taxing on my nerves. I've been burdened with the care and safety of a group of undisciplined, untrained amateurs, and I'm being refused the respect and rank I need to perform my job. This is unacceptable. We need to meet with the mentors and discuss this again, because Allen and Sandsmark are not prepared to do what is necessary-"

"Damian, will you slow down?" Dick interrupted. It was taking a lot of effort on his part to keep the impatience from his tone. Just once, he'd like it if Damian opened a conversation with some kind of conventional pleasantry. "Lian only filled me in about so much of the meeting. She said you guys had a mission, and then a new kid asked to join the group."

"Yes."

"So…where did people stop respecting your authoritay?"

He could hear the glare in Damian's voice. "Was that mockery in your tone or some kind of pop culture reference made to lighten the mood? Either way, I don't find the response appropriate."

"It was the latter, and sorry. You know me, I crack jokes. The more poorly timed the better."

"Ha. Now may we continue?"

"By all means."

Damian recounted the battle with Downpour blow by blow, and Dick did have to sympathize with him on it. It really was frustrating to agree to a fight and then realize your team was outmatched and your intel was flawed. It had happened to Dick more times than he could count over the years, and he always felt the pressure of getting the rest of the team out in one piece.

He was actually relieved to hear that that was Damian's principal concern too. When Damian had first suited up as Robin, back when he'd been a kid, his ego and reputation would have dominated the discussion. The angry, arrogant tone was the same, but the outrage was on behalf of his teammates. He was going to make an excellent leader, once he got past his stunted socialization problems.

If he ever got past his stunted socialization problems…

Before Dick could calm him down with some amusing self-deprecating anecdotes from the first incarnation of the Titans, Damian moved on to how everyone had reacted to Billy Hong's entrance.

"Our Tower was invaded by a suspicious magic user, and no one found that problematic but me. Perhaps it would have been different if he wasn't…wasn't…"

"What?" Dick asked, amused by the impotent rage in Damian's tone. That stuttering anger took him back…made him think of short, surly Damian before his voice had changed.

"He was using his looks to disarm my team. Speedy, Kid Flash, and Tech were all compromised by their sexual attraction, and X'hawn is too weak willed to go against the rest of the team. I believe that if Hong had been female or unattractive everyone else would have found him as quietly sinister as I did."

"Wait a minute, you're saying this kid was flirting with your ex-boyfriend and your crush and you didn't like it?" Dick broke out in a wide smile.

"…that is not what I said."

"But that's what happened."

"Flirting's rather strong for what happened, but he was smiling at them in a provocative manner and speaking disarmingly."

"Damian, did Billy actually do anything you guys need to worry about? It sounded like he was offering to help, but he accidentally stepped on your toes in the process, and then you shut down." And he flirted with your future girlfriend, Dick couldn't help but think.

He waited for Damian to answer. For a long couple of minutes all he heard were angry breaths, and then the line went dead. Dick rolled his eyes, stowed his phone, and went downstairs.

Lian was still on the floor doing homework while Roy goofed off on his laptop. He shut it and plopped it on the table when he saw Dick walk back in. "Hey, how'd it go?"

Dick shook his head. "I teased him a bit too much. I think I'd better make an excursion to Gotham and apologize."

"Now?" Roy asked.

Dick checked the time on his cell. "I can wait until morning, but I don't want to let it go for too long. You remember what happened last time."

"What happened last time?" Lian asked.

Roy and Dick froze for an awkward moment. "Um…"

Lian rolled her eyes. "Fine, never mind. Just keep pretending I'm not here and I'll see if I can put it together by eavesdropping."

"…go to bed," Roy said weakly. Lian stuck her tongue out at him.

Then Tim poked his head into the room. "Hey guys, I gotta take off. X'hawn's having a panic attack over how much he sucks at flying. I'm probably gonna be up half the night with him telling him stories of my first outings as Robin."

