Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Back to the Present ❯ Back to 2005 ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I have not and never will claim ownership of Teen Titans. Teen Titans and all its elements and characters are property of DC Comics, Cartoon Network, and any other intermediate companies.

Summary:The Cyborg of the future fixes Warp'stime regulator which allows him and the futuristicTitans to travel back in time to visit their younger selves, butNightwing only cares about one thing—seeing his Starfire again. Chaos ensues as Robin finds another man making moves on his crush, even though this other man happens to share his DNA. When danger strikes can these two vigilantes put their differences aside in order to savethe one person they love?

Rated Mfor language and violencein later chapters.

 

BACK TO THE PRESENT
Chapter 1: Back to 2005

By Jacque Nicole

Titan's Tower, 2015

Nightwing sat silently in the middle of his room in a deeply meditated state. His legs were crossed in Indian style underneath him, his breathing remaining even. He raised his muscular arms slowly above him, inhaling as they went up, and exhaling as he brought him back down again.

Nightwing was never the type to do yoga, but he'd picked up the hobby after she had come. After an encounter with her, he had needed to unwind just to stay sane.

He slowly began to move in several poses, enjoying his peace, his solitude, his -

“Nightwing! You'll never believe what happened!” a deep voice shouted to him from somewhere down the hall, jarring the former Boy Wonder's concentration.

The vigilante's shoulders slumped as he sighed. “I should've known this wasn't going to last long,” he mumbled to himself, rising from his yoga mat.

Suddenly, an excited Cyborg burst into the room with a broad smile on his half-metal face. “Nightwing!” he exclaimed excitedly. “I've finally done it!”

Nightwing remained aloof. “So what have you done this time?” he responded lamely.

The half robot ignored his leader's slight sarcasm. “You remember when Starfire came a couple of weeks ago,” he stated the obvious, oblivious to Nightwing's brief flinch at the girl's name. He continued, “Well, I've been trying to repair the time regulator I used to get her home.” Cyborg paused and looked toward his spandex clad companion for any reaction. At his lack of response, he continued, “Well, turns out, it was a simple fix and I even made some improvements!”

Nightwing's eyes closed in exhaustion. `Okay,' he thought. `So you fixed a broken toy. Whoop-di-doo. What do I care?' He looked longingly at his abandoned yoga mat and wondered if there was any chance of getting back to it without hurting Cyborg's feelings. “And that means...?” he said, desperately attempting to sound intrigued.

“It means that I've perfected trans-dimensional time travel!” Cyborg exclaimed proudly.

Nightwing lay down on the floor and began doing his daily crunches. “Wow, Cy. I haven't seen you this happy in years,” he said. `Time travel,' he thought with a slight grin on his masked face. It was definitely an achievement for his best friend to perfect what was once seen as impossible. Good for him.

`And good for me,' the vigilante couldn't help adding. It seemed that Cyborg's new tool could help his solve all his issues, once and for all because, if what his mechanical genius of a teammate was saying was true...

“You'll be seeing Starfire in no time, Nightwing!”

Nightwing's heart burst with joy at the thought of seeing his Star again. “How soon could we leave, Cyborg?” he said, pulling himself all the way up and off the floor. This was just the opportunity he was waiting for.

Cyborg wasn't at all surprised at his best friend's hasty decision to see his past crush. “Anytime, man. Anytime.”

“Well, guess where we're heading, Cy?”

“Dimension 2845, year 2005, here come the Titans!” Cyborg exclaimed before he left to fetch the regulator from his quarters.

Meanwhile, Nightwing folded up his yoga mat before going to the Main Room. As he made his way through the halls of Titan's Tower, he noticed how beautiful they had managed to make it. The halls had been re-carpeted and the walls were freshly painted. Gorgeous portraits and exotic plants lined the entire tower beautifully.

After Starfire left to return to her time after the ordeal with Warp, he and the rest of the Titans had decided to reunite for the good of Jump City, not to mention for themselves. They realized how much they missed each other, and, in no time, they were able to rebuild the bond they shared when they were teenagers. Immediately, they decided to reoccupy the Tower, which had been where Cyborg had lived since the initial break-up.

When Nightwing arrived in the Main Room he spotted Raven and Beast Boy engrossed in conversation. Even though he was not a boy anymore, Beast Boy demanded that he'd keep his old name. He said Beast Man made him sound old. Cyborg responded by saying that his face made him look old and an argument followed. It had been just like old times.

Ever since Starfire went back to her own dimension, Beast Boy had decided to put himself through some self improvement. He no longer harbored a pot belly. He now had a relatively flat stomach, and he was still working on developing the six pack he'd always wanted.

Raven's insanity vanished when she reunited with her friends. Having been cleansed of her father's evil when she was a teenager; she was now much more in control of her power than she'd ever been. Now that the darkness that once consumed her soul was gone, Raven's attitude towards life had changed drastically. She now made the most of each day, and she had fallen out of her gothic `phase'. She wore a white version of her uniform and a smile on her face rather than the gloomy black version and a frown. Nightwing would have liked his friend either way, but was glad to have the change, if only for Raven's mental well being.

Snapping himself out of thought, Nightwing addressed Raven and Beast Boy. “Did you hear about Cyborg's discovery?”

