The night passed, as far as the sleeping Titans were concerned, without incident. Nightwing woke early to exercise, and later watched the news on tv. Raven and Cyborg joined him in the ops room some time later, and prepared their own breakfasts. Beast Boy was the last to join them. He was more mobile now than before, walking around normally, and fully dressed. The Titans then sat together and ate their own breakfasts at the table. For several minutes they just made small talk. They talked about the weather, and how much the city had changed.

"So, then I said, 'Not with that many wombats!'." Beast Boy finished telling a joke. Nightwing leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin.

"I don't get it." He said.

"What's not to get?" Beast Boy said.

"I thought it was funny." Cyborg said, sitting across from Beast Boy.

"Well, at least someone thinks I'm funny." Beast Boy said. He nodded at Cyborg appreciatively.

Cyborg turned to Raven. "Come on Raven, you thought that was funny, right?" Raven looked down at her plate, moving the fork around but not saying anything.

"Well, she was never big on jokes." Cyborg said to Beast Boy.

"Yeah…" Beast Boy got up to clean his plate.

"You know, seeing us all together like this, its like old times." Cyborg said. He said this in a warm tone, glancing at the other titans. "Good old times, I mean. Not the bad parts."

"Yeah, except Starfire's not here." Beast Boy said. He walked back over. Nightwing clenched his fist.

"Starfire will be here, after we contact her." Cyborg said.

"Unless she doesn't want to come." Nightwing said quietly.

"Is that what you think?" Raven said. She was facing down at the table, but her eyes looked up at him. Before Nightwing could respond, Cyborg answered.

"Look, I'm sure she'll come. I know that… things happened."

"Things happened?" Nightwing said. He narrowed his eyes.

"Really bad things. But it's been years since then. She's strong. She's a warrior princess."

"The princess." Beast Boy said. Cyborg paused for a moment, and then nodded.

"Yeah, there is that. But… it's not like I expect her to come back permanently, just for a little while. At least a few days."

Nightwing sat there, now with his chin resting on tented fingers. He said, "What do you think, Raven?" Raven jerked her head up at hearing him say her name. She blinked.

"Me?" she said. "Well… Whatever she's doing right now, I hope she's happy."

"Do you think she'll come back?" Nightwing said.

Raven hesitated. "I don't know. After everything that happened… We haven't seen her in years."

"Ethier way, we've got Bumblebee to help us right now, and…" Cyborg said. He paused midsentence and looked around. "Speaking of, where is she?"

Beast Boy shrugged. "Still asleep?"

"Its getting a little late for that." Cyborg said.

"I could check on her if you want." Raven said.

"Well, maybe…" Cyborg started to say. But he heard a noise that made him pause. A small monitor on the wall flickered to life, and a picture showed up on the screen. It was the front entrance of the tower. There was also a person in the middle of that picture. Bumblebee herself. She was knocking on the door.

"Hello, anyone there?" she said. She looked around. "Maybe I should try flying up?" she looked upwards as she said this. Everyone at the table exchanged glances.

"I didn't know she left the tower." Nightwing said.

"Neither did I." Cyborg said. He stood up and walked over to the monitor. He pressed a button.

"Hey Bee." He said. His voice could be heard at the entrance. Bumblebee looked around.

"Cyborg?" she said.

"Yeah, its me. Security system, remember?"

Bumblebee put her hands on her hips and nodded. "Yeah, okay. So, can I come in?"

"I didn't even know you were out." He said.

"Well, I was. I mean I am. Look, can I come in? You want me to help you with the device, right?"

"Okay, just a second." He said. He let her in, and in a minute, she had come upstairs to join them. As she entered the room, she gave a quick wave to everyone.

"Hey." She said.

"Good morning." Nightwing said evenly. Everyone had left the table and was standing now. Bumblebee casually walked into the room.

"So, what's up?" she said.

"Well, we just had breakfast." Cyborg said. "I didn't know you had left."

