Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Back to the Present ❯ Revelations ( Chapter 4 )

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

BACK TO THE PRESENT
Chapter 4:Revelations

ByJacque Nicole

Why was it that every momentous event that ever happened to the Titans began in the Main Room? Where had Cyborg drawn the blueprints of the T-Car? Where had Starfire played her first video game? Where had Beast Boy broken his arm in a 'freak accident' involving Raven and spoons? And most importantly to the Boy Wonder, this room was where he had finally realized that was in love with a certain Tameranian teammate.

And now, the team found themselves once again in the Main Room, experiencing the most surreal event that they would ever experience: meeting themselves.

Two Ravens, two Beast Boys, two Cyborgs, and two Robins. It was mind boggling. The silence in the room was tense, both groups waiting for the other to begin speaking.

Finally, the deafening quiet was broken. "Dude, am I really going to end up looking like that?" And with that, the tension lifted.

"You can only hope to," replied elder Beast Boy. He stuck his tongue out to his younger counterpart playfully. The room was silent again.

"I don't get it," teenage Raven said after a moment. "Where is the Starfire from of your time?"

"Yes," said Starfire. "I've always wondered what I would look like in the future. Am I beautiful?"

"You have always been and always will be beautiful, Star." Robin gave Nightwing the dirtiest look he could ever muster. Nightwing ignored it. "After we sent you back home after your little time travel fiasco, we expected you—well, the future you—to come back to our time. We expected the past to effect our present; hence, we thought you'd return to us. We thought we could become the original Titans again."

"We waited, but you never returned," Elder Cyborg continued. "Poor Nightwing, he was devast-"

"I was upset, yes. We all were. Wishful thinking, I suppose," Nightwing interrupted.

Cybor shook his bare head. "That doesn't make any sense. After she came back to us, she should've returned to your time.”

"Should have, but didn't," replied future Raven. "Nightwing did some research. When we returned Starfire, our two time periods separated, creating two separate dimensions. We tampered with the space-time continuum by sending you back. You were supposed to stay with us."

"Bullshit." Starfire gasped at Robin's language. "She belongs with us."

"Which is why we sent her back," Future Cyborg said. "We know she'd rather be with you than with us." Nightwing's heart stung at the words, knowing that they were the truth. 'She may want to be with you,' he thought, looking at the Boy Wonder, 'but I'll be damned if I didn't try.'

"What I meant was," the older half demon continued, "she was supposed to stay with us because of the flow of the time stream. When the Starfire of our time was sucked into the future during our battle with Warp, she stayed. That's why she wasn't with us when you fell into the portal and transferred to our time period. You were supposed to stay with us, just like our Starfire stayed," she said to the Tameranian girl.

"But, even though I wanted her to stay, I let her come back to you, her friends." Nightwing's eyes swept over the eyes of each of the Teen Titans as he spoke. "I knew she would be unhappy if she stayed with us, and I didn't want any of you to go through the same pain we went through when we lost our Starfire." 'I don't think anyone should experience the depression I went though,' he added in his thoughts. Nightwing felt sudden warmth encompass his hand, innocently calming his raging emotions. Starfire was holding his hand.

"I sympathize," she said with honesty shimmering through the big green eyes that Nightwing loved so much. The way she looked that very moment imprinted its image in Nighwing's brain. The way her long red hair tickled her perfect, innocent face left the hero speechless. The prom dress that she was still wearing absolutely enhanced her natural beauty, although Nightwing longed to see her in her trademark purple ensemble. A stray lock of hair fell over her face, and Nightwing itched to tuck it behind her ear for her, but she already did it before he had the chance.

For months after she disappeared, Nightwing - back then, he was still Robin - searched high and low for her, using all the technology and connections he had to assist his search. Hell, he even asked his adoptive father and mentor, Batman, to help out, yet it was all in vain. Nightwing was not able to locate her. Not long after he quit his search, the Titans split up and went their separate ways and he had decided to become Nightwing. He had, and still did, regretted not being able to show Starfire all of the spectaculars that Earth had to offer. She had never gotten to see a circus, or go to the zoo, but most importantly, Nightwing regretted not being able to tell Starfire how much he loved her. He was not going to make that same mistake again while he was here.

