Okay, first things first, looks like Water-Omen is the fan ship name for Kaldur and Lilith with Eric The Looney suggesting it and Black Victor Cachat seconding it. Pretty sweet coming up with something like that. Another thing, the TTG YJ crossover…WTH, man. WTH. Anyhoo, on to the reviews and then the start of the next episode.
AirBorne3 – Thanks. I got the idea for that from the comics where the Young Justice team was always saying "We are young, but just us."
The Darkman – Honestly, I did not think of selfies. That would have been pretty good to see Arrowette take one in the background of the news report then shy away once she saw Conner and M'gann looking at her on screen.
Eric – Got that idea from TMNT 2. Something about a group of teen heroes holding their own against a big name villain just felt right. And I've seen some stories about a daughter to SB and MM but none mentioned anything like that. Should I go on from this story next, I'll plan on putting something like that in with their son.
Lord Razor – AH, there's more to what happened last episode for the bigger picture than what was written. More of that in this one.
Ben A – I wanted to have at least one teen keep something secret from their parents in this. Like if the parents would not want them to be a vigilante but the kid was one anyway. I'm going to do more with that later in the story so keep an eye out for it. And it was mentioned the Titans were formed to be in the public eye but the League could switch members at any time to help confuse the bad guys. So one could be put on the black ops team or vice versa leaving others no idea there is a black ops team since the Titan members could be switched around without a definitive roster being known. And more on Psymon will develop later on.
Guest 1 – I haven't decided if Stephanie will be in here later. I'd like to include her but I have to use her at the right time.
Mad Mike – I had not planned on using the Suicide Squad in this one. If I did use them, it would be a story similar to my 'Breather' one. But you may never know as I only have notes written on the rest of the episodes and are waiting to be written. So it might change.
Guest 2 – You just hit the head of the proverbial nail with your observation about the team going public like they did. As for Sinestro…maybe. And I never got the Terra/Deathstroke thing in the comics besides it being sick, myself.
Guest 3 – Wait until the episode after this to have that answered. Something's gonna happen.
9. Fear Itself
1.
Titan Tower
August 08
01:42 UTC
"Oh man, that was rough." Changed out form his uniform, which was covered dirt and sweat, and dressed in a pair of red knit shorts and white shirt, Garfield flopped down on his bed and let the night's activities drain from his body.
Since winding down and delivering their debriefing, the teen group waisted no time in getting to the showers. Nothing was held back as they told M'gann and Conner everything about what happened on their first mission. They even had to explain the reasoning behind letting themselves be known to the public, caught up in the moment, and the the reason they found themselves in a fight with Scarecrow while not contacting them, forgot while engaged in the fight. Even though they emerged victorious in their skirmish, it was stressed how they could have been injured, or worse, without calling in for backup. Part of their leaders were proud they got through it, but another part worried about what could have happened with the criminal's connection to the blood cult and their policy to seemingly not leave anyone they faced alive.
Letting his tail flicker in the air, Garfield let out a tired moan as he continued to lay down face first in his soft bed. Scenes from the night flashed through his mind, such as when Arrowette tripped and rolled back to her feet, stressing how she meant to do that. Or when Lantern made himself to look like Batman when he took down one of his criminals. Sure there were some fun during their first mission, but the need to complete it and prove they were ready to go out on their own superseded it.
Hearing a knock at his open doorway, Garfield motioned for the person to enter without looking to see who it was. Light footsteps did not make a sound on his carpeted floor, even with the amount of clutter lying in the way like used clothing or books of animals.
"Um, Garfield?"
Looking up, he was surprised to see Raven standing to his side in a pair of black lounge pants and purple tank top. Sitting up rather quickly, he fought the urge to blush from having a girl, besides his sister who would wish him a goodnight, in his room. "Um, uh, yeah?"
"I just wanted to say...good job out there. You had some good ideas with, Scarecrow is all."
"Oh, uh, th, thanks." He was surprised to hear something like that come from her.
"Yeah, and to just let you know, um, since we didn't pick a leader or anything, maybe you should take the position. You know, since you have been here the longest out of us."
"Thanks. It just feels kinda weird thinking I could be a leader."
