Titans: Elemental

Chapter 21: Winter Soldier

A few weeks after the incident with Slade blackmailing Dick into being his apprentice.

Jack was standing atop a building with Dick and Rose.

Rose said, "so, witnesses have said someone has been stalking along these rooftops for weeks. It might be your brother."

Jack said, "I hope so. After what your dad did to him, I just wanna make sure he's okay."

Dick said, "just keep your eyes open guys. Who knows where they could be."

As if on cue, Jack quickly pointed at a figure standing at the top of another building.

Jack was the first to jump across.

Jack asked, "Bryan?"

The figure turned to Jack, and he got a good look at them. Jack's breath hitched in his throat at what they saw.

They were a man about the same age as them. They were wearing black body armor with Slade's symbol, a red slash over it on the front. Their right arm was made of metal; and their left eye was glowing yellow. They had a black scarf over their mouth, and they had unruly dirty blonde hair, almost brown, with streaks of black in it.

Jack asked, "Bryan? Is that you?"

The man pulled the scarf down to show their face, showing a small scar on their left cheek. Their features looked more soft and feminine.

Bryan asked, "J-Jack?"

Jack lunged forward and hugged his brother tightly.

Jack cried, "I've been searching for you for so long!"

Bryan hugged back and said, "same here."

The brothers separated as Jack asked, "what did Slade do to you?!"

Bryan asked, "wait, you know who Slade is?"

Jack said, "me and my team have been fighting him for awhile."

Bryan asked, "you're a member of the Titans, right?"

Jack nodded and turned to the end of the building and said, "c'mon up guys!"

Rose and Dick jumped up there, and Rose found herself blushing at their appearance.

Jack said, "Bryan, meet Nightwing and Ravager."

Bryan found themselves blushing at Rose's appearance.

Nightwing said, "since he's your brother, he can know our identities. I'm Dick Grayson."

Rose said, "Rose Wilson."

Bryan looked at Rose and said, "your father spoke of you. He didn't do your skills justice."

Rose said, "oh, t-thank you."

Jack said, "I chose my hero name; Zivel."

Bryan said, "good one. Another word for elements."

Dick asked, "what's your hero name?"

Bryan said, "I've been calling myself: the Winter Soldier."

Dick asked, "why?"

Bryan said, "cause I'm great at stealth, being as quiet as snow, and I'm built like a soldier."

Jack said, "neat. You wanna head to our tower? It'll give us a chance to catch up."

Bryan said, "sounds great. Lead the way."

And with that, Jack and the others began making their way back to the tower, with Rose saying, "that sound familiar to anyone else?"

….

Later, we see Jack introducing his brother to the team. Sarah was there as well, having returned after the events with Slade a few weeks prior.

Jack said, "Bryan, meet the other Titans."

Vic said, "Victor Stone, aka: Cyborg."

BB said, "Beast Boy."

Starfire said, "I am Starfire, and this is my sister…."

Blackfire said, "Blackfire, nice to meet ya."

Jack said, "and this is Raven."

Raven said, "I'm his girlfriend."

Bryan said, "woah, nice job dude. You bagged a cutie."

Raven said, "I'd like to think I bagged him."

Jack chuckled as he hugged his girlfriend.

It was still very surreal for the Titans, to see Raven acting happy. But then again, Jack always had that effect on her, even after the team first met.

A side effect from it all was, now Raven's eyes glowed certain colors, since she was more expressive at times.

Bryan saw Percy playing with a ball of yarn.

Bryan asked, "a cat too?"

Jack said, "I found Percy one day on the shore. Took the little guy in and nursed him back to health."

Bryan said, "ah, just like all of those animals as a kid?"

Jack exclaimed, "Bryan!"

Rose asked, "wait, this has happened before?"

Bryan said, "yeah. When we were kids, if Jack found a sick animal, he'd take care of them. From a squirrel named Rosey, a bird named Chester, a hamster named Cherry, a guinea pig named Rhino, a dog named Zeke, a cat named Mittens, he was like a little pet doctor. And he made sure every animal found a home."

The girls couldn't help but all go, "awww."

Even Raven did, her eyes glowing pink for a second when she let that emotion out.

Bryan said, "so, I heard you guys have been dealing with Slade for some time?"

Vic said, "yeah."

BB said, "he's one seriously bad dude."

Blackfire said, "Dick told us that you were his apprentice before him?"

Bryan said, "more like a puppet…"

Starfire asked, "please, might you explain how you ended up working for Slade?"

Bryan said, "you guys are gonna wanna sit down."

The Titans all sat down on the couch as Bryan explained….

….

"Months ago, around the same time the Titans were formed, I came to Jump City for two reasons. One was to find myself an apartment, since I was getting ready to move out. The second was to find Jack, since I hoped he'd let me crash with him for a few days until I got on my feet. But one day, I was knocked out by Slade's robots. Slade wanted a minion he could mold into his perfect little soldier. He gave me cybernetics, so I could become 'better.' He replaced my arm, wired various parts of my system to be more efficient, and put a scanner in my eye. He used a special device wrapped around my head to keep me under his control. I wasn't even allowed to sleep. But as time went on, I kept training within my mind, trying to break his control. And one day, I finally broke free. I ran away as fast as I could, hid until I knew I'd be safe. And then, when I learned about you guys, I knew who I'd be safe with."