Meanwhile, Robin was livid. He saw how lovingly Starfire and Nightwing were staring at each other and how his hands held hers. Robin was disgusted. 'How darehe look at her—touchher—like that!' He decided to interrupt the tender moment. "Ahem!" he cleared his throat rather loudly. Starfire jerked away from Nightwing quickly. Robin noticed her cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

The rest of the group was completely oblivious to the goings-on.

Teen Cyborg continued the conversation. "But," said the robot, "none of this explains why you have no Starfire in your time."

"As Raven said before," elder Raven explained, "When we sent Starfire back, we developed an alternate dimension. You see, your dimension is known as Dimension 2845 and when Starfire returned to your time, we created a crack in time. A ripple in the continuum, if you will, which resulted in the development of another dimension, 6985, the one we reside in now. Now it's like we never had a Starfire in the first place."

"Confusing," teen Beast Boy said.

"How do you know that your knowledge is accurate?" Raven asked.

Nightwing gave a small smile, thinking of Larry, his friend from another dimension. "We have our ways," he said finally.

"Yeah right," Robin muttered under his breath, but Nightwing still heard him. Once again, he ignored it.

"How long do you plan on staying here?" teen Beast Boy asked.

"Well..." Nightwing hesitated. "We never thought about that..."

"Glorious! We have guests!" Starfire beamed at the trans-dimensional travelers. "I wish to 'hang out' until you must return to your dimension."

Nightwing stared into her beautiful green eyes. He could see Robin glaring daggers at him over Starfire's shoulder. If looks could kill, Nightwing would have been dead a long time ago. "That would be nice, Star. I—we would love to," he replied, already thinking of places to take her.

Robin rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair. "Oh, for the love of - "

DING DONG!

Elder Beast Boy's eyebrow shot up. "What the - "

DING DONG! DING DONG!

"Splendid!" Starfire rose from her position on the couch. "We have more visitors!"

DING DONG!

"I forgot how annoying our doorbell was," teen Raven grumbled.

"I forgot we even had a doorbell," said Elder Raven.

DING DONG!

"I think you guys should hide," Robin instructed.

"Why?" Nightwing challenged.

"Because that's Kitten at the door, and I don't want her to know that you guys are here. I'm not sure if we should trust her yet."

"Then why did you bring her here?" Nightwing pressed.

"Because I want to know if we should trust her or not." Robin could feel his patience with the spandex clad vigilante beginning to dissolve. His fingers twitched, longing to be squeezing the neck of the hero. Anything to shut him up.

Nightwing sat back on the couch for a few seconds, as if thinking it over. His teammates and the younger Titans had already begun to leave, agreeing that they should not be seen yet, but Nightwing was stubborn.

DING DONG!

"No," he said finally.

"...What?"

"No. She's already seen me. What's the point of leaving now?"

Robin began to mentally count to ten to calm himself. "She didn't know who you were at the prom. Now, please, leave the room."

DING DONG!

Nightwing stood up. "No." He was in Robin's face now. "Because I don't give a - "

DING DONG!

"Maybe Robin is right. It would be best if you conceal yourself. We do not want any of our enemies to know of your presence," Starfire said, sensing the growing uneasiness between the two.

Nightwing gave Robin a long glare. "Fine," he said gruffly. Robin inwardly cheered in victory. His happiness vanished, however, when he caught Nightwing giving Starfire what he began to call 'the look'. "I'll go," said the hero, "But not because he told me to." Nightwing caressed Starfire's cheek and gave into the urge to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. With one last look, Nightwing left the Main Room and exited toward the dormitories.

"...And don't even think about going in my room!" Robin shouted, determined to have the last word. He didn't know if Nightwing heard him or not.

DING DONG! DING DONG!

"Dammit," the Boy Wonder murmured. He strode over to a small screen next to the big one. He stood before the screen and adjusted his hair and took a few calming breaths to make his appearance look less flustered. Starfire wondered why he cared. He punched a black button on the wall near the small screen. Kitten's image appeared. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Kitten. We had some... issues," Robin spoke into the microphone.

The teenage girl's face lit up on the screen. "No problem, Robbie-poo! Don't worry about it!"

Robin resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the nickname. "Right... Come right on up." He pushed another button on the wall, unlocking the front doors.

"Alrighty Robbie!" The screen went black.

Robin rubbed his face, already frustrated with the girl. God, he hated her voice.