"Yeah, I need to dig up a few more 'awful mistakes I made leading a team' stories for Damian too," Dick said with a small smile.

"I can help you out with those," Roy offered. Dick playfully whapped him upside the head.

"You want me to see if Kory can swing by and give him flight lessons?"

"That…wouldn't end well. Cassie and Conner are going to cover it," Tim said with a thoughtful frown.

"Oh. Okay then, as long as you have a plan. Thanks for helping me move."

"No problem." Tim nodded at the room, then went outside to wait for the teleportation back to Gotham. After a moment he stuck his head back in the room. "By the way, it smells like pee out here. You guys might want to check that out. Bye."

Roy stage coughed, as Lian had suddenly become incredibly invested in her history homework. "Li…"

"I cleaned it last time!"

"And you're going to keep cleaning it because you're the reason we have that damn dog."

Grumbling under her breath, she went out to the front hall to clean up after Arrow Dog.

Dick flopped back onto the couch and resumed his cuddle. "This is really nice."

"Yeah, it is." Roy nuzzled his neck and placed an affectionate kiss on his shoulder. "I'm really glad you decided to move in."

"Mm. Me too. So…I've obviously gotta spend some time in Gotham tomorrow helping Damian recover his equilibrium. And, y'know, help him figure out how not to alienate his teammates next Saturday. Between that and taking Lian to the vet, Monday's kind of shot, but on Tuesday do you want to patrol together?"

"Oh, sure. I guess. Where do you wanna patrol? New York? Gotham?"

Dick frowned. He pulled back a little so that he could turn on the couch and face his boyfriend. "I was thinking Keystone or Central. Don't you…ever patrol?"

Roy smirked bitterly. "The Flashes just tell me to stay home if they see me try. When I feel like crime fighting I ask for a teleportation up to the Watchtower and look for a team-up."

Dick frowned. "I know there are a lot of Flashes, but Keystone and Central are sprawling metropolises. There's plenty of ground to cover, even keeping in mind that the speedsters are, well, speedsters."

"Yup. Plus they tend to tangle with other metas and superscientists. I'm good at that stuff too, but when I patrol I usually look for the small scale stuff, like muggers. We have different styles and I could easily fill a niche in their cities. Wally and his family made it pretty clear to me though. They don't want me around, and they don't think their cities need me."

"I think it'd be worth it to challenge them on this, Roy. You're a good hero, and you love doing this kind of work." And it really didn't seem like him to just cave under pressure.

Roy had been complaining about how insular the speedsters were practically since he'd moved to Keystone, but Dick had figured it was probably mostly in his head. Roy was the ex-junkie who'd gotten his supervillain kinda-girlfriend pregnant. He was a hell of a lot more than that too, but that history was enough to make a lot of the hero community judge him harshly. Most of the catty jabs at him rolled off his back, but there were some people capable of getting under his skin.

Wally had always been pretty good at it.

Roy shifted away from Dick, visibly discomfited by the conversation. "I guess we should have talked about this before you moved in with me, huh? Living in Keystone City without superpowers is like asking to go on reserve. Or retirement."

Dick sat up and scrubbed a hand through his hair. "I'm still going to suit up and hit the rooftops. See how it goes."

Roy shrugged. "I won't stop you." He stood up and stretched, then started for the stairs.

Dick followed after him, wearing a wry little smirk. "Neither will the Flashes."

Piper brought Jai back to his house and showed him into the kitchen. There was takeout waiting for them on the table, along with old photographs and a couple of letters. "What's all this?" Jai asked, pointing to the stack of papers sitting apart from the usual kitchen clutter.

"When you mentioned Billy I went through some of James' effects and found everything I could on his son. It's not much. James didn't know about Billy until a year before his death, but they wrote to each other and I have a few pictures."