"Why?" Raven asked while moving a strand of hair behind her ear. "I thought you did good when you were out there. And you did help me with Klarion."
"Well, I wasn't the leader when dealing with Klarion. You needed help and...I just wanted to help. And out there, it felt more like were all listening to each other and not looking for a leader with our patrol or Scarecrow."
"But you were the one who came up with the plan towards the end." Sitting down beside him, Raven failed to notice Garfield flinch with being close to her like that. Her empath ability did not; however. "Look, um, I just think you did good out there, and wouldn't mind if you were the leader when we're on our own."
"But why not the others?"
"Kyle thinks power gives one the right to lead, it doesn't. Cissie kind of fools around too much for my taste and doesn't really have a strong enough personality to lead. It's like she's too nice. And Terra's too new. She doesn't have experience, which is what I think a leader needs the most."
"But what about you?" Garfield was now becoming slightly more comfortable being this close to her now.
Breaking eye contact with him, Raven rubbed her forearm then let out a sigh. "I don't know. I doubt I would be good for anything."
"That's not true. Your powers are awesome! Especially with the whole darkness thing you have."
Biting her lip, Raven continued looking at the floor. "Th, thanks."
"Why don't you feel that way?"
Sitting still for a moment, Raven hesitated in telling him her reason. The words were about to come out but retreated back down her throat. Letting out another sigh, she forced herself to look at him. "There's...something about me you should know, Garfield."
"Okay?"
"I haven't been quite honest with you like I have been with your sister or her husband. But since you've been there for me...and they've been, you know, the way they are, well...if I tell you something, can you promise not to tell anyone else? I actually need to...do...that myself."
Turning to face her better, Garfield raised his hand in the boy scout salute. "Scout's honor."
With her eyebrow raised, Raven shook her head. "That's so dorky I don't know where to begin."
Shrugging, Garfield waited for her to continue.
After taking a deep breath, the Gothic girl readied herself to say what she needed. "When I said I came from darkness...I-"
"Hey, Gar, we're sleeping in the li...ving...room." Leaning in through the green teen's doorway, Kyle saw how close he and Raven were sitting to each other. With a smirk, he partially entered the room. "And what do we have here? Two birds of a certain variety?"
This time, Garfield could not help the heavy blush on his face as he stared at the young Green Lantern.
"Never mind, Garfield." Getting up, Raven left her teammate as she headed for the door. "Move."
Stepping to the side, with his smirk still in place, Kyle let the purple haired girl pass, but not without having a little fun for the road. "Raven and Garfield sitting in a tre-UGH!"
Falling to the ground, Kyle held his stomach from being punched by Raven who walked off to her room. His face was beat red and was struggling to catch his breath.
"You alright, Kyle?" Garfield asked while trying to hold onto his laughter.
"Huuuugh...yea...yeah," Kyle wheezed. "Just...wan...to tell you...we're in the...the living (cough)...living room...and Ter...Terra's checking...the...the security systems...before...(cough)...bed...if you want to join (cough, cough). Ugh, I gotta go to the bathroom again."
It took all of Garfield's concentration to not laugh out loud then and there as Kyle crawled away.
Inside the living area, Cissie was finishing up her make-shift bed on the couch with the last of her white pillows and thick, red blankets. Kyle's bedding lay beside the TV and was all anime themed with a long tiger striped body pillow next to it. It's owner was currently crawling towards the first bathroom he could get to, his face the same shade of green as his jersey. Raven's punch had made him that sick. Lastly, Terra's spot was near the other couch with her yellow bedding ready for the night.
"Okay, just one more pillow and...done." Standing back, the team's archer looked over her work and was satisfied with how it looked.
"Hey, do you know why Kyle's crawling down the hall?" Terra asked as she came around the corner from checking on the tower's security. "Where's Gar?"
"I think he's in his room with Raven. I saw her heading there earlier. And maybe Kyle's got stomach and butt problems or something." Removing her slippers, the brightly colored blonde archer straightened out her white sleep shirt with the glittered word 'Flawless' written across her chest and sleep shorts before climbing into her couch bed. She immediately blended in with all the pillows and blankets, looking like a literal snug bug in a rug.