"Robin?" Starfire spoke up. The dinging of the elevator announced Kitten's approach to the floor. Once she got the Boy Wonder's attention, she continued. "I think I shall head off to my room of dormancy now, to allow Kitten and you some privacy..."

"No!" Robin almost shouted. He looked at the girl pleadingly. "Please stay. I can't be alone with her. She'll drive me insane! Besides, I might need a second opinion on trusting her. Just, please, stay."

Starfire sighed. "I... Very well..."

Robin grinned. "Thank you."

Just then, the rhythmic ding sound stopped and the elevator doors opened. Kitten practically ran out of them, a bright smile adorning her tanned face. "Robbie-poo! I missed you so much!"

XOXOXOXOX

"White."

"Black."

"Why white?"

"Why black?"

Teenage Raven folded her arms over her chest. "You should know. You were me once."

The older Raven gave a little smile. "Remind me."

"No. Why are you smiling?"

"Because I'm happy."

Raven's eyes narrowed. "Emotions for us are dangerous. You shouldn't be happy." The teenager walked past her counterpart and approached her desk. She picked her mirror up and let the emotions she was feeling flow into it.

"You still have that stupid thing?"

"You don't?"

Older Raven gave the younger one a look that said 'duh'. "Yeah. I found it more... destructive... than it was worth."

The younger Raven shook her head. "I don't understand. How are you able to express emotions freely? If I did what you are doing right now, Earth would be long gone by now."

Elder Raven shrugged. "I can control my powers now. No biggie."

The younger Raven's eyes widened. 'No biggie?' Things had definitely changed. "You sound more like a teenager than I do."

"I have to make up for what I wasted away."

Raven glanced at her older counterpart. She was sitting on her bed, hugging her legs, with her chin resting on top of them. A small smile adorned her lips. She looked like... a teenager. Raven never sat like that. "I'm not wasting my teenage years away. I'm just being... cautious."

"Right."

Silence. It was silent for a long time.

"So..."

"So?"

Raven pouted a little, trying out feeling emotion. Her bookcase wobbled and then toppled over. Raven sighed and used her powers to right her furniture. "So, how were you finally able to control your powers?"

The older Raven grinned. "A... friend... taught me."

"Where can I find this friend?"

Future Raven shook her finger back and forth. "Ah, ah, ah. I can't tell. I don't want to screw up the time stream more than it already is. You'll find out sooner or later. Don't worry about it."

Raven nodded. She was tired of living an emotionless life.

XOXOXOXOX

"One thousand five, one thousand six... C'mon man, by now I would've been on three thousand!"

"Yeah... right... man..."

"Pick up the pace!"

Cyborg did. "You're... such a... bad... liar... man... I bet... you can't... even... do this anymore..."

The older Cyborg paused. A sly idea came into his head. "Was that a real bet I heard? Two thousand, three hundred, seventy-two..."

"Anytime... man..."

"You're on."

XOXOXOXOX

Green eyes stared back into green eyes. One pair blinked, the other blinked. It was like looking into a mirror... sort of.

"Okay, from what I understood from that whole conversation in the Main Room, your time period is, like, totally different from ours, right?"

"Right."

"So the things that happened in your... uh... dimension... probably won't happen in ours?"

"Most likely, no."

"So that means that I won't turn out bald!"

"Oh, no. You will."

"Damn."

XOXOXOXOX

Nightwing navigated himself through the familiar hallways of Titan's Tower, his mind set on one destination. He stopped in front of the door.

EVIDENCE ROOM

He pushed the door open.

The room was just as he remembered it. It was mostly dark; small spotlights shined down on the pieces of evidence which were placed atop pedestals.

Nightwing walked between the displays, reminiscing about every piece of material. One special thing caught Nightwing's attention.

A Slade mask.

Nightwing frowned as he remembered how he obsessed over the villain during his teenage years. He ignored everything, and most importantly, everyone. It took the disappearance of someone he held very close to his heart to realize that Slade didn't matter. None of it really mattered.

He left the room.

XOXOXOXOX

"Oh Robin! I missed you so much!" Kitten embraced Robin in a tight hug.

Robin tried to pry her off of him. He looked at Starfire for help but she was staring at the ceiling, counting the tiles. So much for that. "Missed me? Kitten, it's only been an hour and a half since I saw you last."

"That's too much time to be away from my one and only true love!" Her hold around his neck tightened.