Jai looked through the pictures first and frowned. He doubted they were dated wrong, but there was clearly something off about them. When they'd met in person, Billy had looked like he was about the same age as Jai (certainly not any older than Damian), but if that were the case then he must have stopped aging at some point. There was a photo of him with his father at an amusement park, and it said he was eleven. James Jesse had been dead far too long for that to add up.

"Can I take these for now? I think the other Titans will want to see them."

"Sure." Piper sat down across from him and started picking at his carton of pad thai.

Jai skimmed over the letters, then put them in a folder with the pictures and shoved them in his bag. "I didn't realize you had the Trickster's old stuff."

"Not all of it. But we worked together for a long time, and we were friends. When he died, I wound up with his papers, and the contents of a few storage lockers the other Trickster didn't rip off."

"How well do you know Billy?"

"Not very well at all," Piper said with a frown. "I met him when James did. Billy was kidnapped by an extremist government when he was eleven, and James asked me to help save him. I didn't see him again until after James' death. I tracked Billy and his mother down so I could…could tell them." He took a shuddering breath and set his fork down. "I'm sorry, Jai. It's not a pleasant recollection."

"It's okay. Um, sorry to bring it up. But I'm supposed to be gathering intel so is it okay if, um, can you tell me about how his dad died? He said something about a demon king."

"Oh, Neron." Piper shook his head. "Neron didn't kill James, Deadshot did. Well, really Desaad did. It's…a bit complicated."

Jai eyed his friend, waiting for him to continue, but Piper kept avoiding eye contact as he poked at his takeout with the fork. Jai left his completely untouched and sat with his hands folded, waiting. "Piper, what happened?" he finally prompted.

Piper sighed. "I…James and I were on the run together. It was back when Bart was still dead, and we'd both been implicated."

Jai vaguely remembered that. The Wests had just gotten back to Earth at the time, and he and Irey were still having problems with their ages accelerating. They hadn't gotten to see Piper for some time thereafter, but he remembered creeping up to his parents' bedroom door, and hearing them argue about their friend and whether they should be looking for him and trying to help him or not. Jai remembered being intrigued by his sister's surprise godfather, who may or may not have helped kill his big cousin, well before getting to see him.

Piper closed his eyes, swallowed, and continued his story. "We were shackled together at one point. We were running for months, and it was terrible. The stress was incredible, and we weren't able to get much sleep or regular meals. We were driving each other crazy. And then…when we'd pushed each other to our limits, he shielded me from Deadshot's gunfire. He saved my life."

Well then he had Jai's eternal thanks.

"So it wasn't Neron?"

Piper shook his head. "Not for lack of trying though. James foiled Neron on a few separate occasions, including when we found out about Billy."

"Dad's talked about Neron a few times. He runs a hell realm and he tried to take over our realm a few times, right?"

Piper nodded. "He's been quiet for a little over a decade now though. I don't think he's considered an active threat."

Jai rolled his eyes. "Because biding their time is so much better. Billy said he's like ancient enemies with Neron."

"I gathered that Neron and Meshta don't get along, but I'm afraid I can't tell you much more than that. I saw Billy summon Meshta to protect James from Neron."

Jai grabbed a pen and scribbled that down on the edge of his folder. "Well that certainly corroborates what Billy was saying. I wonder if that'll be enough to appease Damian."

"About Damian…" Piper gently prodded.

Jai sighed, but he'd expected this. "It's fine. We're not talking to each other, but I think we'll be able to work together okay. No one on the team knows what happened except Irey, and she's keeping it quiet for me. So no one's bringing it up."

"And you're really okay?" Piper asked, exuding gentle concern.

Jai smiled at his friend, and finally started eating some of the thoughtfully purchased takeout. "Absolutely. Believe me Piper, he's having a much harder time seeing me than I am seeing him."

"Well good." Piper reached for his pad thai again. "Let him have all the regrets. I have to admit Jai, I was a little worried about how you'd handle having to work with him, but you look like you're doing fine. You're much stronger than I was when I was your age. I'm very impressed." He smiled at Jai, and Jai ducked his head, feeling his face flush.

