Fan Fiction ❯ Forever and a Day ❯ Chapter 1

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Our first co-authored fanfiction! Please enjoy!
-The Legend of Truth and Kirish
Forever and A Day
This story picks up at the very end of the episode, "How Long Is Forever", and instead of looking back into the past with Starfire (like the TV show did). We continue on with the adult Titans, 20 years in the future. Important Note: Obviously Starfire will not be in this except possibly in flashback moments because she does not exist in this ‘reality’.
-
-
-
-
-
-
Chapter 1
The four of them stood in the abandoned building watching as a dear friend disappeared into their long forgotten past. What was left of the cities greatest protectors stood and regarded one another, unsure of their next move. After so many years they had all changed, was it possible to pick up where they had left off - before all this mess had happened - as friends?
And in some cases…
Nightwing looked over at Raven as she stood there. Her white cape stark against the blackened surroundings. Her face was downcast and shadow - caused by her hood - was engulfing her face so all that could be seen was the tip of her pixie-like chin.
How could something so perfect have gone so wrong? Nightwing still remembered that day many years ago. How the hell couldn’t he? It had only changed all their lives forever, even more so then the day Starfire had disappeared into the time-vortex after Warp. He looked to Changeling and Cyborg. Too many words were exchanged, words that could never really be taken back. The again, his eyes traveled back to Raven, there was far more left unsaid.
"Now what?" asked Changeling, once known as BeastBoy. In two words he had summarized the thoughts which were running through all their minds. "I already said I’m not changing any diapers." He rubbed his bald scalp subconsciously. The man had always had complexes and as he looked at all his friends, in much better physical shape than he, it was all he could do not to develop another.
There was not a doubt in Raven’s mind what she was going to do next. She already knew what all of her so-called friends had thought of her. A flurry of words crossed her mind, and she closed her eyes to stave off the pain that each inflicted on her already battered soul. Each fragmented memory like a dull blade cutting into her heart.
When she had gotten the signal calling her to their aid, her mind had briefly wondered if everything that had happened after Starfire’s disappearance had been a dream. Some wonderfully, horrible twisted dream. Then she had remembered her vision of Star, the one she had driven away not long before receiving the message.
‘What if…’ she had not given her mind time to ponder any longer, and at once she had gone off to help. To fight at their side like she had seventeen years ago.
Starfire had been the closest thing she had to a friend for a very long time. Eventually she grew just as close, if not closer, much closer with…with some of them. Sadly it had been far too easy for everyone else to toss their good opinion of her to the wind, far too easy to push her aside. For a long time she had hoped Star would come back and that this all would just be a dream. Finally Star had returned, but Raven did not awaken from her nightmare. One thought paramount in her mind. If Star was back, maybe they would accept her once more? After all had Star not been the one to offer her the first hand of friendship? Convince the others she was not the emotionless girl she portrayed herself to be?
Yet now…Star was gone again…There was no need to stay here any longer.
Lifting her face just enough to look at her ex-team mates she scanned the faces she had not seen in seventeen years. First she regarded Cyborg, the titan she had once seen as perhaps as an elder brother. The half of his face that was not made of machinery was clearly etched with the lines of age, and even his mechanical half showed its date. Changeling too showed the signs of age from his balding head to his pot-bellied stomach, even if he was almost the same height as before. But Robin, Nightwing…he was timeless. Almost as if age had been another enemy who had fallen before him.
With that she began to sink gradually into the floor, keeping her eyes on his face.
"Raven!" he cried when he realized what she was intending to do. Reaching out he tried to catch hold of her only to have a black shield envelop her body as she vanished completely. "Damn it!" he growled wishing for something to break as he stared at the spot she had - only moments ago - been standing on.
"Dude, chill out! You can’t blame her for wanting to leave. Didn’t you see the way you were all over Star? I’m surprised you didn’t ask her to stay." Came Changeling as he watched Nightwing glare daggers at the floor.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he bit out from between clenched teeth, his fury now directed towards the green bastard. Even after all these years, there were certain things that were, and would probably remain unforgivable.
Sighing Cyborg lifted up a tarnished hand to rub his brow. "Hard-head," he said causing all eyes to turn on him. "You never did realize when you did something stupid, especially when Rae was involved? Guess not much has changed in that department."