"Oh she was, was she?"
"Yeah," Cissie answered as she tucked herself in up to her neck. "But she came out before I saw Kyle. Hey, Terra, can you-"
Seeing how the Earth mover was no longer there, Cissie sighed. "If I had a cross bow, I would shoot the light switch to turn it off.
Entering the hallway, Terra saw Raven's room was shut with the door locked, as evidenced by the red light on the wall. With her knowing the Goth girl was out of Garfield's room, she made her way to see the green skinned teen boy when Kyle came into view behind her.
"Careful," the teenage Green Lantern said. "Say the wrong thing and Rae'll give you a nasty right hook."
Turning to face him, Terra placed her hands on her hips. "And what did you say to him?"
"Just teasing. Geez, don't act like you like him too."
"Don't worry," Terra said quietly as she turned on her heel. "I won't."
"Won't what?" Surprising the blonde girl, Garfield came up behind her on his way to the kitchen. "What's going on?"
"Oh, uh, nothing. Just wanted to know if you'll be sleeping in the living space with us." She then flashed a wide smile as she held her arms behind her and batted her eyes. "Gotcha a spot next to me."
"Um." Clearing his throat, Garfield scratched the back of his head. "I'm gonna sleep in my room. I just wanted to get something to drink first."
"Sure you did." Turning away, Terra headed back to the living area. "And checking out where I'll be sleeping, no doubt, green machine."
The green machine was now at a loss for words.
Within the bedroom of Conner and M'gann, the couple were just about ready to turn in themselves. Carter, in his Martian form, was sleeping in his room connected to theirs with the dim nightlight shining on him and his blanket halfway on his body. Every once in a while, he would kick out his right leg and let out something of a sigh as he slept. It never ceased to get his mother to let out a giggle seeing him do that.
Laying down after making sure Wolf had enough to drink for the night, Conner grabbed the remote for the lights as M'gann settled in with him. With an arm wrapped around her, he had the lights fade out until the only light in the room came from the stars and moon shining in through the windows behind their bed.
"Eventful night," M'gann said as she cuddled up next to her husband with her head resting on his shoulder and right arm crossing over his bare chest.
"Yeah." With his free hand under his head, Conner stared up at the ceiling. "The only thing they didn't do was choose a leader though."
"How do you want to handle it then?"
"We should have them pick tomorrow. Or later today that is."
"Well some start school soon. You just want them to pick a leader amongst themselves?" She had started to stroke her fingers along his chest, enjoying the warmth his body produced under the sheet they shared.
"Probably after they do a light workout, nothing major. Then they can have the rest of the day off."
"Just make sure it's light. Don't want to kill them after proving they can handle themselves in the field or before they go home to get ready for their first day of class. Won't look too good to have that on our record."
Snickering, Conner lightly ran his fingertips along her arm. "Then you can lead the exercise."
"We'll let them sleep in. I'll have them go for a run on the trails around the island then do some light sparring outside. They can go to the beach or lounge around after that. They deserve it."
"Then all that's left is figuring out why Scarecrow was in Jump City. He's usually only in Gotham and Oracle said he basically disappeared after being freed from Arkham a while back."
"What has me concerned is how he up and vanished after fighting the team. All I can think is, maybe they interrupted him in the middle of something. Hopefully they kept him from killing someone else for that cult he may be with."
Adjusting herself, M'gann drew closer to Conner. "Wished they would have contacted us. But they did good work. No one was killed. No one was hurt."
"Maybe we did train them well," Conner said as he rubbed the side of his head against hers.
Reaching up, M'gann had Conner turn his head to look at her. "We did well. We actually formed a team that works when we didn't think we could. A little stubbornness, a little strength, and we can do anything."
"I see that. And I think him over there's further proof of it."
Bringing him in close, M'gann shared a kiss with the man she loved while exchanging 'I love you's' over their mental link. Content, they soon fell asleep in each others arms.
After some time, everyone in the tower had fallen asleep. Quiet filled every room as the teens and their leaders rested from the events of the day.
That is until a high pitched scream ripped through the darkness.