He didn't think it was that much of a feat, really. The surly bastard didn't want anything to do with him either.

"What's this?" Jai asked, motioning to a small pile of cheaply made demo CDs on the table. They were almost hidden by Piper's usual clutter.

"Oh, Lian's father loaned those to me. He used to be in a band."

"Ah." Jai flipped one of them over and looked at the group shot. They were trying to look really hard and punk, but the black kid in the back was holding a trumpet. Not to mention Jai was just incapable of seeing Roy Harper as a bad ass. It was almost cute. "Dad never mentioned this. Are they any good?"

"They're…"

Jai grinned. "Terrible?"

"No," Piper said quickly, face coloring. "But they were young, and they were growing into themselves. You can hear a lot of potential in the sound. I think if they'd stayed together for a little while longer they'd have produced some really great music. They definitely had some growing pains to get through though."

"I didn't realize you were friends with Lian's dad. He's kinda crazy," Jai said, thinking about the time Roy had barged into their kitchen and punched his dad in the face (granted, Jai often wanted to punch his father in the face, but he wasn't planning on ever doing it).

"I know he doesn't get along with your father, but I like him well enough. And it doesn't hurt that he's a music geek too. It's been awhile since I've had a friend I could talk about music with. It's rather nice."

Jai inwardly bristled at that. "You have me. You've shown me how to play like almost every instrument you own, and we talk about music all the time."

"I know Jai, but I meant someone my own age. It's a little different. Not that I don't like talking to you. Jai?" Piper looked at him uncertainly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."

"It's okay," Jai snapped. He winced, and tried to get control of that sudden rush of possessiveness that had flared up. He ran a hand through his hair, and looked up at Piper self-consciously. "Sorry. I guess I don't have a lot of really good friends right now either. You're pretty much it. You and Irey."

Because Lian had ceased being a good friend to him when she'd become his competition (though the flakey girl didn't seem to have noticed), and all his fuck buddy and party friends had abandoned him when he'd been in the hospital (because apparently he was too complicated after that). It really was just his sister and his fake uncle now.

Piper reached over and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "That's fine, Jai. Believe me, I'm grateful for our friendship too. I'd be a very sad, lonely old man without you. But it does sound like this Titans team could be good for you. And…I'd like it if you and Billy became friends."

Jai would like that too, though it had nothing to do with sad recollections of the guy's father. He finally asked Piper the non-Titans related question he had about Billy. "I know you only met the kid like twice…but did he ever ping your gaydar?" Jai asked, hoping he didn't sound too hopeful.

Piper laughed. "He was eleven, Jai, and we were quite busy with other matters. But no, not really."

"Damn," Jai grumbled.

Piper smiled, clearly amused. "He's cute then?"

"Oh yes, very. Irey's got the hots for him too."

"His father was my problematic crush on a straight friend for quite some time. Be careful; if he's anything like James, he won't like you checking him out."

"Sounds like there are a few stories there."

Piper glanced at the clock. "Did you finish your homework before you came over?" he asked. Jai nodded. "Alright, then yes. There are plenty of stories there. The first one starts with a Rogues poker night, some spiked ginger ale, and a lumpy orange loveseat James nicknamed Agnes…"

When Dick got to Gotham on Monday afternoon to talk to Damian, he found the kid in the Cave surrounded by stacks of binders and files, with several more pulled up on the computer. It looked like he was reading through every note Bruce had ever taken on his Justice League and Outsiders team ups, and even Tim's notes on his Young Justice and Titans days.

"How come you didn't keep any records?" Damian asked by way of greeting. He was wearing the Shaytun suit even though it was only twelve thirty.