"None of us did." Nightwing added. Bumblebee shrugged.

"Oh, yeah. I went out late last night. I felt like doing some patrolling of my own. I also found a motel to stay at. I did say I was only going to spend the night here."

"You don't think its dangerous to go out alone?" Raven said. "With everything going on?"

Bumblebee folded her arms. "I can handle myself."

"I didn't say you couldn't. But you could have at least let us know you were going out."

"I think Raven has a point." Beast Boy said. "I mean, there is a psycho killer after us, you know?"

Bumblebee furrowed her brow. "Hey look, I'm a big girl and I can make my own decisions. I don't need to ask anyone's permission to go out, and I know damn well what's out there."

"We're just concerned, that's all." Nightwing said. "After what happened to Aqualad…"

"You don't need to remind me of that." Bumblebee said. "Maybe I should just go." She turned away from them.

"Does that mean I'm finishing the machine myself?" Cyborg said. Bumblebee sighed.

"I'll… help you finish it." She said. "I said I would. But after that…" She let the thought hang. Cyborg glanced at the others, and gave a slight shrug.

"Well uh, we can start now if you want."

"Yeah, let's do that." She said. The two of them left to go work on the project. The remaining three watched them go, and then turned to each other.

"I don't know why she was getting so defensive." Nightwing said. "We were just trying to look out for her."

"She's probably just stressed out." Beast Boy said. "I mean, I'm stressed out too. Aren't you?"

"I try not to be." Nightwing said.

"Me too." Raven added. Beast Boy folded his arms and shrugged.

"Great, maybe we should tell her to go meditate or practice karate or something." He said.

"Look, if she wants to leave, that's up to her." Nightwing said. "I think its better if we stay together, but she's not a member of this team."

"Yeah, but we're only a team until we find this guy, whoever he is. Right?" Beast Boy asked. Nightwing was silent for a moment. Raven looked down at the floor.

"We can talk about that after this is over." Nightwing said. "For now, let's just focus on the mission." Beast Boy stood there for a second, as if considering something.

"Right." He said. "Let me know when you want to go out and get that footage." He started walking away as he said this. Without turning around, he added, "But I'm not going to be lookout this time."

A few hours passed by. Cyborg and Bumblebee worked on the machine together. They had all the parts, it was just a matter of assembling everything, which still took a while. During that time, everyone else busied themselves with looking at news, or reading, or whatever came to mind. Sometimes loud hammering could be heard, which made it hard to concentrate. But, by the midafternoon, everything was finished. Just in case, Cyborg spent an additional ten minutes making sure everything was connected properly. Then, everyone gathered to see Cyborg finally use the device.

Nightwing, Beast Boy, and Raven all stood back and watched as Cyborg readied the device. Bumblebee stood nearby in case he needed help. Cyborg turned a few dials, and then adjusted the device to point upward. It almost looked like a large telescope, except with nowhere to look through.

Cyborg moved to the rear of the machine, and pressed a button. A whirring sound could be heard for a few seconds, and then a light or laser of some sort shot out of the front. Only for a second, and then it was gone. It was silent. Cyborg clapped his hands.

"Alright, that's it. Its done." He said. "Hopefully Star will get the message pretty soon." Everyone stood there for a moment.

"…That's it?" Beast Boy said.

"A little anti-climactic." Raven said.

"Hey, what do you expect?" Cyborg said. "I used a prerecorded message, the machine was just to send it. It only took a sec."

"Well, the important thing is that it worked." Nightwing said. "It did work, didn't it?"

"Trust me, it worked perfectly." Bumblebee said.

"The machine worked, but whether Starfire will actually get the message, I can't guarantee." Cyborg said. "I hope she will."

"Even if she does, she still might not come." Nightwing said. "I'm sure she has a lot going on." Cyborg looked like he was about to argue, but then just lowered his head a little.