"What did I do?" asked Nightwing getting more pissed-off by the second. No one was answering his question, and to be all honest he had no idea what he had done. He’d done nothing!
Changeling looked at him his face growing more distant each second as he searched Nightwing. Whatever it was he seemed to be looking for, he guessed he fell short because in a second he spoke, "Whatever, I got a circus to go back to."
He waited for no one as he turned and headed out of the building turning into a bat as he flew off into the night.
"Look," said Cyborg, taking pity on Nightwing, "if you want to know what you did, why don’t you go ask her yourself ?"
"I don’t know where she is!" he shouted looking lost. For all his great detective skills he had never been able to find out where she had gone off too. The woman knew how to disappear. He’d searched for years. Hell! He’d searched yesterday dammit!
Looking as if he were going against his better judgment, Cyborg continued. "She lives on the old side of town, on Bennet St."
"Bennet St?" he questioned. If he was not mistaken Bennet Street was nothing but abandoned or otherwise run-down buildings. The place was a verifiable slum. What was Raven doing living in a place like that?
Seeing that he was done with his job Cyborg turned to leave, it was getting late and his battery power was still almost full, but he was not sure how long this experimental technology would last. There were still a few kinks he had left to work out. He did not want to wind up stranded in Jump City. Besides what was out here for him anyways? Nightwing had himself covered, and when he had gone to search out BB and Rae there wasn't much he could do. Changeling had wanted nothing to do with him past the ‘good old days’ discussion. And Raven, he shook his head, she was already too far gone. He would have never imagined that their little group had meant so much to the half demon girl.
The cry of a baby startled them both as both heads shot in the direction of Warp, now BabyWarp. They had forgotten about him. Well it was none of his business, turning around Cyborg was almost at the door when Nightwing's frantic voice caused him to turn around again. "Wait! What am I suppose to do with the kid?"
"I don’t know," was his reply as he headed out the door, "I’m not the super-hero. Quit that business a long time ago."
Nightwing stared as Cyborg vanished just like everyone else had today. First Star, then Rave, Changeling, and finally Cyborg.
Growling he turned to BabyWarp who was still bawling, and showed no signs that he would stop any time soon. "What the fuck am I suppose to do now?" he asked the rafters above, before walking over to pick up the crying child. It was strange how such an ugly man could have been such a cute baby.
BabyWarp looked up at him smiling, before taking a dump. It was times like this Nightwing loved having had extensive training, as he was able to dodge the baby bomb.
"So you’ve decided to take revenge? Damn."
Using Warps old costume he was able to semi-clean the baby - after all he had no experience with babies and was unsure what to do - and then wrap him up in the remaining pieces of the suit. Looking around he sighed as he headed out. He was not going to stay there all night and he definitely could not leave a baby here alone. Even if he was an evil, time traveling, bastard.
-
-
In a darkened hall walked a person dressed in the purest of all white, they looked like a ghost as they traveled the length of the hall, without a single noise. Stopping in front of a door she waited patently as it opened up allowing her to step in.
She did not bother with the lights, and in truth she was not sure if they worked anymore. Despite the lack of adequit lighting, she still avoided the debris that littered the ground of what had once been a neat, almost sterile room. The woman did not look at the gadgets that were smashed to an inch of their original form. The bits of glass which sparkled from the floor like diamonds. Pictures that had been torn into ribbons. She did not look because she knew each and every fallen artifact better then she knew the back of her very own hand.
Making her way to the bed she took a seat, a cloud of dust puffing around her, filling air that was already fifty-percent dust. It made it almost imposable to breathe. Not that she showed any signs of difficulty.
In fact she showed no signs of anything as the familiar sadness that accompanied each of her visits griped her heart.
Twinkling lights from across the bay lit the room, turning it a depressing blue-gray. Looking up she could see herself in the cracked wall mirror. The sallow, emotionless face rimed in perfect white, white that was never marred by any other color. Not even dirt clung to the hem of her cloke. Yet in the dimly lit room, it seemed more luminescent then ever, something that didn’t fully belong and yet belonged nowhere else.
Even her eyes seemed luminous, a violet color that was never seen on this Earth until she had appeared, but they were dead. Even the spark of fire that had once dwelled in their depths had all but vanished. Replacing it was a drowning sadness that seemed to encompass her very being. She sat their, the shell of the girl she used to be. One hand fisted over her heart as she stared off into her reflection, her eyes glazing as she began to see things only she could. A smile barely touched the corners of her lips, and a wistful look took hold of her.
Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the faint smile was replaced with a frown, her lips turned down and her brows drawn together. Her hand griped tighter until her knuckles were white, before she pulled it away from her chest. Slowly she opened her hand revealing a plain black hair tie, resting in the center of her pale palm.
She could still remember it as though it had been only yesterday. Robin's smile when she had handed it to him, he had leaned forward to press a chaste kiss on her lips in thanks. At the time he had already finished his transition from 'Robin' into 'Nightwing'. She had been noticing how his hair was almost constantly in his way. As they were supposed to go out and spend the entire day together - in celebration of their anniversary - she had thought he would like it, and he had. She’d been sitting on this very bed watching him as he finished getting ready. He was pulling back his hair, standing in front of this very mirror. Then Cyborg’s voice over the intercom had broken into their conversation. Cyborg had found a lead on Starfire’s whereabouts. She watched like it was happening all over again; Robin, already Nightwing, dropping her humble gift and running out the door.
She had sat there for a minute and tried to realize what had happened. He had left her without so much as a look cast in her direction. Almost as if she hadn’t even existed at that moment. Finally, she had stood up and retrieved her forgotten gift from the floor where it lay like dirt. Granted it had only been a hair tie, but still she couldn’t deny that it hurt all the same. It seemed an emotion had escaped her tight hold. As much as she hated thinking it, as much as she too wanted Starfire back, she could not deny that she was jealous. If only she had know back then the events that would next transpire, she would have squashed that emotion permanently and with much more vigor. Unfortunately fate was never so kind.
A single tear made its way down her porcelain cheek, dropping down to join the tie in her hand. Her mind replayed today’s events. Starfire, coming back, dropping a hint of hope and then leaving her all alone again. Nightwing….Starfire. She closed her eyes, her hand fisting as she began to cry. Cry, without holding anything back, as the sadness of twenty years fell upon her in that one moment. Her entire body began to glow with her black unholy light, and it grew till it encompassed the room, the floor, the tower. And before she could stop herself it was all destroyed, a victim of her wild emotions. The emblematic structure, the tower she’d once called home, was crumbling around her, finally being torn to bits. Her tears were endless even as the debris threatened to swallow her whole. She didn’t care, she was alone.
-
-
Cyborg stood at the dock, watching as his home became engulfed in a black aura before becoming rubble on the island. In truth the sight was a beautiful one. The one proud tower falling onto the ground. The clouds of billowing dust rushing off the island to muddy the perfectly clear night sky, which had been deep blue behind it, sparkling with a dozen stars not moments before. At one time it had been the headquarters to the cities first line of defense. The proud and majestic Titans Tower that made all take a pause in awe.
During its reign it had been at the pinnacle of technology. Now…he sighed, he was sure there were personal home computers with a better processor. Maybe it was better this way, god knows it pained him to see what had become of the building in the later years. To watch it slowly deteriorate and now... The titans were no more and now neither was their home.
If a building could feel emotions he knew that Titans Tower would most likely be one of the saddest buildings in existence. But still all the memories that had, to this day, resided in the tower were all lost to the wreakage.
"As long as someone remembers can it ever truly be gone?" The memory of someone speaking those words to him was sharp and for a moment he was not sure if he had heard them aloud, or if they were just in his mind. Now he remembered. They were the words Raven had spoken to them when Changeling had jumped on her, complaining that she had gotten over Stars disappearance too quickly.
The things that came out of Changeling's mouth when he wasn’t thinking first - which was always. ‘Although,’ he thought looking down at the now wet wooden boards of the dock. They were all guilty of acting before they had thought things through. All of them.
Now he was waiting until the rest of the dust, which had raced across the waters surface cleared, so he could get a better look at the damage. He had one damn good idea who had done it, and he was pretty sure he knew what had triggered it.
"Damn," he would have liked to go help out his old friend, but he would probably end up far worst than the tower. Somehow he knew that she would be alright, physically anyways. Emotionally, that was a wormhole he didn’t dare dream of venturing. He stood relatively calm, too many memories running through his mind.