"Kitten... Let go... Can't... breathe..."

"Oh!" Immediately she released Robin. "Sorry, Robbie-poo!"

"Look, Kitten. Could you stop calling me that? I really only consider us... Uh... acquaintances."

"...What?"

"I said, I only consider us - "

"It's her isn't it?" Kitten snapped, pointed across the room at Starfire, who was still counting ceiling panels, completely oblivious.

"Wha...?"

"You're dumping me for her, aren't you?"

"Dumping you?” `This chick is crazy,' Robin thought. “Kitten, we..."

"I knew it!" Kitten marched over to a table holding a vase of flowers. She grabbed the vase in her hand. "Robin is mine, you hear?" She threw the vase with all her might toward the Tamaranian.

Starfire was still counting ceiling tiles.

Robin watched as Kitten hurled the vase and his stomach plummeted. His heart pounded in his chest. Even though the danger wasn't large, Robin felt as if Starfire's life was being threatened. He did the only thing that he could do. "STARFIRE!"

Starfire snapped out of her reverie and instinctively released a starbolt at the vase, just before it hit her. She frowned as she incinerated the flowers that it held. "Those were Tamaranian flowers from home..."

The room was silent for a moment. Robin felt anger rising in his chest.

"Get out," he said calmly.

"Huh?" Kitten said, confused.

"Leave," Robin's voice was a little louder this time.

"What? You're kicking me out? Robbie, she could have easily kicked my ass all over the place if that thing actually hit her..."

"NOW!" Robin shouted.

Kitten gasped at his tone. "Whatever," she replied flippantly. "I didn't like you that much anyway..." she mumbled as she exited in the elevator.

Once she was gone, Robin gazed sadly at his crush. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You did not try to throw a vase at me, she did." Starfire walked up to Robin. "You saved me," she continued. She planted a kiss on Robin's cheek. "My hero," she whispered to him before leaving the room.

Robin just stood there for a long, long time.

XOXOXOXOX

Kitten ran as quickly as she could out of Titan's Tower and raced across the bridge of land connecting it to the rest of the city. Once she felt she was a safe distance away, she pulled out a small, circular object.

She began speaking into it. "Master..."

A man's image appeared on the screen of the object. He was shrouded in darkness. "What is it Kitten?"

"I think I have some information that may interest you sir."

"Unless it has something to do with him, I don't care."

"Oh, it does. It has everything to do with him."

"Well? Don't waste my time, child."

"His weakness, master. I think I've found his weakness."

The man on the screen's eyes widened with interest. "I'm listening."

Kitten smiled a little, feeling very proud with her discovery. "The orange one. The girl."

The man nodded. "Yes, the Tamaranian..."

"Yes, I know without a doubt that he would do anything for her."

"And what do you plan on doing with this information?"

Kitten sucked in a breath. She hadn't thought that far ahead. She said the first thing that came to mind. "Take her."

The man nodded. "Kidnap? Not very original but it is effective..."

"I know we can lure him to us if we do it..."

"Fine. I do have something I need to test out, and she'll be the perfect guinea pig..." He said. “Fine. You have three days.”

Kitten was flabbergasted. "You mean I have to do it alone? Master, please. She could fucking kill me if she wanted to!"

"Well then I guess we'll have to weaken her up, won't we?" Kitten almost shuddered at the sinister look dancing in his eyes. "I'll take care of that part."

"Right."

"You'd better hurry. You only have three days to develop a plan, Kitten."

"Right away. Thank you, Master Slade."

...End Chapter 4...

Note: I would like to clear up any misunderstandings.NIGHTWING AND ROBIN ARE NOTTHE SAME PERSON! The best way to understand how Nightwing and Robin are related is to compare them to the relationship that Larry and Robin had. NIGHTWING'S SITUATION IS THE SAME AS LARRY'S. They are different people who have lead slightly different lives, meaning they have they same past up to the point that Starfire was transported into the future (The episode titled “How Long Is Forever”). After that point, the dimension split into two different ones creating Robin's dimension (Starfire comes back from the future) and Nightwing's (Starfire stays in the future). You don't really need to know this information, but just in case something happens like Robin punches Nightwing or something, I don't want you guys to think he's punching himself.

Length: 3,164words

Posted: August 11, 2004
Last Edit: August 22, 2006