"I guess we'll see." Cyborg said. Beside him, Bumblebee stretched, and then started checking the time.

"Alright, that's finished, so its time for me to go." She said.

"You don't have to." Nightwing said.

"I want to." She said. Cyborg put a hand on her shoulder.

"You're always welcome here, Bee." He said.

"Thanks, but… I'm not big on being on a team."

"You were on a team." Raven said. Bumblebee put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, as the leader. I like giving orders." She grinned.

"But you don't like following them." Nightwing said.

"Hell no, who needs that?" She turned and waved with her back to them.

"Be careful out there, Bee." Cyborg said.

"If I need you, I'll call." She said, walking out the door. "And if you find anything, you better call me." With that, she left. Cyborg then turned back to the machine.

"Well, now I've got to clean all this mess up. Then I'm gonna make lunch."

"So, when are we going out to that building at the docks?" Beast Boy said. He sat down in a chair, and looked out a window at the city.

"A little later, when its dark out." Nightwing said.

"That's the way it has to be." Raven said. "In the meantime, I can help you clean." She said to Cyborg.

"Me too." Nightwing said. He turned to Beast Boy. Beast Boy got out of the chair and yawned.

"Might as well, there's nothing else to do." He said. They spent the next half hour cleaning everything, and then had lunch.

In the hours before sunset, the group prepared themselves for the mission. Nightwing checked his weapons and gear, making sure it all functioned normally. Raven meditated. Beast Boy agreed to look up information on the building they were going to, if only because he didn't have anything else to do. The only way he could think to find this information was by searching on the internet. He found very little, only that the building was apparently an old research lab. After a while, Nightwing came to help him. Together, they found that the building had been there for a long time, but had fallen into disrepair in recent years. It was unclear if it was still being used, or if it had been abandoned. But if the cameras were still working, then someone had to be there, didn't they?

Eventually, Nightwing, Beast Boy, and Raven all prepared to set out. They agreed to try being a little more discreet getting there then when they went to the hospital. It might have been a coincidence that they ran into the killer there, but they also considered the possibility that they were being followed. Cyborg agreed to stay behind, and make it clear that someone was still at the tower, which would hopefully fool anyone who might be watching. This would also give Cyborg a chance to examine that red material that Nightwing had found. Cyborg wished the others luck, and they were off.

Before long, they had made it to their destination. They were looking at the building from the other side, as opposed to the alleys. This area was more open, with a parking lot and some trees. The building was taller than a house, but far from a skyscraper. Some of the windows were dark, but a few had lights on. There was someone inside. They couldn't see any obvious cameras on this side, except for one right above the front door. The immediate vicinity was devoid of people, although upon further examination there were a couple cars parked at the other end of the lot. The building definitely looked like it had seen better days, and had not been maintained well. But there was almost certainly someone in there.

Raven, Nightwing, and Beast Boy all watched from behind a row of large bushes. Beast Boy peaked around, looking across the way.

"Maybe this place is safe?" he said. "We could try knocking."

"And what if it isn't safe?" Raven said. "We'll give ourselves away."

"We've used stealth so far, and it's worked for us pretty well, I think." Nightwing said.

"Speak for yourself." Beast Boy said. "I've still got bruises." Beast Boy rolled up a sleeve to show them.

Nightwing sighed. "Alright Beast Boy, you can wait here while Raven and I go and-"

"No dude." Beast Boy interrupted. "I'm sorry, but I'm not being lookout again. I told you that."

Nightwing looked him in the eye for a moment. Beast Boy wore a serious expression.

"Fine." Nightwing said. "Then you and Raven can go and scope the place out. Try to get high up, see into the windows."

"I… would rather go with you." Raven said. She was talking to Nightwing.

"What's the difference?" Nightwing said.

"Its just… Beast Boy and I… We don't…"

"I get it Raven, you don't want to be near me." Beast Boy said.

"I didn't say that." Raven said.