Then it dawned on him, "Fuck! Where am I going to stay now?" he looked at his battery, still 95. A smile crossed his face as he turned to face his arm, and waited for her to respond.
"Hey!….yea it has been a long time….. Look I need a place to stay….Thanks Bee."
-
-
Changeling sighed as he began the same old routine, he barely had to will his body to change anymore. Seal, donkey, bear, tiger, rabbit, monkey….He had gone straight back to his cage the moment he had left the others. He could still see Nightwings clueless, pissed-off face. And they used to call him dumb, that guy could be as dumb as a post. What Raven had seen in him he would never know.
"You suck!" cried a girl in the front of the small group he was in the middle of entertaining. She had bright red hair and a lip ring worthy of an Amazonian villager. He could practically see her next to a peccary. The guy she was next to looked like the bastard child between Phoebe, from Friends, and Johnny the homicidal maniac. Both were grinning widely as though most of the fun they derived from life was trying to make others miserable.
So maybe he wasn’t in with the youth of today…but wasn’t watching a strange green human transform into a dozen different animals amazing? As far as he knew he was still the only one who had such a power.
"Come on Rex, do something, and make this crap a little more interesting," she was leaning against the boy she was with. "For me!" she added sweetly before pushing him closer to the cadge.
Rex who needed no more prompting from his girlfriend, threw his soda at the green freak in the cage. The girl cried out laughing much like a hyena, as she doubled over laughing.
Changeling managed to dodge when Rex threw a bit of crumbled paper, by changing forms rather quickly. Couldn’t these people think of something original once in a while? Was throwing stuff at him the best today’s youth could come up with?
Even though he was not the type to do such things, when he had been young, he used to always have a few things up his sleeve. Just in case.
Dodging the paper seemed to infuriate the boy in front of him as he snatched a soda and threw it at the cage again.
Maybe it had been the mini-mission he had just come back from, but his reflexes seemed better then they had in a long time. Because he was able to dodge the second attack, flawlessly while still morphing.
"You stupid animal!" yelled the boy, "Is this what you call entertainment! I know who you are, my father told me all about the Teen Titans," he said the name in a sneer that made Changeling still. Even after all these years he was still proud of having been a Teen Titan and hearing this kid say their name with such distaste…
Rex, noticing that he had caught his attention gave him a cruel grin before looking back at the crowd. "Did you guys know this thing used to be a superhero? Imagine him trying to save the day," he began to laugh, and quite a few others joined in. "Besides my father told me he’s nothing, once the Titans disbanded he couldn’t even stop a purse snatcher. The Titans probably took him for pity. What do you think he’d do? Turn into a bunny and hop after the villain?"
Rex’s girlfriend looked as though she were going to pee herself.
Changeling was staring looking at the kids who were taking so much fun from his misery, slowly he transformed back into a human. His mind going over all that had happened in the last month. Nothing, he did the exact same thing everyday, all day. Today being the only exception, when anything out of the ordinary occurred.
It was then he realized that Starfire had been right, he was not behind bars to keep others out. He was behind bars to keep himself locked in, where he could hide. He was the one to blame for all the mundanity that had caused him so much stress. Sure he had (at first) tried to make it as a solo hero, something he had never really done before joining the Titans. Even though he hadn't been exactly successful he should have never given up. Taking on such a degrading job just so he could have food to eat... had he no pride?
He’d been a Teen Titan. He had helped save the city more times then he could remember. If it wasn’t for him and his friends the chances of this kid even being alive today, with the opportunity to do such things as visit this dump, were like 100 to 1. And here this little bastard was making fun of not only him, but his friends who had given up so much of themselves for his parents, and his home. They had been the ones to protect everything this kid had now.
All of a sudden he began to laugh, startling all the people who were in the middle of laughing at another of Rex’s jokes. It seemed the boy loved the limelight.
"What are you laughing at freak?" he snarled.
"How dumb you must be." he stated as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"What the fuck are you talking about old man? I wouldn’t be talking shit if I were you baldy."
"Yeah," said his girlfriend, "he’s just jealous of you Rex"
At this Changeling did laugh, really. "Why the hell would I be jealous of that loser?"
"Don’t call him a loser! You’re a jealous old man, because we're young and have our lives ahead of us and your only hope for the future is if no real Zoo is made in Jump City."