Beast Boy smirked. “Well, yea, dude. He was only running about the Tower shouting `I fixed it! I fixed it!' and `I'm father time!'” he answered sardonically.

“So you know we're going, right?” Nightwing asked, smiling in anticipation.

“Yeah, I figured as much,” Raven answered, returning a goofy grin of her own.

Suddenly, Cyborg appeared carrying a disk shaped object. “I got it!” he said, connecting the machine to himself. He pointed to an empty space in the Main Room, typing in a few codes. Suddenly, bright blue light emitted from the machine, tearing open a portal. “Well,” Cyborg announced over his shoulder to his fellow Titans, “It's now or never guys.”

“I choose now,” Nightwing replied before jumping into the time portal. The rest of his comrades followed suit.

XOXOXOXOX

Titan's Tower, 2005

“...and I will remove my moth children... under one condition.”

Starfire and Robin stood in the Main Room of Titans' Tower staring at the big screen monitor. Killer Moth was on it, dictating his demands to Robin concerning the removal of the giant moth-like creatures that were presently destroying a bridge in the city. Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy were out trying to hold off the creatures but to no avail. Robin had no choice but to play along with Killer Moth's demands until he received more information from his second in command.

“And what would this last condition be?” Robin prodded.

“To take this beautiful young lady to her Junior Prom!” the villain replied, sounding very much like a car salesman.

Immediately, a pink box containing the `beautiful young lady' in question appeared. “Hi Robbie-poo!” she said in the most high pitched and annoying voice that both Robin and Starfire had ever heard.

Starfire's face fell in a deep frown of jealousy. “Robin,” she mumbled, “who is this girl and why does she call you `poo'?”

Killer Moth continued on the screen, “This is Kitten.” The girl in the box started to make flirtatious faces at a repulsed Robin. “You will accompany her to her prom!” the insect-like villain commanded.

Starfire flew up to Kitten's image on the screen. “This `prom' is some kind of duel, yes?” she said as she removed her glove from her hand and slapped it across the image of Kitten's face. “Robin readily accepts!”

Robin shook his head slowly, dreading his next words. “It's not a duel, Star. It's a...” he gulped, “date.”

The was a short silence, kind of like the calm before the storm that was Starfire. “A what!” The Tamaranian princess's screech could be heard throughout the entire Tower. “Robin does not accept! I can not believe that one could make such a terrible, horrible, ungodly proposition. I will not...” Starfire continued her tirade even as Robin grabbed her foot and dragged her out of the room.

“Excuse us. We need to talk this over,” Robin said as he pulled Starfire and himself through the doors to the hallway. He pulled out his hand-held communicator and typed and the mini console, to call Cyborg. The screen blinked and flashed for a few seconds before Cyborg's image appeared.

The Boy Wonder sighed tiredly. `I'm reallynot in the mood for this tonight.' “So,” he asked his robotic friend, “How are things on your end?”

“Difficult. There are too many of them!” replied the half-metal teen. Robin cringed as he saw the destruction that the moths had ravaged behind Cyborg. For a moment, he was glad that the most challenging things he had to deal with right now were an angry alien princess and a potential prom date from hell. Robin sighed in resignation. “I guess we have no choice.”

Starfire, still immersed in her tirade, did not notice when Robin left the hall and returned to the Main Room. She did, however, hear him say, “I'll do it.”

“Do not tell me. Ask her properly,” replied Killer Moth.

Robin frowned. “Kitten, was it?” She responded with a flirtatious `meow'. “Right. Umm... Kitten... would you like to go with me to the prom?” he asked, his teeth gritted together and his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Oh, I thought you'd never ask, Robbie-poo! Of course I'll go with you!”

A little while later, Robin departed for the event and Starfire was alone, preparing to leave the tower to follow Robin. She had changed into a beautiful shimmering pink spaghetti strap gown. She opted to keep her hair style simple, and she figured the fewer accessories the better. After all, she wasn't trying to impress anyone, right?

...Right?

Starfire examined her outfit in the full length mirror in her room. “Hmm, the device called the internet displayed this dress as suitable prom attire. I hope Robin likes it.” She instantly blushed at her spoken thoughts.

The Tameranian teen left her room and headed for the Main Room. “Now, where did I place my gloves?” she wondered aloud as she searched for the white gloves that went with her gown.

Suddenly, Starfire felt a tingling sensation shoot down her back. She turned around to see what was behind her just in time to see a swirling blue portal appear. She stood defensively with star-bolts generating in her hands, ready to be thrown.

The first thing Starfire saw was a leg clad in black spandex extending from the portal. Her eyes widened in recognition as the rest of the body emerged from the void.

There was a brief silence between them as they both drank up each other's images. The last time they'd seen each other, both thought they were saying goodbye, never to see each other again. The sight of each other was mind numbing.

Finally, the man coming out of the portal spoke. “Hello Starfire,” he said with a glint in his eye.

Starfire found it immensely more difficult to form any cohesive words, so she said the first thing that came to her mind. “G-greetings... Nightwing.”

...End Chapter 1...

Length: 1,889 words
Posted: February27, 2004
Last Edit: August 22, 2006