"You didn't have to." He said. Nightwing watched them both, and narrowed his eyes.

"Look, whatever is going on between you two-"

"Nothing!" Raven said. Nightwing looked at her, and then Raven looked away.

"…You can talk about it after we're done here." Nightwing finished. "We need to focus on getting inside."

"Why do you need to get inside?" someone said. All three of the titans instantly turned to see someone else standing there, several feet away. It was a young man in a white lab coat, holding a large paper bag. He looked at them with a bemused expression under his thick glasses. "Actually, who are you…?" he started to ask, but trailed off.

"Great, we were so busy arguing we got caught right away." Beast Boy said.

"We could always knock him out." Raven said. The man in the lab coat held up a hand, and pointed a finger at them.

"You… You're the Teen Titans, aren't you?" the man asked. The three of them exchanged glances.

"Maybe, who wants to know?" Beast Boy said. His tone was only half serious.

"We are the titans." Nightwing said.

The man nodded his head. "I knew it. I'm a big fan. I used to watch you on tv when I was younger."

"Tv?" Nightwing said.

"You know, the news." The man said. "They talked about you a lot, at least locally."

"Neat." Raven said drily.

"Anyway, I was just coming back from getting takeout when I saw you guys standing around and…um… what are you doing here? Not that I have a problem with it, its really… really cool that you're here, but… did something happen?"

Nightwing glanced back at the others, and then turned back to the man. He stepped closer to him. "I can explain, if you've got a minute. Maybe you can help us."

Nightwing spent a few minutes explaining the situation, and why they needed to get into the building. The man agreed, with some enthusiasm, to help them on their mission however he could. He went up to the front door while they stayed behind and watched. After a minute, the door was answered by an older man, also in a lab coat. The two researchers spoke for a minute. The younger man was making various gestures, and was wide eyed as he spoke. The older man looked uncertain, but nodded. Eventually, the young scientist turned around and waved from where he was.

The three of them approached, and briefly introduced themselves. The older man seemed not to be familiar with them, but said he would go along with his young colleague. He didn't seem enthusiastic, more just a little confused. The researchers headed inside, and the titans went after.

The three of them followed the two men inside, shutting the door behind them. Once inside, the place was not so impressive. It was smaller than one would expect from a research lab. There did not appear to be a lot of people working there. As they walked down the halls, the men introduced themselves as researchers. The younger man was a research assistant, and the older man was a technician. The building was used for researching weather of all things.

After walking for a few minutes, and going up some stairs, they found themselves in a larger area. There were a bunch of other researchers there, mostly working at computers. Some of them turned to look at the unexpected guests. They mostly just seemed curious though.

"This is going pretty easy." Beast Boy said. "I thought there was going to be a fight or something. We don't even need to hack anything. It looks like we'll be out of here fast."

"Don't jinx it." Raven muttered.

"Well, I can show you to the security office." The older researcher said. "Our security guard is on break right now."

"You only have one?" Nightwing said.

"Well, yeah. We're… underfunded." The researcher said awkwardly.

"Obviously." Raven said. She looked around at the light staff and old equipment.

"Anyway…" The researcher said. He started moving towards the security office, when the door flew open and another man came running out. A chubby guy with his lab coat hanging off his shoulders. He looked sweaty and was breathing heavy.

"Its okay, I…" the sweaty man paused and looked at the titans. He turned pale. "Oh my god. They're here." The younger researcher spoke up.

"Its okay, Steve, they're heroes."

"Heroes?" Steve said bewildered.

"Yeah. They're investigating a murder. They just want to look at some security footage and they'll be leaving. Right?" He turned to Nightwing.

"That's right." Nightwing said. The color returned to Steve's face, but he looked even more sweaty.

"Oh, well, I…" Steve said.

"Nice meeting you." Nightwing said. "We should be out of your way in a few minutes." The researchers led them to the security room. It was fairly small. It had several monitors on the wall, and a computer on a small desk along the wall, with a swivel chair in front of it. There were a few cabinets with various equipment as well.