….

All of the Titans had different reactions.

Starfire was crying the hardest. Blackfire was patting her sister's head as she gave a sad look.

Vic looked at his own arm, understanding the pain of being a cyborg.

Sarah hugged Vic as she understood how others felt about it, given her occupation.

BB was in the form of a pug, whimpering.

Raven and Dick held sad looks.

Rose held a very sympathetic look, given what she had gone through to try and win her father's respect and love all those years ago.

Jack got up and hugged his brother. It pained him to know what his brother went through.

Dick said, "Slade mentioned mind control. Didn't use it on me, because he thought I'd be a better fighter without any enhancements or mind control."

Bryan said, "you were lucky, man. I nearly lost myself. He made me carry out so many covert missions."

Jack said, "he'll never get his hands on you again Bryan. I promise."

Bryan said, "thanks man."

Starfire asked, "how about we order the pizza, in order to liven the mood?"

Jack said, "that's a great idea Star. Who's gonna order?"

BB and Vic said in unison, "I will! What?! No! I will!"

BB yelled, "you'll just get like a dozen meat lovers pizza!"

Vic yelled, "and you'll just order a bunch of veggie pizza and salad!"

Starfire asked, "how about I do the ordering of the pizza?"

Blackfire said, "no offense Starfire, but the last time you ordered pizza, you asked for mustard, pickles and salt 'n' vinegar chips on it."

Everyone cringed at that.

Raven asked, "why doesn't Jack order? He'll be able to get something everyone likes."

Rose said, "good idea."

Vic said, "I guess."

Sarah said, "I'm really okay with whatever kind of toppings. Except the ones Blackfire said that Starfire likes."

Again, everyone cringed.

Jack dialed the number and ordered….

….

"So that's a super meat lovers pizza with buffalo wings, an ultra vegetarian style pizza and small side salad, a pickle and pepper pizza with a bottle of mustard, a plain cheese pizza, a pepperoni and bacon pizza with a side of mild wings, a regular pepperoni in the Chicago style, a jalapeño and pepperoni pizza with cheese sticks, and a sausage and ham pizza, right?"

Standing at the door of the tower was a guy carrying a huge stack of pizzas and the sides.

The pizzas were for Vic and Sarah, BB, Starfire and Blackfire, Raven, Jack, Dick, Rose and Bryan in that order. The same went with the sides that came with each pizza.

Jack handed the man $70 that the team all pitched in.

Jack said, "that's sixty five bucks, right? Keep the change as a tip."

The pizza man said, "thank you sir. Have a nice night."

Jack used his powers to carry everything in the air, with help from Raven using her anti-light to carry them.

As soon as each pizza hit the counter, each Titan dig into their respective pizzas and sides.

Dick said, "munch, you really know what we like to eat man."

Jack said, "eh, munch, I just figured out what your favorites are and went with those."

Bryan felt his taste buds dancing. He hasn't had such a good meal in a long time.

Bryan felt happy, being surrounded by his brother and a host of new friends.

For some reason he couldn't explain, his gaze kept wandering over to Rose. Bryan felt an attraction to her. Her white hair, her athletic build, her soft features. He didn't even flinch at her having only one eye.

Bryan wasn't sure what his true feelings for Rose were yet, but he hoped to know soon.

During the meal, the team put on a movie.

An older 80's film about there being very big trouble in a little Chinatown. The group ate up the cheesy film just as fast as their pizza and side orders.

Once the movie ended, the Titans all began heading to bed.

Rose agreed to show Bryan to his new room at the tower, and so the two made their way down the halls.

….

We see Rose showing Bryan his new room.

Rose said, "well, here it is. Let us know if you need anything."

As Rose was about to wall away, Bryan asked, "oh, wait!"

Rose asked, "yeah?"

Bryan said, "I uh, haven't really been able to see the city that much while I've been hiding out. Do you think that, maybe tomorrow, you could show me around? Like, hangouts you guys have and all that?"

Rose said, "uh, s-sure. We uh, do need to get you some regular clothes after all. It would, uh, be a good chance to do so."

Bryan stuttered, "r-right. Well, uh, I'll see you tomorrow."

Rose stuttered, "a-alright."

As Bryan closed the door, and Rose stood there for a few moments, they both had the exact same thought.

'Did I just agree to a date?!'

….

Reviews:

pokemonking0924: yeah, Bryan was one of my favorite additions to the story.

Canadude2029: yep, I'm happy with how season 1 for this story wrapped up…. Like how it did in the original…. Just with slight changes.

SuperSentai199: thanks. And yeah, if you wanna know what Slade looks like, check the comics.

….

And here we introduce Jack/Zivel's brother, Bryan/Winter Solider.