Dick was wearing jeans, one of Roy's old t-shirts, and one of his leather coats. He leaned against a computer console and rolled his eyes. "I don't make spying on my teammates as big a priority as Bruce and Tim. I had some notes, of course, but not like these." He frowned on the kind of note taking that led to contingency plans on how to exploit your teammates' weaknesses should you ever need to take them out.

Damian turned away from the file he'd been scanning and regarded Dick. "I had noticed that theme running through most of these mission reports. I was hoping to find something on fostering a healthy team dynamic…"

"Well for starters, don't look at any of your dad's records. The team building in the Justice League did not come from him. Tim might have something you could use."

Damian scowled, but he sifted his piles of data according to Dick's advice. "I thought about what you said the other night, and I believe you may have had a point. I dismissed Hong rather quickly. According to what I've read…many heroes have shown up out of the blue offering help in the past."

"Yep."

"I still don't like him though. I feel like he's only pretending to be candid. I'm sure he's hiding something. And…I might be a bit jealous."

Dick started to smile, but dropped it at Damian's glare.

"I said I might. Which is an irrational tendency, given there's nothing about Hong to be jealous of."

"Uh huh." His patronizing tone didn't do anything to lessen Damian's angry stare. "So you're not jealous of the kid with superpowers?"

The glare fell away to be replaced with a look of befuddlement. "Of course not. Why, are you ever jealous of the meta powered heroes?"

Dick shrugged. "I used to be. I mean, only a little bit. It'd be nice not to get banged up as much as we do. And…it'd be cool to fly. But no, for the most part I'm fine. I think I get by well enough without powers."

"I think I excel without powers," Damian returned with a gleam of challenge in his eyes. Dick smiled in response. "If I am jealous of anything, it's more Hong's easy manner. He's good with people and I don't think I ever will be."

"Hey, you've come a long way since you were ten. You'll get the hang of it eventually."

Damian shook his head. "I doubt it. I do think, though, that I'll find a way to cope despite this one inadequacy. I'm thinking I may benefit from delegating some of the responsibility of leading the team to a Titan who has strong social skills."

"Oh. So you just went from not trusting this kid at all to wanting to make him your co-leader?" Dick asked, confused. Damian-logic always threw him until they talked it out.

Damian regarded Dick with impatient confusion and let out a quiet snort. "No, of course not Hong. I'm not even sure I want him for the team. No, I was thinking of making Lian Harper our co-leader."

Needless to say, that started its own immense conversation.

When Dick got back to Keystone he didn't mention anything about co-leading the Titans to Lian. He'd been sworn to secrecy by Damian, and it's not like he wanted to be involved in that anyway. He had a vested interest in remaining on Roy's good side (he'd had a vested interest before, but now that they were living together it was even more important), and he'd decided the best way to do that was to stay out of anything even vaguely related to parenting Lian.

He spent most of Monday unpacking (with a brief and unpleasant break to take Lian and Arrow Dog to the vet), and when Tuesday night rolled around Roy found him sifting through some of the only remaining boxes in the living room. He was looking for his Nightwing gear.

"I'd have thought you'd have unpacked that shit by now," Roy commented.

"I didn't know where to put it," Dick answered. "I've never tried to fight crime from suburbia before. This is weird."

Roy laughed. "Yeah, you can't exactly grapple into the night from our roof."

"Maintaining our secret identities while coming and going from this house is going to be a bitch and a half. Seriously, it's going to be like college all over again." He'd hated crawling down the damn drainpipe to get out of his dorm room at Hudson. Although at that point he'd still had the canary yellow half-cape, so at least the Nightwing costume was more conducive to stealth.

Roy shrugged. "I never bothered figuring out the mechanics of patrolling from here. If you want to take my suggestion, we can suit up together and catch a teleportation into another city. I'll come with you. Seriously, it'd be way more fun."

"Roy, if I'm going to live in Keystone then I want to at least try patrolling Keystone."

"Alright dude, if you're that adamant on having a bad time then go right ahead."