"I'm going to leave you to it." The older man said. "Just try not to take too long." He didn't sound irritated when he said this, just tired. The younger scientist looked back at his supervisor, and then back again to the titans.

"Alright, let's see if we can find that footage for you. By we, I mean I. This will take a few minutes. Maybe longer."

"We appreciate it." Nightwing said. They waited patiently for a time while the young man searched for the older footage. He typed on his keyboard, and skimmed through various files. He rubbed his chin as he scrolled through things, occasionally pulling some paper out of the cabinet to check something. At some point, he stopped and checked something.

"I think this might be it." He said. Nightwing and Raven moved in closer. Beast Boy had leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He suddenly opened them.

"What we found it?" he quickly said, looking around.

"Here." The young man said, pointing at the monitor. Everyone gathered to look at the monitor. On the screen, they could see an image. It was the alley at night. Not the exact spot where Aqualad was killed, but just outside. The picture was in black and white, and was a little grainy. But they could still make most of it out. The researcher started playing the video.

They watched as Aqualad chased the small robot into the alley. A moment later, they could see another figure enter the alley. It was dark, and the figure was in shadow, so it was hard to see. A few minutes later, they saw the same figure walk out of the alley. But a second later, they were surprised to see a second figure walking right behind. It was not Aqualad.

"Wait, is there two of them?" Beast Boy said. The figures were only on screen for a few seconds before they walked off. Nightwing leaned in.

"Rewind that, I want to-" Before he could finish talking, another voice interrupted.

"This is the police!" A voice from outside said. Everyone froze. "We know you're in there. Come out with your hands up, or we'll have to use force." The voice was projected loudly from a megaphone.

"Sounds like someone tipped the cops off we were here." Raven said.

"But we were invited in!" Beast Boy said.

Nightwing looked at the researcher. "Was this you?" The man shook his head.

"No, I swear." He said. There was a commotion in the next room. The researcher got up and went back into the main research area, and the titans followed. The older researcher was arguing with someone. Steve.

"I thought they were criminals!" Steve said.

"I didn't tell you to call." The senior researcher said.

"I thought they forced you to let them in." Steve said. "They were dressed in freaky costumes, most people that look like that around here are bad." He was red and sweaty.

"You ratted us out?" Beast Boy said. "Thanks a lot Steve."

"We didn't actually do anything wrong here." Raven said. "We could just explain to them." The voice on the megaphone was still shouting. It sounded like they were going to try entering the building soon.

"The police captain told us to stay out of this case." Nightwing said in a quiet voice. "And there was that incident where we beat up a bunch of his officers at the docks. I don't know if they suspect that was us or not."

"Probably." Raven said in a low voice.

"We have to get out of here." Nightwing said. "But… we really need that footage. Is there any way you can give us a copy of it?" he asked the young researcher.

"I can try putting it on a flash drive." The young man said.

"Okay, but make it fast." Nightwing said. "Now we've got to find a way out of here." There were windows around the room, but Nightwing preferred to leave without being seen. He scanned the room quickly with his eyes, noting potential exits.

"Well, I can just turn into something small and fly out." Beast Boy said.

"We should be able to get out without being seen." Raven said to Nightwing. The researcher then ran back into the room, holding something small in his hand. He presented it to Nightwing.

"Here's the flash drive. Hopefully it transferred okay." He said. Nightwing took it and thanked him. While they were doing this, the older researcher was on the phone trying to talk to the police, but to little avail. From below, they could hear banging on the door. The police were about to break in. Nightwing held up a hand.

"Hey, can someone turn the lights out?" he said. "Just for a minute. We'll be gone before you know it. We'll pay you back for the door later." A second later, the lights were flipped off. A minute after that, the cops came into the room, and told them to turn the lights on. When they did, the titans were long gone.