"Yea right. Think of it like this little girl. When I was his age I’d help saved this city over hundreds of times. What do you do Rex? Come to the zoo with your girlfriend and make fun of people? Play video games, go to the movies? You, little boy, are jealous of me because I’m better than you are. Even though you're young you are nothing special at all. Even just to be noticed you have to try so hard. And me…well I can become any type of animal I want. I can fly. I can swim. I never have to work for attention. In a hundred years not even your bones will be around, an no one will remember you. Me on the other hand, by the time I was your age everyone already knew my name. Believe me, there is nothing to be jealous about."
Everyone was staring at him in shock. Guess they never expected him to talk back. Rex had flushed to a deep crimson, and his girlfriend was speechless.
‘Guess the truth hurts,’ thought Changeling as he leaned against the back of his cage.
"Well…well at least I’m not in a cage!" said Rex, although even now he sounded meek.
"You want to know something Rexie?"
"W-what?"
"I turn into cute fuzzy animals as to not scar kids like you. But I can also turn into much more than cute, little animals." With that said he transformed himself into a T-Rex. Effectively ripping the cage into pieces, and boy did it feel good. To be free!
He threw his head back and roared, not holding anything back. His meager crowd scattered, running. He took sadistic comfort in the fact that Rex had wetted his pants. And even if it was in the form of fear, it was good to get a little respect. Looking up he saw the poster which advertised his humiliation. And without thinking he jumped at it and began tearing it to pieces, enjoying - with almost primal intensity - the way he killed off his past as a zoo animal.
Half an hour later Changeling was sitting in the middle of what looked like splinters and confetti. A content smile on his face and sweat dappling his forehead. It felt almost like he had escaped prison, a Spanish Inquisition type prison.
"Man," he said stretching out all the kinks in his muscles, "I haven’t had a workout like that in years."
He smiled feeling freer then he had in way too long.
Walking over to a payphone which was still standing - miraculously - he dialed in one of the few numbers he remembered by heart. It rang a few times. Several times, and for a moment Changeling thought it would go unanswered. Suddenly he could hear the voice from the other line.
"Hey, Tempest?…Its me, Changeling. I was wondering if I could stay with you for a while….Thanks man I own you one."
So with a smile he picked up what he was willing to keep from his old life, stuffed it in a bag, and headed out. Whistling a tune as he headed to the beach. It was a long walk, and it would be less time if he transformed, but right now he didn’t care. He was just glad to be alive.
-
-
Nightwing looked at the baby that was currently resting in his arms, without a care in the world. As if he were not the one who had caused all this trouble in the first place. As if in a few years he wasn't going to become an evil villain, go back in time and change the fate of the Teen Titans. Or maybe...?
His eyes squinted in thought as he looked down at the baby suspiciously…Did he have his memories? If he did, then he knew everything he had already done, and was just biding his time while he was taken care of. So he could still go back in time again and ruin them all once more! Maybe they were all stuck in some huge gigantic cycle! Maybe Warp who left with Starfire was the Warp he’d saved!
Or maybe he was thinking too hard on it.
But maybe he wasn’t.
‘Shut up,’ he yelled at the little voice in his mind which was in the middle of sprouting possibilities. It seemed to have a sick personality that enjoyed tormenting him, and making him worry.
He was going to get worry lines.
Quickly he looked into a bit of shiny metal, which dubbed as a support for a rack. He looked intently at his face for a few minutes before sighing in relief. He was still flawless.
Come to think of it he should have gotten some more of that stay in conditioner while he was here.
‘Too late now,’ he thought as the woman in front of him cleared out.
Nightwing was standing at the checkout he had been waiting at for fifteen minutes, and finally it was his turn. What a sight he must have been! A half naked baby in one arm, and a box of diapers and wipes in the other. He was still in his uniform, his mask fixed in place. No wonder half the store was watching him.
How often do you see the cities protector doing such a mundane thing?
Besides he wasn’t too sure how his outfit looked in the phosphorescent lighting in the store. He was positive it was the most light his suit had seen in a damn long time.
"Can I help you s…ir…." the clerk trailed off as he caught sight of his customer.
Nightwing glared and trust the diapers at the young man, who was still staring jaw hanging.
This was going to be a long night….

Converting /tmp/phpRyUq7R to /dev/stdout