Dick came up behind him and whapped him gently with one of the escrima sticks he'd finally tracked down. "I believe I added a no-dude clause when we started dating again."

Roy rubbed at his head in exaggerated annoyance, even though the light hit hadn't hurt. "Sorry, sorry."

Dick smiled. "I believe that gives me one free pass to make a Speedy joke at your expense."

"The hell it does."

"You're going to kiss me goodbye before I head out, right?"

Roy's face softened. "I'm not mad at you, Dick. Believe me, if you have a good, satisfying patrol, I'll be stoked. I just don't think that's going to happen."

Dick touched the escrima stick to Roy's head and grabbed either end of it with his hands, using it to pull him down into a passionate, open-mouthed kiss. He sucked Roy's tongue into his mouth, and wrested a moan from Roy as he dropped the escrima stick entirely and tangled his fingers through Roy's soft red hair instead.

And Roy being Roy, he used his hand to pull Dick closer by his ass.

Dick broke the kiss and nuzzled against his face. "I really wish you'd come with me," he whispered.

"I'll be waiting for you when you get back," Roy promised. "And I'm on call, if you need any help. That good enough?"

"I guess." Dick kissed him again, then went back to his boxes to find the rest of his Nightwing equipment. He hadn't realized Roy was willing to be on-call as backup.

Nightwing might have to try a bit harder than usual to get into trouble then…

A/N: So the reason why I don't want to respond to anon reviews is just because I don't want to take up too much space in the chapters with these author's notes. Plenty of people make accounts just to read fanfics, keep track of them through favorites lists, and keep in touch with their favorite authors.

I've gotten a few anon reviews recently that I do want to respond to. First up, Amod: thanks for all the reviews you've left me on all the different fics you're following. They're very thoughtful, and they make me incredibly happy and encourage me to keep writing. I was particularly glad to have you respond to my efforts to make Damian's Arabic heritage a prominent part of his life. I've been advised against doing it, but I think it makes him a more interesting character (and I'm obviously intrigued with Arab peoples). Anyway, the support was appreciated :)

Guest A: You noticed already that I've mentioned Jason in passing. I'm still working out exactly what I want to do with him in the story, but he WILL show up eventually. I've got some definite romance plans for him, and some hazily planned plot plans.

Guest B: You certainly gave me a lot to think about! The West family probably isn't coming across as sympathetic is they might because they haven't been main characters in the story. Wally and Irey have been in supporting roles so far, and Jai's been a pseudo-antagonist. He's still got a powerful following among my reviewers though, and I like working with him. I've started writing a spin-off fic that will give his perspective on everything that went down between him and Damian. Irey will be getting more attention as the story progresses, and, well...Wally might not ever become completely sympathetic, but hopefully he's still interesting. Thank you for calling attention to my oversight about Dick not telling Wally to get Jai tested for STDs. That is something that escaped my attention as I got caught up in the story, and I'm sorry it did. If I can find a way to naturally address it as I keep going with the story, I will. Otherwise you're free to assume (as I have) that Jai has had safe sex talks many times, from his parents as well as Piper, and that the adults in his life are doing the best they can to keep him safe despite his attempts to defy them. I'm not honestly sure what's going on with the Roy-Dick-Piper tension, but I plan to play it through for all it's worth. I do love Dick and Roy as a couple, but I don't see them as a stable couple at all and I probably will keep throwing hurdles at their relationship. I do see them always coming back together even if they break up for intervals though, so I hope that's enough to appease your OTP love ;) And I'm working on the Dick-patrolling-in-Keystone thing, as you've noticed if you're still reading. As a history major, I'm really flattered that you thought my fic was worth a textual reference. That made my night.

Thanks guys! Remember to review this chapter too! The story I'm getting published next month is entering one of the final phases of edits right now, and it's the really scary part where the editors try to make the writers cry. I'm sure I'll want to see something nice and encouraging in my inbox when I get the line edits back ;)